YouthMuse started through a confluence of factors.
Factor one: I met Ian Abrams, one of the original architects of the Truth
Campaign, the anti-smoking campaign aimed at teens, in January 2008.
I was fascinated by what motivated teenagers and that Ian’s team had
focused the campaign on preventing teens from STARTING smoking.
Because once they’d started, they probably weren’t physically or emotionally
equipped to be able to stop.
Factor two: My daughter is a teenager, at least for a couple more months.
And I have loved the teenage years. OK, I didn’t really love 12 and 13—
those were pretty tough years for her—but, overall, I enjoyed her high
school years. The kids my daughter befriended were pretty good kids. They
were interested in issues. They were thinking about their future and trying
to figure out their place in the world. Teens are pretty interesting—and
interested—people, and I enjoy being around them.
Factor three: Over my last couple years at Shedd Aquarium, as I worked
with the Great Lakes team to create a new strategy for Great Lakes
conservation, I immersed myself in research, such as The Ocean Project’s
public opinion work on climate change. The research was clear: Youth are
the key. Families look to their teens as influencers when it comes to the
environment. And the public is looking to zoos, aquariums and museums to
recommend personal action.
Factor four: As the recession hit the museum community, I watched as
museums reduced staff, struggled to meet fundraising goals, and, then,
when museums needed to increase admission prices, they were criticized
by the media and by some public officials in Chicago. Instead of being seen
as “angels,” helping educate schoolchildren through informal education or
providing teacher certification courses or the myriad other community work
outside the museum experience, museums often were seen, in the words of
Museums in the Park (MIP)President Gary Johnson, as “fat cats” or elitist.
Our guests and members loved the museums, but that message wasn’t
making it into the media. To try and tell more of the story of museums as
important to the community, several of us helped MIP launch its “Museums
Work for Chicago” campaign. But I remained frustrated that many segments
of the community don’t see museums as do-gooders.
With those factors percolating, I began thinking about my next career move, and I found myself talking to colleagues about the relevance of
cultural organizations in the community. If I could somehow contribute to
increasing the real or perceived relevance of museums, zoos, aquariums
and performing arts organizations, THAT would be a satisfying next step for
me. As I began describing this interest to my informal advisors, the idea
for YouthMuse emerged: If the cultural sector is going to be relevant, we
should step into the realm of social change. If we’re going to try to change
the world, the audience ready to make change is youth. And if we want to
activate this generation—the most socially conscious ever—then we have
provide them with structure, support and people. They already have the
social networks to carry the messages, they and the public trust museums,
and they probably trust us in realms beyond the environment, such as social
justice and creativity.
I remember calling Peter Linett of SloverLinett Strategies about a year ago
and describing this idea to him as he was driving back to his office. I told
him I was thinking of actually trying to launch such a concept as my next
career. Peter was enthusiastic. “You can do this,” he said. “You’re just the
right person”—a reference to my 17 years in the zoo, aquarium and museum
business. “And we’ll help however we can.” That encouragement sealed the
deal. I left Shedd one year ago to start YouthMuse, and the North Carolina
Aquarium youth just went live with our first official campaign.
Posted by Deb Kerr, executive director
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