Building a Digital Museum and Developing Online Programming

After just a few years since the grand re-opening, the museum was forced to closed in March 2020 and would not reopen until September of that year. With the need to sustain programming and events to maintain funding and audience engagement in a newly-virtual world, I established The [Virtual] Bass. Consisting of live, recorded, and asynchronus programs for adults and children, lesson plans for educators, virtual museum tours, and online exhibitions via our Instagram gallery @TheBassSquared, my team and I initated a content-driven campaign to keep the museum and our services relevant to the community.  

Specifically, I began by building a digital portal on the museum's website, thebass.org/virtualbass, still partially accessible today as part of the online educational resources. The section of the site, coupled with reimagined virtual programming, leveraged digital channels to present both paid and free content. I led the effort to bring art classes and then-cancelled programs to a digital audience, modifying events like the weekly Teen Art Class and Art for Kids, monthly Breakfast at The Bass, and our speaker series Curator Culture. By signing up for the museum’s newsletter, registrants received each week’s activities sent directly to their inbox. For parents and educators now teaching remotely or homeschooling, I also launched and managed a dedicated Instagram profile @BassCreativityCenter. 

The Creativity Center is the learning hub of the museum’s innovative workshops, tours, community outreach initiatives, and public programs. Although the Center's physical programming was cancelled, we continued to share educational resources and lessons for all ages through the platform. The account also served as a direct access point to the museum's educational staff, to answer questions and provide assistance to parents and teachers working on provided activities with their children and students.

Additionally, we opened a new virtual exhibition featuring works in the collection by artist Tracey Moffatt in the existing digital gallery on Instagram @TheBassSquared. In addition to coordinating the posting and maintenance of the ehibition on the Instagram account, I also secured a media partner, The New Tropic, and organized a virtual opening reception and live Zoom talk with our curator. Other social campaigns I concepted with my team for this virtual effort included the daily ‘Cafecito Break’ posts of art highlights at 3:05 p.m. each day.

The following links highlight a selection of lesson plans, activity guides, programming, and other components my team and I created to comprise The [Virtual] Bass from March to September 2020.