COVID-19 has changed the landscape of our industry. Thousands of highly experienced, passionate museum professionals with tremendous expertise are currently unemployed or underemployed. Although separated from their institutions, these professionals believe museums still have the ability to contribute to their communities positively—and many have a desire and a drive to continue to contribute to the field.

On the flipside, many museums and like-minded institutions are reopening with limited resources and severely reduced staff. It is to address this unique situation that I have founded MuseumExpert.org. This free service is now live online and ready to connect industry experts with the museum leaders who need them. Museums can now search for professionals—locally or internationally—who may be available to help on short-term projects or to fill temporary gaps at a time when making new full-time hires may not be possible.

This product is clearly fulfilling a need. One week after the launch we were able to establish a partnership with the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and so far our site has been visited 4500 times by 3100 unique visitors. As of today, 543 people have registered as experts.

Walter Staveloz

Founder MuseumExpert.org