Gather The Art Of Relevance Formulated By Nina Simon Shown As Textbook

book could have used some editing: probably would have worked as apage version, but what is that even called/how do you publish that Literally the same sentence repeated twice.


The content was good, the metaphor helpful, but I would have liked more organization to the book, which would have helped communicate the content better.
What a great book! Very accessible Simon uses short chapters and plenty of examples to help express the idea of relevance.
How to provide new keys/doorways to your institution, building trust and community, "buying in", etc, I found this incredibly useful and thought provoking in my own work, It now makes me look not just at my programs, but at my building itself, in a new light.
I can see myself referring back to this book many times in my future, Highly recommended, particularly for anyone working in nonprofits/educational institutes, etc, "Communities are people. They are not abstractions. They are not rhetoric. They are human beings. "

Nina Simon has again written a smart, anecdotefilled, activist and I have to say relevant book for all professionals in the arts, culture and heritage who want to invite more people into their world, be more welcoming, and change the world for the better.
The book is a pleasure to read, Short and snappy, its message is crystal clear, and you can get through it in one proper sit.


I'm aware the message of this book will not resonate with everybody, A lot of professionals will disregard the message as just another attempt to turn culture into a tool for social change, which they believe it's not.
Although Simon provides counter arguments to people who feel they and their institutions are already relevant enough, regardless of their relevance to communities, we would be helped by strong voices who repeat the message of the book over and over.
I hope Simon's Participatory Museum fame will help spread her ideas beyond the people like me already believing in them.


What I enjoyed most about the book are the many stories of individuals and institutions making a change by being relevant.
I would have loved to read more international case studies, but I take that as a call to action.


Reading the book, I clearly see how much Simon has grown during her time at the Santa Cruz MAH and I am curious to learn how far her star will continue to rise.
Inspiring. Highly recommended. I am a fan of Simon's work, While she writes mostly about museums, her work and thoughts apply equally across the arts and across ther nonprofit sector.
This book is very conversational, filled with stories and imagery and ideas, but it's also very engrossing and grabbed me from the beginning.
I recommend it to anyone who is thinking about inclusion and community and the dreaded itword "relevance.
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This book doesn't have the academic approach you might be looking for there's no statistical analysis or census data, but what there IS is an approachable narrative style that will get you thinking and ready to implement change.
Nina Simon lives up to her billing as a museum visionary, I was utterly persuaded by her recurring metaphor of"keys and doors" to institutions that admit some communities but appear closed or invisible to others.
The overarching question of The Art of Relevance is this: how does an institution become more important to more people

Her writing style is a little perfunctory idea example.
Idea example but hits every key point: what is the difference between

being relevant and being fashionable What is the difference between what people "want" and what people "need" Is it okay to make our content "fun"

I believe Simon's ideas are applicable to lots of different contexts not solely institutions.
If you want to find a new audience for just about anything, I think this book will help you think outside the box to make it happen.
This book is addressed to museum professionals mostly, It discusses how organizations can matter to their targeted communities, It defines relevance and some interesting concepts insidersoutsiders and illustrates ideas with metaphors key, door, etc, . The most interesting chapter for me was focused on how program activities that are relevant I liked the shift from collections and content to program and format.
It is very clear, easy to read, and the chapters are very short, and the author used many stories and concrete examples.
The main weakness is perhaps that it does not offer many cues like bibliographic references to keep reading about the topic.
Simon's message and approach resonate beyond museum applications, This book is highly relevant sorry! to broader cultural studies fields such as my own: cultural sustainability.
It's so important to engage the communities we work with as partners, . .

Like other reviewers here, I would have appreciated more in terms of theory or citations for publications that informed Simon's thinking.
That said, the book is highly accessible and lays important groundwork that will inspire, I absolutely devoured this book! It is such a breath of fresh air! Full of meaningful insights, quirky witticisms, and relevant case studies, this book shows the importance of making your work relevant to your community, the current zeitgeist, and potential demographics of people! This isn't just for museum people.
Simon distills what it takes to be relevant down to its core, and leaves you with something that can be applied to any endeavor.
If you are working in the public interest, this is a mustread, I saw Nina Simon speak at the ILAConference in Rosemont, She was a fantastic speaker and energizing in how libraries can move into space for the people, rather than we own the space and the people just use it.
Her book was interesting and a recap of her ideas she talked about, but a little too case specific.
A mustread for any institution attempting to reach marginalized populations, Pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did, Only started reading it for a book club at work, and enjoyed the short vignettes on relevance in the public sector.
Each section is pretty short and includes an example of an actual museum or program, so the book flows really well.
Definitely recommend. I was assigned to read this book for class and went into it with the homework mindsetjust get it done.
I was pleasantly surprised, however, This book is essentially one quick case study after case study with very insightful commentary throughout, It is a helpful book for reframing how we relate to others and the world around us.
I recommend reading this book if you are in a profession that requires bringing people into your space or business.
Not a book I would normally pick up, but it left an impact, In a nutshell the message is: does your work have relevance Using case studies nationally and through her own work at the MAH Simon dives into what it means for an organization to be relevant to the community it serves.
I definitely thought about this connects to the world of education, and understood how this impacted the work I did in the classroom.
A good read for someone who wants to understand how to connect with their community, whatever that may be.
The Art of Relevance made some interesting and sometimes profound points that encouraged me to turn my gaze inward and examine where I currently stand and more importantly where I'm willing to go, but it also felt uncomfortably at points like it was preaching to the choir.
I will say that Simon's writing style is infinitely accessible to the seasoned museum professional and wider community members alike.
This isn't the kind of book I normally read, and its utility to my own work and way of being is unclear.
But I picked it up and stuck with it after a recommendation by a graphic design colleague I admire and trust greatly.
The key premise Nina Simon explores here is the importance of finding your mission / purpose, identifying your target communities / audience, then balancing your desire to evangelize about your unique offerings with listening to the needs of your community around your mission.
It's an inevitable push and pull I have great content or artifacts, but I also must constantly look for new ways to make what I have relevant to indeed, in service to you.
This is a book that invites stepping back from the daytoday, I have much to mull over, although my work rarely affords me the opportunity to make the systemic choices that Simon's book nudges creatives to engage.
Still, I enjoyed this different perspective from a person doing quite different work than I, Excellent, thoughtprovoking, and easy to digest, Quite different from the Participatory Museum which has taken me some time to get through, Many chapters are brief and, I believe, former blog posts, Some great examples from the museum field and other areas such as her Dad who is in the band ShaNaNa, how awesome is that to illustrate her points.
One criticism, I do wish the key/door/room theme was not so prevalent because it became hackneyed very quickly.
Sehr interessant und bringt einen zum Nachdenken, wie man seine "Kunden" sieht, . . Teilweise imKapital sehr langatmig, Mit kam es so vor, als hätte die Autorin selbst Schwierigkeiten ihre Gedanken hier in Worte zu fassen.
Aber der Rest holt es wieder raus und es liest sich sehr gut, I feel guilty not giving this bookbecause Simon has enabled anyone to read it for FREE, which is wonderfully generous.
It's a nice companion to Simon's "Participatory Museum," which focuses on interactive strategies for all sorts of museum exhibitions, programs, collections, PR, etc.
, you name it. This book is more focused on how to find out what sorts of communities plural by all definitions could find resonance with your institution, and how to go about finding those communities, learning from them, inviting them in, and sustaining their engagement.
The book is a bit repetitive, and I wish Simon would go deeper with some ideas and examples.
There's an overall perspective of "this didn't work" but "this did work" case closed, And that might be due to Simon's very accessible writing style, But a lot of the organizations that she mentioned and that I looked up hadn't been around very long so I wondered how sustainable they would be.
And I would like to see some critical analysis of these organizations things can't always bepositive, right What are some of the hiccups and/or failures that come about from changing things And how does an organization gain a longerterm perspective on the benefits it offers its community I was probably seeking something a bit more research based and nuanced.
But that said, Simon provides some great steps on how to think about and change your museum's "relevance.
" So I'm glad I read it, I really love the way that Nina Simon writes this book is such an easy and fun read, which makes it fantastic because now everyone in museumland can read this and DO this.
. I wish. I so deeply agree with all of The Art of Relevance, but it makes me so sad that so much of this is not happening in museums and I am too small a person to make it happen.
Oh, if only I were a director, .

Sidenote: I really missed the academic underpinnings in this book, Although now it really was an easy read, a lot of times I felt like Simon could have gone a bit deeper into the material, the theory especially, to give her arguments more depth.
In the chapters on insiders/outsiders, for example, I really would have welcomed her views on Bourdieu, who seems implicitly there in her writing in this bit.
In short, I would have liked a bit more references, to see where Simon is coming from as well as be able to read more indepth about certain themes.


But all in all: definitely a mustread and mustdo! for every museum professional, .