Phillip Ratliff
We surveyed teachers about their field trip plans for FY22. Here's what we learned.
Through an informal poll, Backstory recently asked educators about their field trip plans for next school year. The question was a simple...
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Phillip Ratliff
Will field trips return to pre-COVID levels in 2022?
I’ve reached out to colleagues on both sides of the field trip aisle. On the provider side, there were museum administrators. They have...
Phillip Ratliff
Launching an exhibit is about people and process
Creating an exhibit is about people: the knowledge they hold and wish to share and the people who will ultimately benefit. But it is also...
Phillip Ratliff
First steps: Designing an exhibit on the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem
Creating an exhibit is a process. To make that process run smoothly, you have to assemble the machinery first. There are committees to...
Phillip Ratliff
Backstory partners with Kelton Design and Landmark Park Interpretive Center
Last fall, Backstory launched its partnership with Landmark Park Interpretive Center in Dothan. Backstory will work with Kelton Design to...
Phillip Ratliff
Alabama Justice completes its statewide tour
This spring, Alabama Justice: The Cases and Faces That Changed A Nation will end its two-year statewide tour to find its home in the...
Phillip Ratliff
New Exhibit: The Vulcans Community Awards On View
The Vulcans Community Awards is the most prestigious recognition of civic pride, leadership, and progress in the seven-county Birmingham...
Phillip Ratliff
Virtual Field Trips for Museums and Historic Sites
How will museums and historic sites continue to offer field trips to students? It’s a question leaders in Alabama’s cultural sector are...
Phillip Ratliff
Free webinar: Financial Triage for COVID-19
The National Association of Certified Analysts and Valuators is offering a free webinar. Financial Triage for COVID-19. This webinar...
Phillip Ratliff
Put down that paintbrush/shovel/scrub brush and read this!
I'm happy to talk about how clients are finding funding and redirecting staff to low-cost interpretive updates and installations with...
Phillip Ratliff
C2CB is providing free consultations to arts and culture nonprofits weathering shutdowns
Client-to-Consultant Bridge (C2CB) is providing pro bono consulting and advisory services to small businesses and arts and culture...
Phillip Ratliff
Free COVID-19 Resources for Arts and Culture Nonprofits
Our friends at the Dance Foundation in Homewood, Alabama have assembled several resources specifically for arts and culture nonprofits as...
Phillip Ratliff
Can you name the Alabama town in which Alabama's first Supreme Court convened? It's not Montgomery.
Formed in 1820 under harsh economic conditions, Alabama’s first Supreme Court would be unrecognizable to us today. To help today’s...
Phillip Ratliff
Beautiful art from some of the world's great museums can be found online
No, digitized images of masterpieces aren't quite the same as the real things. But in the age of self-quarantine, don't let the perfect...
Phillip Ratliff
Museum, Zoo, and Aquarium Fans: Ideas for Coping During Self Quarantine
You’re neither living inside a media bubble nor indifferent to the plight of your neighbor. You know that there’s a pretty scary pandemic...
Phillip Ratliff
"Alabama Justice" exhibit a finalist for the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award
On March 11, the American Bar Association announced that Alabama Justice: The Cases and Faces That Changed a Nation is a finalist for a...
Phillip Ratliff
Exhibit Brief: Alabama Justice
Can the federal government forbid businesses from refusing to serve customers on the basis of race? In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled that...
Phillip Ratliff
Visitation and Value in History Museums and Historic Sites and Houses
Dr. Bob Beatty is a museum consultant from Franklin, TN and on the Johns Hopkins museum studies faculty. In this article, Dr. Beatty runs...
Phillip Ratliff
New Voices. Old problems. A dispatch from the Alabama – Georgia joint museums conference.
The annual state museum conference is a tough sell that just gets tougher. On the face of it, getting away for three days to hear from...
Phillip Ratliff
30,000 foot view: GPS-triggered audio stories
Site interpretation isn’t just about what we take in through our eyeballs. Audio storytelling is a powerful interpretive tool —...