What is a Jewish museum?

The Jewish Museums Project deems all professionally run Jewish museums and Holocaust museums, as well as a grouping of art, children’s, and immigration museums, as Jewish museums. This institutional mosaic comes together around a 2011 reference by noted museum scholar and curator Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett who defined Jewish museums as those “created more or less by, more or less for, and more or less about Jews.”

What is The Jewish Museums Project?

An initiative of jMUSE, The Jewish Museums Project is a web publication that explores how museums, archives, and libraries use their unique strengths and collections to spotlight Jewish history and culture, confront antisemitism, and create lasting change.

The Jewish Museums Project focuses on the work of Jewish museums around the world. The site includes carefully curated resources, collection and exhibition analysis, historical perspective, and contemporary discourse; supports the dissemination of knowledge and works to ensure that Jewish museums can continue to serve as the backbone of Jewish cultural engagement in communities around the world; and invites online visitors to learn more about the vast potential of these institutions.

About jMUSE

jMUSE is a venture in arts and culture philanthropy that brings together institutions, experts, and philanthropists to experiment with new ways to present important ideas and innovative content across the United States and Europe.

Visit jMUSE.org for more information. Reach out to us at [email protected] with your questions.