too , requires change and agility . Museums are pursuing what are known as empathetic approaches , representing the whole community and making a space for all . Applying the perspectives of contemporary artists and designers to solutions , connectivity , and storytelling creates rich conversations about resilience , place and identity — conversations that empower positive ideas for the future .
The latest trend in business is to apply design thinking outside of its originating field . Design is about applying a method for solving difficult and chaotic problems and a conscious effort to apply meaningful order across disparate ideas . Some of the things I ’ ve valued in managing change are creativity , lateral thinking , intuition , and being solution-focused . Empathy , integrative thinking , optimism , experimentalism , and collaboration are the qualities I embrace as I work to steward and ensure a relevant institution .
Information , artifacts , activities , services , systems , and environments are all part of the scope of leadership to examine , reconsider and shape . Iteration is key — it ’ s important to continually examine our approaches , our work and ourselves in ways that can lead to exceptional team performance . In managing change and understanding relevance , experimentalism is not about inventing chaos . It is about discovering success and failure — both of which have value in how we learn , how we move forward , and how we best tell the stories of our place .
I ’ m interested in how the Museum can be a conduit , a provocateur , a shepherd , and a motivator . I see the need to embrace ambiguity , seek opportunity , tame chaos , and empower ideas . Internally and externally , museums should be continually prototyping a more desirable future . The new wing of the Museum gives form to ideas and provides an anchor for the city to convey a hopeful future . A thriving museum is a sign of a thriving community . Change is a constant . Change makers are those who see opportunity and encourage optimism — for all that we can imagine .
Julie Decker , PhD , is the Director / CEO of the Anchorage Museum in Alaska , which is a leading center for scholarship , engagement , and investigation of Alaska and the North . Decker ’ s career has been focused on the people and environment of Northern places and building projects and initiatives that are in service to local and global communities . Before becoming Director / CEO , Decker served as the Museum ’ s Chief Curator . She has a doctorate in art history , a master ’ s degree in arts administration , and bachelor degrees in fine arts and journalism . She has curated and designed numerous exhibitions , taught classes , and authored and edited numerous publications on subjects ranging from contemporary art and architecture of the North to many aspects of the Arctic environment and histories .
Julie Decker , PhD Director / CEO Anchorage Museum
jdecker @ anchoragemuseum . org 16 APR-JUN 2018