Museum of Us

The new name represents a commitment to equity, access, and our decolonizing/anti-racism work a journey that has been ongoing since our mission shift and will continue into the future. This change means holding ourselves accountable to our colonial past and present, so that we can transform into a more equitable organization. We must do better for our community and future generations. Our organizational practices, policies, and culture are changing to reflect the requests and needs of our internal and external communities. These shifts result from the guidance of our partners: elders, artists, community members, ambassadors, and scholars within Black, Indigenous, and communities of color.After a prolonged California state mandated pandemic closure, we reopened in April 2021, and are welcoming approximately 100K visitors annually. This number represents a new business model where we are opened to the public five days per week, as compared to seven pre-pandemic. Almost 20% of this total is admitted free of charge or through scholarships. The audience identifies as follows: (1) Average age 35.5, (2) Female 51%, (3) White/Caucasian 46%, (4) African American 6%, (5) Hispanic/Latino 29%, (6) Asian 11%, and (7) Other, including Native American 8%. Geographic distribution: (1) San Diego County - 39%, (2) Rest of California 14%, (3) Rest of the United States 31%, and (4) International 16%.The Museum holds accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. On January 25, 2018, the Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego awarded the Museum its Kaleidoscope Award for good governance. Charity Navigator rates the Museum at four out of four stars, and has done so for seven consecutive years.In recent years, a cluster of social justice oriented exhibits, which include Race: Are We So Different?, Hostile Terrain 94, and Maya Peoples: Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth are representative of our overall work to offer community driven programming which centers the voices of communities that have not been typically represented in museums historically. In addition to on-site offerings, we offer a selection of digital exhibits on the Googles Arts and Culture app. The Museum is also home to the iconic California Tower, which we opened to guided public tours in 2015.Our Cultural Resources Department (previously known as the Collections Department) is tasked with caring for more than 131,000 documented ethnographic materials, more than 350,000 archaeological cultural resources, and over 100,000 photographic images; all stewarded within a decolonized paradigm. To that end, the Museum passed policies in 2017 and 2018 that require documented consent from descendent communities to hold human remains or any indigenous belongings at the Museum. These policies commit the Museum to repatriating any indigenous item that it holds without such consent. Since 2017, weve been working with our Kumeyaay partners, other Native American communities, and indigenous peoples across the world to put these policies into action.