Here is innovation number 3 – museum pop-ups. Pop-ups are a common trend in many industries and have gained traction for museums, which allow them to reach a wider audience. Can’t travel to the museum? We will travel to you.

Just landed here? Check out past museum innovations that we have highlighted including augmented reality & virtual reality.

3: Pop-up museums

No longer limited to restaurants and retail, pop-up museums have sprouted up across the US as well as in international markets. These pop-ups, limited engagement exhibits either on- or off-site, provide a glimpse at either a short-run standalone exhibition, or function as a preview for a future engagement. Not to mention, they create a ton of FoMO among potential visitors.

How are museums using pop-ups?

One example we’re quite fond of took place in our home city Denver starting in fall of 2017: in one-month increments, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science rolled out a “Science on the Spot” exhibit series. These temporary displays explored things like how a giraffe’s heart pumps blood up its long neck, or how a cheetah is able to run so fast. In this case, the pop-ups are contained in one gallery within the museum building. But in other cases, organizations like the Jewish Museum Frankfurt have constructed pop-ups in public squares to build interest in museum programs.

Note: we know a thing or two about pop-ups, so if this is something you’re looking at for 2018, we’d love to talk about it.