Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Art is redesigning its extensive grounds with an eye toward how public interaction with museums is shifting. Inclusion, sustainability, and brand development are paramount.

The outdoor areas next to museums and cultural institutions often feel like afterthoughts, as if to remind passers-by that the real treasures are inside. In Raleigh, the North Carolina Museum of Art wants to change that with a 17-acre, $13 million park project that will be a focal point for visitors.
The space will function as a park rather than an outdoor gallery. "'We are dead set against overpopulating this area with works of art,' said Lawrence J. Wheeler, the museum's director. 'We are not trying to create a sculpture garden but a unifying idea of what people perceive as a museum and what they perceive as a park.'"
J. Peder Zane discusses a shift in how the public interacts with museums, away from exclusive "fine arts" and toward a more multifaceted experience. "For many museums, this means viewing everything they do — the buildings they commission, the meals they serve, the gifts they sell — as integral to their mission. Instead of treating amenities as necessary evils, the institutions see them as opportunities to develop a museum brand."
FULL STORY: A Park as an Extension of the Museum Itself

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

Making Mobility More Inclusive
A new study highlights the challenges people with disabilities continue to face in navigating urban spaces.

Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.

USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure
If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service