The Museum Best Practices for Managing Controversy is designed to provide museums and
other cultural institutions of any size or scope with guidelines that can help manage
controversial content and transform controversy into a learning moment about the nature of
diverse opinions and an institution’s ability to address them. This non-binding document of
best practices offers guidance to an institution concerned about or confronted with
accusations of inappropriate, objectionable, or offensive content. Institutions caught in the
frantic environment of controversy can refer to this set of strategies designed to calm the
waters, open space for conversation and learning, and prevent or defuse a potentially volatile
situation through deliberate steps to create meaningful dialogue.