The Dynamics of Community Museums and Their Communities: Museo de las Americas' Spanish Happy Hour Fostering Social Inclusion for the Latino and Denver Metro Area Communitie

Many museums are now aspiring to collaborate and engage with Latino communities and the community as a whole. Due to Museo de las Americas status as a community museum, I predicted that I would find a collaborative effort already occurring between the institution and their community, which can aid in creating a sense of social inclusion by being committed to including diverse voices by having clarity of purpose that makes sense both within the context of the community and the institution itself. I used staff, volunteer and visitor interviews and observations of the program to evaluate the degree of collaboration and the experiences of the visitors, specifically Latinos. I discover the essential factors to genuinely engage community is through building internal capacity to create a community centered mindset and conclude with recommendations for how museums can approach community collaboration and engagement to have a significant social impact.