by zeyi huang
Holly Shen is deputy director of the San Jose Museum of art. She is a leader proficient in art and culture with multidisciplinary experience in production of shows and exhibitions, strategic thinking, audience participation and creative marketing, social impact, and digital content and storytelling. Be inspired by art, technology and new perspectives to promote fair access to artistic and creative learning opportunities.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, the city’s income has dropped significantly which directly affected the normal operation of the museum. The museum chooses to close and open digital program. However, SJMA is located in Silicon Valley and take the advantage of that. The digital catalog of the museum was opened in advance by using resource from Silicon Valley.
Comparing virtual museums and physical museums, Holly Shen thinks that no virtual product can replace people and things，but they will become an integral part of our museum. She mention that Virtual projects should be used to make people love museums more instead of losing interest in it. SJMA will open a virtual gallery tour which might be a program that exist after reopening the museum. This is for the people who can come to the museum.
