Transformative Front‐End Evaluation: A Strategy for Centering Racially Minoritized Communities When Defining “Successful” Museums and Engagement

ABSTRACT Museums have been called to fundamentally reimagine institutions, practices, and offerings to center racially minoritized and Indigenous communities and take meaningful action for racial equity and justice. In this article, we advance a transformative approach to front‐end evaluation as a strategy that can shape the transformation of museum practices and help museums cocreate new offerings and opportunities with racially minoritized and Indigenous communities. We focus specifically on how transformative front‐end evaluation can be leveraged to (re)define “successful” museums, visitation, and engagement and specify criteria to guide design, implementation, and evaluation of museum exhibitions, programs, and experiences. We share two case examples of how transformative front‐end evaluation has been used to deepen understanding of the perspectives and priorities of racially minoritized communities and (re)define successful engagement and conclude with implications and next steps for the museum field and beyond.