Matt Kirchman

At Johns Hopkins, Matt Kirchman is a lecturer for the MA in Museum Studies program.

Kirchman also is the president and creative director of ObjectIDEA in Salem, Massachusetts. As a museum planning consultant, he works to create compelling, engaging, and memorable museum experiences. He is especially interested and skilled in assisting museums as they consider and design new physical spaces through construction projects, gallery renovations, facilities expansions, and exhibitions.

Prior to creating ObjectIDEA, Kirchman was the manager of interpretation at several notable exhibition planning and design firms in Boston. He also brings an in-house perspective to the planning process by calling on his experience as a designer at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and as an educator for several parks and museums across the United States.

Before entering the museum field, Kirchman was the assistant director of the Southern California Environmental Education and Leadership Foundation and served on the faculty of Northern Illinois University’s laboratory school for environmental, experiential, and adventure education.

A member of The Museum Group and the Praxis Museum Projects Network, two consortiums of museum planning professionals, Kirchman also is the vice president of the New England Museum Association and sits on the steering committee for the American Alliance of Museums’ Independent Museum Professionals network. He is a board member of the National Association for Museum Exhibition.

Kirchman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in visual communication with an emphasis on environmental design and a Master of Science in Education in curriculum and instruction, with an emphasis on interpretation. He earned both degrees at Northern Illinois University.