Just last week, the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) predicted as many as 30 per cent of American museums could permanently close due to COVID-19. It is with great sadness to report that they were not wrong, with the pandemic starting to take its first victims.
The Museum of Artwork and Digital Entertainment (MADE) based in Oakland California, has been popular with gamers all over the world since opening 10 years ago. The non-profit museum takes visitors on a journey of video game nostalgia, with more than 40 thousand memorabilia to see. There is also a library of 11 thousand video games to play, as well as sneak-peak previews of how video games are made.
Just like all other attractions in the USA, MADE was forced to close its doors in March due to COVID-19. In Summer, the museum was given the green-light to reopen with a significantly reduced capacity. However, with 80 per cent of the museum’s funds coming from admissions, it is sadly facing the bleak prospect of permanent closure and having no choice but to put the thousands of exhibits into storage.
The plan is to keep current exhibits in storage for the next two years, as MADE raises funds to create an even better online game museum at a different location. Storage is to be paid by donations to the museum.
The MADE website reads: “We are so grateful for any amount you are able to contribute. The MADE would not exist without our amazing, generous community. You help us preserve the magic of video games for the next generation. The MADE still has plenty of extra lives saved up, and they’re all thanks to you.”
Donations to the Oakland museum can be made here.
Elsewhere, take a look at AAM’s $25 Special Membership to help museums recover from COVID-19.
