*This article was originally published on the BigWing blog.

Let’s talk about this pandemic.

We can’t do so many things right now: have porch beers with our friends during this fleeting near-perfect Oklahoma weather, or celebrate our birthdays and anniversaries surrounded by all our pals on the kitschy artificial grass of R&J Supper Club, or meander through cultural hot spots while we pretend to understand the artwork.

In short: Everything’s been kind of a bummer.

The coronavirus and COVID-19 have us planted at home, waiting for the tide to turn and life to go back to normal. It’s taken a toll on many businesses, as restaurants shutter either temporarily or permanently, grocery stores constrict hours of operation, and brick-and-mortars scramble to launch online shops and curbside services to keep business moving.

But, through the doom and gloom, one beacon of optimism shines particularly bright for me: Oklahoma museums. As a digital marketer, I’m in awe of their resilience, ingenuity, and adaptability as they find new ways to engage the public without actually opening their doors to the public.

Social posts from the following museums have bubbled to the top of my timeline because of their crazy-good engagement: National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the Philbrook Museum of Art, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. To simplify this blog post a little, I focus mainly on Twitter (where I spend the most time), but these museums engage audiences across all social platforms.

Now let’s forget our coronavirus worries for a sec and see how these museums have used a pandemic as a catalyst to engage with their audiences in new ways.