NAGPRA Regulations Training, Fall 2024
Brought to AAMG by the Association on American Indian Affairs
September 17 & October 1, 2024
September 17
Part 1: Introduction to the new NAGPRA regulations and how to read and interpret the law.
The new NAGPRA regulations have finally synced the intent of the legislation with appropriate implementation. The new regulations were intended to correct the old regulations, which had developed into burdensome practices that conflicted with the law. Understanding the underlying purpose and concepts of the law and new regulations is the starting point to resolve any question on how to move the repatriation process forward. There will be a Q&A period.
October 1
Part 2: Introduction to the new NAGPRA regulations repatriation process, step-by-step.
With a firm understanding of the purpose and concepts in NAGPRA, the regulations’ step-by-step process will provide a clear and efficient way forward. If time allows, we hope to hear feedback on what your institutions may still be struggling with, considering that the new regulations are intended to lessen costs and provide clear timelines.
Interested in the recordings for these sessions? Reach out to Alexandra at aacademicmg(at)gmail(dot)com.
Museums Today: Collections Management as Critical Museum Work
Virtual, Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 6-7 p.m. EDT
There is a common misconception that collections management in museums is a set of rote procedures or technical practices that follow universal standards of best practice. Collections Management as Critical Museum Practice challenges this notion — recognizing collections management as a political, critical and social project involving considerable intellectual labor, which often goes unacknowledged within institutions and in the fields of museum and heritage studies.
About Cara Krmpotich
Cara Krmpotich is a professor of museum studies in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. Her research, teaching and professional practice are in the areas of collections management, repatriation, Indigenous and community collaboration, and digital heritage.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with the The George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum. Browse upcoming programs
The AAMG 2025 Conference Committee invited members to attend one of two listening sessions this month as they prepare the 2025 Call for Proposals in advance of next year’s gathering at the University of New Mexico. These open Listening Sessions were held on Sept 12th and 18th both at noon EST.
The Launchpad
Navigating the Ecosystem of Museum Careers
September 10, 6:00pm EST/5:00pm CST
We hosted “Navigating the Ecosystem of Museum Careers” where we explored the multifaceted roles and opportunities within the museum sector. This comprehensive program will provide an in-depth look at how different positions within museums interconnect and contribute to the overall mission of preserving and showcasing our cultural heritage. You’ll gain valuable insights into the diverse career paths available and how each role plays a crucial part in the museum ecosystem.
The Launchpad
Switching Planes: Harnessing Transferable Skills for Success
April 23, 6:00pm EST/5:00pm CST
Discover practical strategies from industry leaders for leveraging your unique skill set within and outside the museum realm. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the field, this discussion will provide valuable insights, empowering you to navigate career transitions with confidence. Learn how to recognize and apply your transferable skills effectively, communicate them to potential employers, and open doors to exciting opportunities. Don’t miss this chance to broaden your horizons and elevate your career journey.
Museums Today: NAGPRA Compliance, Meaningful Collaboration, and Transparency in Exhibitions
Wednesday, April 17, 6PM EDT
https://vimeo.com/user110969677
Despite the 1990 passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and 2023 revisions explicitly prohibiting the display of NAGPRA-protected objects, many museums persist in exhibiting them. Communicating NAGPRA’s importance to the public remains a complex challenge for numerous institutions.
Cat Shteynberg, assistant director and curator of exhibitions at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, will present their 2023 exhibition, “The Repatriation of Archaeology and Native Peoples of Tennessee.” Here, over 300 unprovenanced and/or NAGPRA-protected items were removed from a longstanding permanent gallery. Employing Stephen Lubar’s notion of “exhibiting emptiness,” the museum transformed the space into dialogue on repatriation in collaboration with Native partners and the University of Tennessee’s Office of Repatriation.
While addressing problematic displays transparently poses challenges, it also cultivates collaboration and trust with Native Nation partners. Shteynberg’s insights from the exhibition will fuel discussions on the ethical responsibilities of museum professionals grappling with problematic collecting and exhibition practices.
About Catherine Shteynberg
Catherine (Cat) Shteynberg is assistant director and curator of exhibitions at the McClung Museum, University of Tennessee (UT). She holds a M.Sc. in material anthropology and museum ethnography from University of Oxford, and has 18 years of experience in curatorial, administrative and educational roles in institutions including the Hood Museum of Art and the Smithsonian. Her work focuses on museums and community building, repatriation, and the social lives of objects. Shteynberg has curated over 20 exhibitions and is currently co-curating Homelands: Connecting to Mounds through Native Art (2025) with Native Nation co-curators and partners from UT.
Museums Today: Why Cultural Heritage Belongs in the Climate Conversation
Wednesday, February 21, 6pm EDT
Climate change is not just a story of the degradation of our environment. It threatens the very things that make us who we are: our culture, our connection to the past, our identities. Cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, also holds information about adapting to climate change that cannot be found in traditional climate science.
About Grace Bowie
Grace Bowie is a marketing and communications professional based in Washington, D.C. She is passionate about impactful, independent storytelling at the nexus of nature, culture and conservation. She has worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations, including Jackson Wild, National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Sundance Film Festival and more, helping to elevate their digital storytelling.
Museums Today: Art Works: How Organizers and Artists are Creating a Better World
Wednesday, January 24, 6pm EDT
Behind the scenes, artists, organizers, political activists and philanthropists have worked together to hone powerful strategies for achieving the kind of world we want and need. Join author Ken Grossinger for a discussion of the role of museums in these environments.
In Grossinger’s book Art Works: How Organizers and Artists are Creating a Better World, he shares histories, examples and strategies affirming how the visual and performing arts further social justice goals. Drawing from historical and present-day examples – including Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, the Hip Hop Caucus, the Legacy Museum and the Art for Justice Fund – Grossinger offers a rich tapestry of tactics and successes that speak directly to the challenges and needs of today’s activists and of these political times.
Museums Today: Storytelling in Museums
Wednesday, November 29, 6pm EDT
Editor Adina Langer had a discussion of the book Storytelling in Museums. With chapters written by a diverse set of practitioners from across the museum field and around the world, the book explores the efficacy and ethics of storytelling in museums.
Storytelling in Museums shows how museums use personal, local and specific stories to make visitors feel welcome, while inspiring them to engage with new ideas and unfamiliar situations. The book also explores the responsibilities of museum practitioners toward the storytellers included in their narratives and how those responsibilities shift over time and manifest in different contexts.
The book’s 18 chapters represent a conversation among a diverse set of professionals for whom storytelling connotes their daily museum practice. As educators, collectors, curators, designers, marketers, researchers, planners and collaborators, the authors of this book consider the “real work” of storytelling from every angle.
Museums Today: This is America: Re-Viewing the Art of the United States
Wednesday, October 18, 6pm EDT
This Is America: Re-Viewing the Art of the United States is a new, inclusive introduction to American visual culture from early history to the present. Reimagining the traditional survey of American art, the book provides expanded coverage of underrepresented stories through the inclusion of marginalized makers, diverse media and vast geographic regions. By combining close visual and historical analyses with discussion of how works of art operated within specific cultural contexts and for us today, this publication prioritizes art’s critical role in social discourse.
The Launchpad: Building a Team Culture
Tuesday, Sept 12 – 6PM EST
What is the staff culture like at your museum? If you are a supervisor, how do you foster a collaborative team environment that elevates inclusion, professional growth and creativity? How are new staff welcomed into the existing museum “family” and how can leadership support this process?
Whether you’re a curator, an educator, an administrator, or anyone passionate about the cultural sector, attend this program for information and insight into crafting a team culture where all staff feel included, supported, and heard. Join the panelists as they explore the synergy between professional practice, camaraderie, and innovation, and discuss the creation of a museum environment where not only the exhibits shine, but the teams behind them shine even brighter.
2023 Resume Review and Panel Discussion
Tuesday, April 26 – 6PM EST
SEMC and AAMG teamed up again to present this engaged program to help emergent members of either organization make moves in their careers and connect with colleagues as they prepare to enter the field.
In this installment of The Launchpad, panelists discussed different types of museum staff cultures and structures, how to decipher/deconstruct a job description and understand an organizational chart.
Members Only: Field Wide Survey Results Overview with Susie Wilkening
Thursday, April 13 – 2PM EST
Remember that survey we asked you to take in 2022? Almost 200 academic institutions responded, and Wilkening Consulting has been working rapidly to compile all the results for us!
Susie Wilkening held a members-only webinar to present these results on April 13th at 2PM EST. Are you a member and missed this webinar? Would you like to view the recording? Reach out to aacademicmg[at]gmail[dot]com today!
Museums Today: Understanding Endowments and Ethics in Museums
April – Wednesday, April 12 – 6PM EDT
What are endowments? Rebekah Beaulieu, author of the recently published Endowment Essentials for Museums, will introduce the topic of museum endowments with a particular focus on the innovative ways that endowments can support your museum’s mission, from ESG (environmental, social and governance-oriented) investing to divestment.
From negotiating endowment terms with donors to advocating for your endowment with a college or university administration, this session is designed for participants of all abilities to further their understanding of endowments.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Museums Today: Climate Action, Human Rights and Museums
February – Wednesday, February 15 – 3PM EST
Climate action in museums is often thought of as either reducing the resources museums use in their operations, or in terms of educating the public. In this virtual talk, museum consultant Henry McGhie demonstrates that climate action is about much more. Learn how human rights and sustainable development approaches reinforce the call for climate action – and why museums as public institutions should be doing more to support the response.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Curating the American Past
November – Wednesday, November 16 – 6PM EDT
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Author Pete Daniel discussed Curating the American Past, a memoir following a quarter century as curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Increasingly during his decades at the Smithsonian, demanding donors and compliant museum administrators ignored museum standards and forced celebratory exhibits on the museum, demonstrating a startling lack of vision. In contrast, Daniel staunchly defended museum standards and insisted that American history is not altogether celebratory. By the time he retired in 2010, he feared that the museum had lost its integrity.
In this virtual talk, Daniel explained the work of collecting and preparing exhibitions for a national museum, but also the daily routine of inquiries, attention to accession files, sometimes “deadly” meetings, mentoring museum fellows and more.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
The Launchpad with SEMC, Fall 2022
AAMG and SEMC teamed up again Fall 2022 to bring you another installment of The Launchpad!
Taking Off: Reconnecting, Negotiating, and Stepping Into New Roles
Wednesday, November 9 – 6PM EDT
During this moderated discussion we heard from mid-career professionals who recently changed roles and advocated for themselves to reconnect with the field. We gained valuable knowledge from these colleagues on three primary topics:
- How to reconnect with your position, your institution, and your colleagues to combat burnout,
- How to negotiate professional growth time and enhance your work environment, and
- How to step into a new role with knowledge and confidence.
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 – 12PM EDT
In association with AAM’s Environment and Climate Network, this webinar will discuss both the unique internally directed and externally focused efforts that academic museums and galleries can consider; how to contribute to community education about sustainability and environmental justice while also working to alter internal policies, transition facilities and infrastructure, and begin to address Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions while providing valuable data as they undertake divestment and campus-wide conversions from fossil fuels. This session will also explore how campus sustainability or energy offices can support museums in making transitions and what we, as a field, can do to inform and advocate for the role of museums in this process.
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 – 6PM EDT
Museums Today: What do we mean by impact?
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Considering international examples, Kit Matthew invites you to explore ways to more proactively and explicitly demonstrate and communicate the benefits of museums to communities. This discussion is grounded in Matthew’s 2021 book Fundraising for Impact In Libraries, Archives and Museums.
In today’s dynamic times, an external focus is essential to remain viable and relevant to both communities and funders of all types. This talk will explore how to re-orient planning, operations and fundraising towards a common language and practices drawn from philanthropy, community development and grassroots organizing. Matthew will also identify the differences between transactional outputs and transformative outcomes that shape expectations, processes and investments.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 – 6PM EDT
Museums Today: Queering the Museum
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Join Nikki Sullivan and Craig Middleton for a discussion of their book. Queering the Museum develops a queer analysis of the ways in which museums construct themselves, their core business and their publics through the, often unconscious, use of inherited ways of knowing and doing.
Providing a critique of both the practices and conventions associated with the modern public museum, and the ontological assumptions that inform them, the authors consider recent discourse around inclusion in museums and explore the ways this has been taken up in practice. Highlighting the limits of particular approaches to inclusion, and the failure to move away from a traditional museological paradigm, the authors outline an alternative critical museological approach that they refer to as “queer.”
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 6pm EST
Museums Today: Museums Becoming Good Ancestors in This Disrupted World
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Linda Norris offered insights on what we can learn from our colleagues in Ukraine as they mobilize to protect people and institutions. Norris will also suggest ways that all of us can be useful to our Ukrainian colleagues as they undertake this work in the most difficult of circumstances — literally under military attack.
Norris completed a Fulbright scholarship in Ukraine and for 13 years has returned periodically to teach at universities, facilitate workshops all over the country and work on special projects including the co-authorship of a 2017 report on Ukraine’s cultural heritage. She has just returned from the Czech Republic and has gained additional perspectives on the deep engagement of Eastern European museums with Ukraine.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 6pm EST
The Launchpad: Landing the Job
To all those who joined us on The Launchpad this spring-THANK YOU! We had so much fun putting this all together and because of its success, we are looking to how we can continue to grow this programming. Thank you to the Southeastern Museums Conference for partnering with us!
If you missed take off this spring, you can check out the recording of our “Landing the Job” webinar here:
Wednesday, March 23, 2022, 6pm EST
Museums Today: Museums Becoming Good Ancestors in This Disrupted World
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Randi Korn and Emlyn Koster discussed museums’ relevance and purpose with a long-view perspective of our world and our impact on it.
To be “a good ancestor” is an outlook that originated with Dakota elders. With similar aspirations, a century ago John Cotton Dana urged museums to fit themselves to the needs of their communities. As this century began Stephen Weil lamented that museums lack metrics to gauge their external value.
With today’s world facing unprecedented environmental and societal crises, a long-view ethos in the museum profession would strengthen its values, missions, visions, strategies and ultimately impacts. Museums will need to make profound gearshifts to illuminate humanity’s disruption of the Earth’s natural state – reimagining the nature and purpose of their collections, research, exhibitions, programs, development, marketing and messaging.
This collegial exchange between a geological thinker (Koster) and an impact-driven thinker (Korn) assert that the museum profession would benefit from a fresh and holistic outlook–one that blurs the traditional boundaries between museum types and the associations that represent them.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 6pm EST
Museums Today: Advocating for Diversity and Inclusion in Museum Boards
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Omar Eaton-Martinez discussed advocating for change in museums’ boards of trustees. Eaton-Martinez will share some of the lessons learned working with the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) to implement the pilot program “Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity and Inclusion” – an unprecedented national initiative to diversify museum boards and leadership.
A key finding of AAM’s commissioned report Museum Board Leadership 2017 was that museum directors and board chairs believe in diversity and inclusion, but have not taken the time to strategically address the issues. Eaton-Martinez and the other Diversity Fellows provided tailored support for the 55 museum boards participating in the pilot program. Through a systematic, multi-tiered effort, “Facing Change” aims to catalyze museum leaders to develop and implement measurable plans and practices across the field.
In this talk, Eaton-Martinez also discussed the status of DEAI and the career landscape for those entering museum professions.
About Omar Eaton-Martinez
Omar Eaton-Martinez leads the Prince George’s County Historical Resources, which include historical house museums, an aviation museum, a mobile museum, the Black History Program and archeological parks. He has had leading roles in racial equity organizations including Museums and Race: Transformation and Justice, and Museum Hue, and participated in the Museum as Site for Social Action project. Eaton-Martinez was also an AAM DEAI Facing Change Senior Fellow and is a gubernatorial appointee to the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His research focuses on the intersections of museums and race. Omar is the host of The Museum J.E.D.I. Show podcast that has discussions on the intersections of museums and social justice.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Wednesday, January 19, 2022, 6pm EST
Museums Today: 1000 Ways to Reshape the Future of Museums
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
This virtual discussion focused on the future of museums with Mike Murawski, museum consultant and author of Museums as Agents of Change. Museums have the potential to be transformative, human-centered spaces of connection, care, listening, justice and community power. It is up to us to embrace our role as agents of change and be a part of the collective effort to reshape their futures. Murawski talks about some of the ways, big and small, that we can take action and start that change right now.
About Mike Murawski
After more than 20 years of work in education and museums, Mike Murawski is an outspoken advocate for transformation across the museum field. He is the author of Museums as Agents of Change: A Guide to Becoming a Changemaker (2021) and is co-producer of Museums Are Not Neutral, a global advocacy campaign calling for equity-based transformation across museums. In 2016 he co-founded Super Nature Adventures LLC, a place-based education and creative design agency that partners with parks, government agencies, schools and non-profits to expand learning in the outdoors and public spaces.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with The George Washington University Museums. Browse upcoming programs
Tuesday, December 14, 2021, 11 am PST/2pm EST
Polaris Open House
Visit the Polaris Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Invest in yourself!
Take charge of your career and boost your leadership development with personalized, one-on-one mentorship with POLARIS: The Museum Mentor Network.
AAMG and POLARIS are partnering to help you to kick-start your professional goal-setting and make connections just in time for the 2022 New Year. As a registered POLARIS member, you’ll join a community of practice with other academic museum and gallery colleagues who are offering/seeking three-month mentoring partnerships, and short-term career support. Whether you’re looking to grow your institution, preparing to jump into a new role, or land your first museum job, POLARIS offers the tools and resources to assist you to reach your goals. Best of all, POLARIS is FREE.
Open House Webinar and Q&A: Academic Museums and Galleries Professionals
Drop in for this session to learn more about the POLARIS platform and the online mentoring program with Toni Guglielmo, Ph.D. Director, Museum Leadership Institute, and Kristina L. Durocher, President of AAMG, and Director of the Museum of Art of the University of New Hampshire.
Set your professional goals for 2022 and connect with other AAMG members. Webinar registration required. This webinar will be recorded.
Wednesday, September 22, 2021, 6PM EDT
Museums Today: Why Monetizing University Museum Collections Is A Bad Idea
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
The pandemic upended the business model of many institutions of higher education and independent museums, revealing unsustainable financial and operational structures and leaving many vulnerable to chasing short-term and short-sighted fixes, such as monetizing their collections.
This presentation seeks to recenter the purpose of academic museum collections, asserting their value to the academy and clarifying ethical collection management practices, including the use of proceeds from deaccessioning, to reinforce academic museums’ primary responsibilities to care, research, interpret and exhibit collections held in the public trust.
Association of Academic Museums and Galleries board members Kristina Durocher and John Wetenhall will explain why AAMG assumed a leadership role in condemning monetization of collections, encouraging responsible deaccessioning and endorsing the use of deaccessioning proceeds for progressive purposes, including restitution and repatriation.
This program is highly recommended for college and university museum professionals, as well as students seeking to understand the principles underlying the deaccessioning debates.
This program is a collaboration with The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.
About Kristina Durocher
Kristina Durocher is director of the Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire. She is also president of the board of directors for the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, and serves as a vice-president on the board of directors of the New England Museum Association.
About John Wetenhall
John Wetenhall (Ph.D., M.B.A.) is co-chair of the Task Force for the Protection of University Collections and AAMG’s vice president for strategic planning. He currently directs The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, with an appointment on GW’s Museum Studies graduate faculty. He is a longtime museum director and writes frequently on the ethics, values and “business” of museums.
About the Museums Today Series
Each month during the academic year, museum leaders lead lively online discussions about critical issues in the field. This series is presented in partnership with the The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. Browse upcoming programs
Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 6pm EST
Museums Today: What is a Museum?
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
“What is a museum” is a question that has long challenged museum professionals around the world. Are museums places of research, object care, community, public trust, inclusion, education, cultural heritage, humanity or something more? Today, the International Council of Museums is working with the global museum community to update the definition that has set the standard since 2007. Join Kathy Dwyer Southern and William Underwood Eiland for a lively, interactive discussion as we debate the seminal question, “What is a museum.”
About Kathy Dwyer Southern
Kathy Dwyer Southern serves on the faculty of GW’s Museum Studies Program. She is president of the board of the Biggs Museum of American Art in Delaware and was formerly president and CEO of the National Children’s Museum in D.C. Her board affiliations include the International Council of Museums-US and the American Alliance of Museums, among others.
About William Underwood Eiland
William Underwood Eiland is director of the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia, and a trustee of the International Council of Museums. Dr. Eiland has served on the boards of the American Alliance of Museums, the Southeastern Museums Conference and the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries, and was a trustee of the Association of Art Museum Directors.
This event was presented by AAMG in partnership with The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.
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Wednesday, March 24, 2021, 6pm EST
Museums Today: The Resilience Playbook
Visit The George Washington University Museum’s Vimeo page by clicking here to access this recorded session.
Times of extraordinary change demand flexibility, humility, perseverance, self-reflection and a responsiveness to a complex confluence of realities by museum leaders. Agile leadership requires mapping out meaningful, relevant, and financially viable paths forward to achieve greater public impact, inclusion, and value through resilience practices. Resilience strategies require rethinking long-held approaches and tackling embedded exclusionary, colonial ideologies, and outmoded practices to establish more flexible, inclusive, and responsive frameworks that better align with external realities. This session will explore strategies to achieve greater relevance in the lives of diverse publics and in the community ecosystem. The three authors of The Resilience Playbook (2020) will highlight its core ideology based on 5 interrelated goals that frame strategies tied to increasing inclusion, community value, institutional impact, financial alignment, and leadership agility.
Anne W. Ackerson is a former history museum director and director of the Museum Association of New York. As an independent consultant, she specializes in leadership, governance, and management issues. She is the co-author of Leadership Matters: Leading Museums in an Age of Discord and Women in the Museum: Lessons from the Workplace.
Gail Anderson consults with museums to facilitate transformational change, build institutional and leadership capacity, and expand community and global relevance. She is the author of Mission Matters: Relevance and Museums for the 21st Century (2019) and editor of Reinventing the Museum: The Evolving Conversation on the Paradigm Shift (2012, 2004).
Dina Bailey is a national thought leader with extensive experience in developing inclusive solutions in collaboration with volunteers, staff, boards, and stakeholders. She is a recognized trainer, author, and speaker on the trends, challenges, and opportunities facing organizations in transition. A skilled facilitator, Dina has developed exceptional approaches that lead to both a breadth and depth of inclusive action.
This event was presented by AAMG in partnership with The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.
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Thursday, February 11, 2021, 4pm EST
Open Forum: Staying on Track: The Work of Academic Museums in the Time of COVID-19
Click below to view the recording of this webinar.
Managing our jobs and staying focused on goals for our institutions is challenging when current affairs can be both a source for derailment as well as a source of inspiration. Please join us for this third in a series of open forums for academic museum practitioners jointly sponsored by the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG), Northeast region, and the New England Association of Museums (NEMA) professional affinity gathering for college and university museums.
Forum co-hosts:
Carey Weber, Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director, Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield University, Connecticut state representative, AAMG
Deborah Disston, Director, McIninch Art Gallery, Southern New Hampshire University, PAG Coordinator for College and University Museums, NEMA
This event was presented by AAMG in partnership with NEMA.
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Wednesday, December 16, 3 PM EST
Focusing on Wellness and Equity with Caroline Randall Williams
Click below to view the recording of this webinar.
Museums celebrate, preserve, and catalogue the human condition, its history, its accomplishments and its art. And it follows then that we must be concerned with the people behind these museum worthy artifacts, their ways of being, their wellness, their lived experiences. Wellness and equity are intrinsically bound. Systems and organizations cannot be fully well if they are not fully equitable. It is the happy privilege of this talk to be able to frame this conversation within the museum world.
About the presenter:Caroline Randall Williams is a multi-genre writer, educator, performance artist in Nashville Tennessee, where she is a Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University. She is co-author of the NAACP Image Award-winning cookbook Soul Food Love. Her debut collection of poetry, Lucy Negro, Redux has been turned into a ballet by the Nashville Ballet — Caroline performed her poetry as an integral member of the cast, all set to an original score by multiple time grammy nominee Rhiannon Giddens. Named by Southern Living as “One of the 50 People changing the South,” the Cave Canem fellow has been published and featured in multiple journals, essay collections and news outlets, including The Iowa Review, The Massachusetts Review, CherryBombe, Garden and Gun, Essence and the New York Times. Most recently, she was ranked by The Root as one of the 100 most influential African Americans of 2020.
Special thanks to the Kress Foundation for their generous support in this series.
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Thursday, November 19, 3 PM EST
Emergent Paradigms in Higher Education in Times of Disruption
Click below to view the recording of this webinar.
Higher education is undergoing a series of seismic shifts as colleges and universities respond to the challenges posed by this tumultuous period of disruption. Rather than returning to the “old” normal, higher educational institutions must respond decisively to the fault-lines of inequality and access that have widened and seize new opportunities if they are to thrive. Academic museums face special financial and operational challenges as they adapt and respond to today’s health crisis, economic crisis, and long overdue reckoning with race. In this webinar, Audrey Williams June, news-data manager for the Chronicle of Higher Education, presents higher education insights and trends, and Steven Mintz, Professor of History and education innovator at the University of Texas at Austin, discusses how we might reimagine higher education post coronavirus and proposes principles to guide this transformation that emphasize equity, outreach, and intra-institutional collaboration.
Join AAMG president, Kristina L. Durocher, AAMG Secretary, Natalie Marsh and fellow AAMG colleagues for this thought-provoking webinar. The 60 minute presentation will be followed by 30 minutes moderated Q&A. Discuss with colleagues how academic museums can adopt strategies to support our parent institutions post-pandemic and contribute to an accessible, innovative, and sustainable future.
About the presenters:
Audrey Williams June is the news-data manager at The Chronicle. She explores and analyzes data sets, databases, and records to uncover higher-education trends, insights, and stories. She has built several areas of expertise since arriving at The Chronicle, in 2001, including the academic job market, faculty pay, and efforts to diversify the faculty. Before coming to The Chronicle, Audrey was a business reporter for The Charlotte Observer, in North Carolina. While there, she wrote about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur and the city’s banking industry. She has also worked for The Telegraph, in Macon, Ga., as an environmental reporter. Audrey earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in economics at Florida A&M University. When she’s not wrangling data, you’ll find her browsing the stacks at her local public library. (Well, I’m not browsing the stacks much now because of the pandemic, but normally that’s the case.)
A pioneer in the application of new technologies to teaching and research and an award-winning teacher and author, Steven Mintz is a Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. A leading authority on families, childhood, and the life course, he is the prizewinning author and editor of 15 books, and previously served as Senior Advisor to the President of Hunter College for Student Success, spearheaded educational innovation initiatives for the University of Texas System, and directed Columbia University’s teaching center. A regular contributor to Inside Higher Ed, his innovation projects have received more than $15 million in grants from the Gates Foundation, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Special thanks to the Kress Foundation for their generous support in this series.
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Thursday, November 5, 3:30-4:30PM
OPEN FORUM
Virtual Exhibitions and Programs at Academic Museum in the Time of COVID-19
Click below to view the recording of this webinar. Below you will also find links to the chat and any corresponding group notes from participants.
Group 15 Notes for AAMG webinar 11.5.20
As follow-up to the September open forum on the mission of academic museums during COVID-19, this open forum will allow participants to share and explore new or revised exhibition and programming practices as the pandemic continues. We will explore the extent to which our museums have chosen to pivot to online exhibitions and programs and identify the risks and benefits. What have you learned about your institution that might impact your approach to exhibitions, programs, funding, and how you work in the future? How are academic museums innovating around these challenges, and what can we learn from the current moment to promote greater and more equitable museum access, participation, and collaboration in the future?
This open forum was jointly sponsored by the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG), Northeast region, and the New England Association of Museums (NEMA) professional affinity gathering for college and university museums.
Forum co-hosts:
Carey Weber, Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director, Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield University, Connecticut state representative, AAMG
Deborah Disston, Director, McIninch Art Gallery, Southern New Hampshire University, PAG Coordinator for College and University Museums, NEMA
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Thursday, October 22, 2020 2-3 pm ET
Innovative Asks with benefits from the CARES act and charitable trusts
Click below to view the recording of this webinar. Below you will also find links to the white paper and presentation discussed throughout the webinar.
Art Pledge Program_3-White Paper discussed
AAMG Webinar – CCS Slides FINAL.10.22.20-Presentation discussed
2020 will undoubtedly go down as a year of unprecedented challenge. Many academic museums are facing budget reductions as their colleges and universities struggle with the economic fallout of COVID 19. In some cases, hours and staff have been reduced and opportunities for event revenue and sponsorships have been curtailed. Nevertheless academic museums continue to be integral to the educational experience on their campuses and in their communities. And now more than ever, trustees, board members and alumni want to know about how institutions are managing during the pandemic, and need to know about ways to help sustain them in these uncertain times. The CARES act which passed in March of this year (and remains in effect through the end of December) provides charitable giving incentives for museum donors that may support year-end giving (and will hopefully be renewed in a future economic relief package.) Planned giving can also be a great source of institutional support for donors who can’t make an immediate commitment.
Join us for presentations and conversation with four experts in the areas of fundraising and outreach, trustee relationships, art philanthropy and charitable giving.
Miriam E. Droller, Managing Director, CCS Fundraising
Martin Gammon, President, Pergamon Art Group providing art valuation and advisory services
Anne Lampe, CEO, Museum Trustee Association
John Sare, Attorney in the Tax-exempt Organizations practice and the Trusts and Estates group, and Partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
The panel’s 30-40 minutes of presentations (approx. 8 minutes per speaker) will be followed by 30 minutes moderated Q&A.
Thank you to the Kress Foundation for their generous support in making this webinar possible!
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AAMG Open Forums (colleague chats)
The Mission of the Academic Museum in the Time of COVID-19
Tuesday, September 22, 3:30-4:30PM
While many colleges and universities begin providing online, hybrid, and in-person instruction this fall, academic museums are challenged to deliver core services to campus and community amid current and anticipated budget restrictions and upholding public health safety measures. How are academic museums innovating around these challenges, and what can we learn from the current moment to promote greater and more equitable museum access, participation, and collaboration in the future?
This open forum is jointly sponsored by the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG), Northeast region, and the New England Association of Museums (NEMA) professional affinity gathering for college and university museums.
Forum co-hosts:
Carey Weber, Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director, Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield University, Connecticut state representative, AAMG
Deborah Disston, Director, McIninch Art Gallery, Southern New Hampshire University, PAG Coordinator for College and University Museums, NEMA
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Reopening the Academic Museum Amidst COVID-19
Click here to access the recording of the June 9, 2020, webinar.
Click here to access the chat from the June 9, 2020, webinar.
Click here to access shared reopening documents from various institutions.
This panel took place on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, at 2pm eastern time.
How do we negotiate reopening when many of us are the “front door” to our colleges and universities? AAMG members in various stages of reopening their spaces will discuss their plans, protocols, challenges, and opportunities for staying in line with college and university missions, and keeping visitors and staff of our spaces as safe as possible in getting back to work. We anticipate this session to be a forum for discussion and a space to work through some of these issues many of us are currently facing in reopening our own spaces. Whatever stage your space is in, we welcome you to join in on the conversation.
Speakers included:
- Craig Hadley, Executive Director and Chief Curator
- Dennos Museum Center
- Northwestern Michigan College
- AAMG Treasurer
- Katie Lee-Koven, Executive Director and Chief Curator
- Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
- Utah State University
- AAMG VP – State and Regional Representatives
- Tricia Miller, Head Registrar
- Georgia Museum of Art
- University of Georgia
- Dr. Lesley Wright, Director
- Grinnell College Museum of Art
- AAMG State Representative (Iowa)
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Creative Solutions to Student Exhibitions in light of COVID-19
Click here to access the PowerPoint utilized during the March 27, 2020, webinar.
Click here to access the recording of the March 27, 2020, webinar.
This panel took place on Friday, March 27, 2020 at 3pm eastern time on a topic that is critical to so many of our academic museum and gallery operations during the spring semester: How is your institution responding to student exhibitions and graduation requirements in light of COVID-19? Panelists for this webinar were as follows: Jamaal B. Sheats Director and Curator of Galleries
Assistant Professor of Art Fisk University Student Engagement, AAMG At-Large Committee ______ Gabriel Harrison Galleries & Exhibitions Manager Department of Art & Art History Stanford University AAMG California State Representative ______ Alexandra Chamberlain Gallery Director and Instructor Department of Art & Design Indiana State University VP Communications, AAMG Executive Committee ______ Moderated by: Craig Hadley Executive Director Dennos Museum Center Northwestern Michigan College Treasurer, AAMG Executive Committee ____________________________________
AAMG Panel Discussion Around Issues Related to COVID-19, took place on March 18, 2020
This AAMG remote panel discussion centered around issues related to COVID-19 and academic museums and galleries. The panelists responded to questions submitted in advance in response to the question:
“What is the most important issue on your mind in relation to your institution and COVID-19?”
The panel took place on March 18, 4pm EST. The speakers were:
- Jill Deupi
Beaux Arts Director and Chief Curator
Lowe Art Museum
University of Miami - Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director
Neuberger Museum of Art
Purchase College, SUNY - Elizabeth Merritt,
Vice President, Strategic Foresight & Founding Director, Center for the
Future of Museums
American Alliance of Museums - Denise Young
Director
Bell Museum of Natural History
University of Minnesota