Miami, FL, (May 21, 2018) – The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami will host the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM)’s University Museum and Collections (UMAC) for their joint annual conference on June 21-24. This occasion marks the first time that AAMG and UMAC are combining their yearly convenings, whose thematic focus in 2018 is “Audacious Ideas: University Museums and Collections as Change-Agents for a Better World.” Conference program directors – Jill Hartz, Executive Director, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, and director emerita of AAMG, and Barbara Rothermel, director, Daura Galleries, Lynchburg College, and vice president, UMAC, have worked with a team of AAMG and UMAC museum professionals to create a conference with diverse formats – Roundtable Conversations, Throwdowns, Workshops, Posters, and Panels – that, over a three-day period, has been specifically designed to allow participants to share ideas, explore concerns, and affirm best professional practices while thinking collectively about how the academic museum industry can make a positive difference.
More than 300 academic museum, gallery, and collections professionals from across the country and around the globe will attend this year’s AAMG Annual Conference to explore how they can help to create a better world while honoring their missions and serving as repositories of humanity’s vast artistic, historic, and cultural legacies.
“The Lowe is honored to be hosting the first joint AAMG-UMAC conference,” notes the Lowe’s Beaux Arts Director and Chief Curator Dr. Jill Deupi. “Never has it been more important to expand our horizons by looking well beyond our own thresholds—indeed beyond our own borders—to consider how cultural institutions, and the initiatives we spearhead, can contribute to cultural exchanges and meaningful dialogues with a view to enhancing education and mutual understanding. The net result is a more humane and civilized world on a planet—and, by definition, a destiny—that we all share.”
The Lowe will hold an Opening Night Party for attendees and delegates on Thursday evening, June 21 in the Museum’s beautiful galleries. Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23 will feature distinguished keynote speakers Franklin Kelly (Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.) and Paula Gangopadhyay (Deputy Director of the Office of Museum Services at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Washington, D.C.). Kelly will address “The Work of Art in the Age of Malraux’s Museum,” while Gangopadhyay will speak to “The Power of Asking…What If?” For program details and registration information, please click here.
President of AAMG and the Dean of the Texas Heritage Museum at Hill College, John Versluis, stated, “I am ecstatic to invite colleagues from across the United States and around the world to participate in the first ever joint AAMG-UMAC conference. Having the opportunity for museum professionals to participate in intercultural dialogue, exchanging views between individuals and groups belonging to different cultures, will lead to a deeper understanding of how museums and galleries affect global perception and views.”
“After almost two decades, I am excited about the return of UMAC to the U.S. for a joint conference with the AAMG,” said Marta C. Lourenço, UMAC President, University of Lisbon. “There is so much to be shared, learned, and explored! The program is superbly rich, participants are coming from 20 countries, and the conference is hosted by the University of Miami, a vibrant university in terms of arts, museums, and culture. The 2018 AAMG Annual Conference in Miami is definitely the place to be for university museums anywhere in the world.”
The 2018 AAMG Annual Conference is made possible thanks to Sterling Sponsor, the John L. and James S. Knight Foundation. Further support has been generously provided by the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation; the Museum Travel Alliance; the Samuel H. Kress Foundation; International Council of Museums—US; Christie’s; Tru Vue, Inc.; Institute of Texan Cultures, University of Texas at San Antonio; Collector Systems; Travelers Inland Marine; Cowan’s Auctions; the Texas Heritage Museum, Hill College; the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts; Cultural Strategy Partners; CAA; Four Colour Printing Group; the Gund Gallery, Kenyon College; Richard E. Peeler Art Center Galleries, DePauw University; the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; BNIM; the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University; and Crystalization Systems, Inc.
About the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG)
The Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) is the leading professional organization for academic museums, galleries, and collections. In recognition of the unique opportunities and challenges of its constituents, AAMC establishes and supports best practices, educational activities, and professional development that enable its member organizations to fulfill their educational missions. Organized in 1980 as the Association of College and University Museums and Galleries (ACUMG), AAMG addresses issues that are relevant and unique to galleries and collections of all disciplines, including: anthropology, art, history, natural history, and science. Issues include governance, ethics, education, exhibitions, strategic planning, administrative support, collections, and professional programs.
About University Museum and Collections (UMAC)
UMAC is the international committee for university museums and collections of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). Created in 2001, it is the largest international forum of higher education museums and collections in the world, stimulating exchanges among professionals and supporting the development of university museums and collections as essential resources for research, education and culture. Website: http://umac.icom.museum/
About Lowe Art Museum
The Lowe Art Museum (www.miami.edu/lowe) is located on the campus of the University of Miami at 1301 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables, Florida. With a permanent collection of more than 19,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of human creativity, the Lowe is committed to serving as a vital resource for education and enrichment through art and culture. Its dynamic permanent and temporary exhibitions establish the Lowe as a keeper of memories, a showcase for masterworks, an igniter of awe and wonder, and a bridge between yesterday and today.
Museum gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. The Museum is closed on Mondays and University holidays. General Admission (not including programs) is $12.50, $8 for senior citizens and non-UM students, and free for Lowe members, UM students, faculty and staff, and children under 12. Admission is free on Donation Day, the first Tuesday of every month. For more information, call 305-284-3535, follow us on Twitter at @loweartmuseum, follow us on Facebook.com/loweartmuseum, or visit www.lowe.miami.edu.
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Categories: AAMG Press Release, Annual Conference