MAAM is on the Move
Dear Colleagues:
First, join us in Wilmington at the MAAM Annual Meeting at the landmark Hotel DuPont from October 20-22 to explore the timely conference theme – “Museums Exposed: Real Issues/ Real Talk.” Register online today at steeply discounted early-bird rates through September 16 and choose from a full menu of conference offerings: three receptions, a collections care workshop, pre-conference museum tours, four keynote addresses by museum and cultural community thought leaders, a resume review session for emerging museum professionals, and over twenty thought-provoking and often provocative program sessions.
MAAM membership rates and categories have changed. After careful benchmarking with other AAM regional associations, MAAM’s individual and institutional membership dues have been significantly scaled back to reflect MAAM’s desire to both build membership and offer services at competitive prices. Now more than ever, MAAM represents good value to the region’s museum community. Those members who have just renewed at the old rate will have their membership prorated and extended to reflect the new dues level. Over the winter, MAAM will also conduct a survey of current and lapsed members concerning services that MAAM should offer in the future.
The twelfth Building Museums Symposium is coming to Washington D.C. Reserve February 24-26, 2017, as the dates for the nation’s only conference dedicated to excellence in museum building practice. Building Museums 2017 will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. Registration for the conference will open in fall 2016.
Nominations for MAAM’s Katherine Coffey Award will be accepted through September 23, 2016. The Coffey Award is named after a trailblazing museum educator who worked for John Cotton Dana, who was mentor to many emerging museum professionals, and who also served as the Newark Museum’s director for over nineteen years. This highest accolade bestowed by MAAM honors museum leaders in all sectors of museum work who have served the region and the field with excellence and distinction – and in so doing, made a difference in their institutions and communities. Guidelines for making Coffey Award nominations will be shortly be added to the MAAM website.
Sincerely,
John Lovell
MAAM Executive Director
jlovelll@nycap.rr.com, Tel: 518-489-0204.
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A FEW WORDS FROM MAAM’S PRESIDENT:
The population of the United States is changing. AAM ‘s 2010 study,
Demographic Transformation and the Future of Museums predicts that the country will be 46% minority in 25 years, but finds that today’s museum visitors are only 9% minority. Are museums going to become obsolete in this browner American society? These statistics affect everything that we do from collecting to exhibitions, programs, fund raising and hiring. Professional museum conferences include plenty of talk about “diversity” and the need to cultivate new audiences, particularly people of color. The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums invites you to participate in a stimulating dialogue about these issues and about the future of our profession. Join us from October 20-22 for
Museums Exposed: Real Issues, Real Talk in Wilmington, Delaware.
MAAM Wilmington Keynote speakers who in their commentaries will provoke “real issues/ real talk” include:
Ric Burns, the celebrated documentary film maker, has written, directed and produced historical documentaries for nearly 20 years, beginning with his collaboration on the block buster
PBS series
The Civil War (1990). Other credits include
New York: A Documentary, Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World and
Pilgrims. Burns will discuss film as a catalyst for constructive dialogue in cultural institutions through his latest project,
Driving While Black: African Americans on the Road in the Era of Jim Crow. The audience will also preview a clip from the yet-to-be-released film.
Dr. Guillermina Gonzalez, the Executive Director of the Delaware Arts Alliance will present the annual Stephen Weil Lecture, “From the Margins to the Center: Advocating for Arts and Inclusion.” The political and social climate the United States is facing at this time demands that we talk about diversity, inclusion and how museums and the arts in general play a role to truly foster both. This is the time to provoke conversations. The arts could be the perfect vehicles of communication and community inclusion. Dr. Gonzalez will present remarks and invites conference participants to engage with her in a lively
discussion..
Laura Lott has served as president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums since June of 2015. Laura is a results-oriented, entrepreneurial, strategic leader with a track record of setting and achieving aggressive programmatic and financial goals. As the representative of the more than 30,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions and corporate partners serving the museum field MAAM is excited to have her joining the discussion with us about the future of our profession.
Nick Gray is the founder and CEO of Museum Hack, an American company of educators and actors who give renegade tours at some of the best museums in the world. Nick is a former techie who doesn’t come from an arts background and claims to “hate” most museums. He has been named “The Best” by his mother in 2002, 2014 and 2015 (runner up). Nick’s remarks are sure to amuse and provide insight into his alternate vision of the museum experience.
See you in Wilmington,
Gretchen S. Sorin
Director and Distinguished Professor
Cooperstown Graduate Program
