The Western Museums Association (WMA) presents the second installment of WestMusings | 10 Minute Museum Talks, which took place during the 79th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas on October 5-8, 2014. WestMusings are short, engaging presentations by forward-thinking museum leaders. This year, WestMusers offered personal narratives about their origin stories and how they are connected to museums. Join WMA as we celebrate the spark and passion that drives museum work.

As you watch the WestMusings 2014 videos, think about the questions posed below, as well as how they relate to you and your museum experiences. Start the conversation among your peers in the comment section below.

Sven Haakanson

Curator of North American Anthropology, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Washington

Repatriating Knowledge and Inspiring Change

How has your journey defined who you are? How has cultural history affected your personal history? How can we truly utilize the knowledge in our museums? How do we share knowledge with our communities? As museum professionals, how can we repatriate knowledge?

Michael Wall

Vice President of Research and Public Programs, San Diego Natural History Museum
@musepods
 

Naiveté, Origin Stories and the Venn Diagrams of our Lives

Does your origin story reflect the way that you approach projects? How has opportunity and serendipity shaped your story? Is your knowledge of the museum discipline restricted to your experiences? How can we ensure that reinventions are innovative? Are you prepared to be naïve?

Wendy Meluch

Visitor Studies Consultant, Visitor Studies Services

Leading the Dance

Are you an activist for yourself and your career? How are you bringing your personal passions into your profession? Where are you in the dance of your museum career? Is it your time to take the lead? How will you shape the museum world?

Paul Gabriel

Educational Consultant/Educational Therapist

SexMusings

Are your museum’s objects objectified? What makes objects worthy of aesthetic appreciation and interpretation? What are the implications of excluding context and certain interpretations? Are museums truly open-access? How much more amazing can a museum be if it truly allowed many to come together to create?

What’s your origin story? Share it with the Western museum community!

THANK YOU to the WestMusings 2014 Sponsor

Post-production generously provided by: