Go behind the scenes to learn about the efforts of the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. Hear more about the Commission's process to create a comprehensive report examining the viability and long-term sustainability of a new national entity dedicated to the contributions and impact of Asian and Pacific Americans in the United States, and share your thoughts in a simulated visioning activity.

What if museum work didn't depend on a building? This session explores how public art can extend museum practice into everyday community spaces or function as museum space where no building exists. Using Springville, Utah's Art Loops and statewide public art systems as case studies, panelists will share how collaboration, policy, and collections shape this work. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to create scalable, public-facing experiences in any community.

Museums in historic buildings come with their own set of challenges such as accessibility, environmental concerns in collections, and ongoing building maintenance. Because of these issues, our "wins" or measures of success often look different from those museums in purpose-built, modern facilities. Explore how reframing those metrics can demonstrate relevance to your community, improve staff mental health, and celebrate the unique things historic buildings can offer that more traditional museums often cannot.

Donor cultivation is an ongoing and deeply critical, component of development work. In this session, we will explore the challenges, constraints, and opportunities for building and maintaining these important relationships. After a rapid-fire series of short presentations in which development professionals from a variety of institutions share their own successful strategies for engaging donors, attendees will ask questions, engage in broader conversation, and think deeply about their own work.

This highly interactive session builds upon previous sessions at WMA, CAM, AAM, and efforts to launch an Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Museums Association. Through polling and facilitated discussions, participants will engage with others who identify as AANHPI, those who work in AANHPI museums, and allies. Participants will have multiple opportunities to candidly share experiences, frustrations, and hopes from their personal/professional experiences. This session is open to all WMA conference attendees.

If Saint-Exupéry was right, "a goal without a plan is just a wish," then join us and get excited about planning. Explore practical tools to create and work with your plan. Gain a deeper understanding of why we plan and how plans are practical tools across museum activities – exhibitions, programming, annual goals, "what if" scenarios. Bring your planning challenges and explore tools that can help you be successful now and in the future.