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Multimedia Forum

Slow Down and Reflect: Mindfulness in Museums

In a culture of speed, museums are ideal spaces to slow down, reflect, and connect to ourselves and others. A mental health professional who specializes in mindfulness and educators from three institutions—Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, University of Colorado Art Museum in Boulder, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art—will define mindfulness and share varied approaches to successful mindfulness programs, including slow looking and meditation. Participate in a mindfulness exercise, get tips for implementing programs, and brainstorm with peers in break-out groups.

Motherhood and Museum Professionals: Creating Environments Supportive of Work/Life Balance

In this interactive session, presenters used their (vastly) different experiences as new mothers at 5+ institutions to examine relevant issues. You can learn about new ideas such as “onboarding” new parents, and explore creative strategies to ensure museums have systems in place to achieve both what’s best for the museums and for their staff. This presentation focuses on parenthood, but conversations will apply more broadly to any work/life balance.

Place Matters: Site-Specific Interpretation

Site-specific interpretation provides an authentic experience of place and creates a powerful lens into the legacy of an individual or cultural group. Providing visitors with a contextual experience is accomplished through methods tailored to each site’s unique characteristics. This session explores this idea in detail through four locations: the Basque Block Museum and Cultural Center, James Castle House, Hemingway House and Preserve, and the Suquamish Cultural District.

The Power of the Pen: Creating Fundraising Messages to Engage Your Donors (4 Parts)

Have you ever sat down to draft an annual fundraising campaign letter only to realize the words just won’t seem to materialize on the page? Has writer’s block ever stymied your efforts to craft the perfect request for support of a special project? Do you sometimes struggle to translate a passion for your museum into a compelling message? If you answered yes to any of the above, this session is for you! Learn from a panel of professionals representing museums of all sizes, and take away tips for engaging donors.

This session has 4 PowerPoint presentations.

Indigenous Perspectives on Museum Diversity

As we plan for the next seven generations, should diversity matter to tribal museums and communities? What does diversity within these museums look like, especially in a time where discussions around diversifying staff, boards, and collections are everywhere in the museum world? This session brings together museum scholars and practitioners to share stories of the practice of diversity in Indigenous museums.