The Western Museums Association’s (WMA) Annual Meeting is a distinct opportunity for museum people to exchange ideas, learn from peers in unique sessions, and cultivate skills to best serve their communities through museums. Dynamic sessions and other content at the Annual Meeting emphasize equity, action, and leadership. Attendees will find fellowship with peers, strengthen regional and national networks, and gain a broader understanding of how museums are navigating current issues.
How can you contribute? We are currently looking for:
Participating in any of these opportunities comes with a discounted rate to the Annual Meeting.
ASPIRE in SALT LAKE CITY
This year we gather in Salt Lake City, a place shaped by layered histories, evolving communities, and ongoing efforts to reckon with land, identity, and belonging. With the theme of ASPIRE, WMA 2026 invites museum professionals to imagine boldly, reaching beyond inherited boundaries to shape futures not yet written. To ASPIRE is not simply to dream; it is to take intentional steps toward transformation. Whether expanding community engagement, rethinking stewardship, or exploring new interpretive strategies, to ASPIRE requires us to hold space for possibility - and to take action!
PROPOSAL TOPICS
While proposal content can cover a wide array of topics, the Program Committee is particularly interested in proposals that explore the theme of ASPIRE, fulfilling our missions, expanding our collaborations, and deepening our creativity. Additionally, we are seeking proposals that incorporate a high level of attendee engagement and interactivity. If you are selected to contribute content, you will receive a discounted rate to the Annual Meeting, where your insights can help shape a more harmonious future for museum professionals.
Proposers are encouraged to be creative and think beyond the “sage on the stage” style of presenting, which often features one or more people presenting to the audience with limited opportunities for interaction. Interested in a morning run, yoga, or other wellness session? Propose it! Want to do a session in a non-traditional space? Propose it! Do you have a conundrum at work or want feedback on a particular issue? Propose a Roundtable Discussion! Want to beta- or stress-test an interactive experience from your museum? Go for an Activity Station! If you need help connecting with people to participate in a session, WMA can help—just ask! Need to get inspired? Take a look back at our 2025 Sessions or past programs.
Share your creative ideas today and let’s imagine a new future for museums, together in Salt Lake City in September.
The deadline for all proposals is Friday, March 27, 2026.
Potential topics include:
Aspire to Innovate
- Improving best practice standards across departments
- Exploring next practices
- Planning - how to take ideas and turn them into action
- How to engage more broadly through digital programs
- Exploring technological ideas such as digital archives, AI etc.
- Innovative programming that you should try
Aspire to Lead
- Goal setting and planning in cultural institutions (capacity building)
- Creating and sustaining a healthy museum workplace culture
- Nurturing leadership and inquiry among museum professionals at all levels
- Providing honest feedback with compassion and respect
- Strategies for aspiring within institutional settings
Aspire to Connect
- Developing collaborative processes
- Re-imagining relationships among institutions and individuals
- Developing contemporary strategies for engaging members, donors, and supporters
- Empowering guests with specific needs - not just accommodating them (i.e. multiple languages, physical, and cognitive challenges)
Aspire to Belong
- Identifying audiences that do not feel welcome and building experiences for them
- Fostering sense of belonging in museum career pathways
- Reconciling the aspirations of diverse communities and stakeholders
- Reflections on America 250
Aspire to Steward
- Sustainable practices in collections care
- Disaster and Emergency Preparedness
- Collaborating with community; sharing curatorial voice
- Managing diverse volunteers in collections work
- Deaccession best practices
- Preservation of digitized and born-digital materials
- Fostering meaningful and active collections
- Exhibition innovations
We look forward to your innovative proposals that contribute to a conference exploring the vital theme of ASPIRE. Together, let's shape a resilient and thriving future for museums!
Session & Workshop Proposals
Diverse presentations are a key component to the success of the Annual Meeting and are important in creating a meaningful and content-rich experience for all museum professionals who attended. YOU can help strengthen the WMA Community by submitting a session or workshop proposal for our 2026 Annual Meeting.
The Program Committee looks for proposals that use creative approaches to leverage the in-person nature of the Annual Meeting. Preference will be given to non-traditional session formats with a variety of interactive components, such as those with less emphasis on slides, more opportunities for Q&A, and audience engagement activities. So, experiment with session structure! Download our Program/Session Structures document to get inspired by different approaches for sharing your content. Always remember to highlight tools or takeaways you are planning to provide – attendees love them!
WMA specifically seeks sessions:
- About DEAI (diversity, accessibility, equity, and inclusion) and Indigenous topics;
- About core museum work: collections care, exhibitions, and fundraising/marketing;
- About issues not commonly addressed such as climate change/environmental issues; emergency preparedness, visitor services, docents/volunteers, safety and security, and cyber security;
- That bring people at multiple stages of their careers together for a well-rounded discussion
Sessions will take place across three days: September 24th, 25th, and 26th and are 75 minutes. Workshops will take place on September 23rd, and can either be half day (4 hours) or full day (7 hours).
Please review the Proposal Guidelines before completing your proposal.
Download the WMA Program Rubric to understand what the Program Committee is looking for in proposals and to help you craft a session more likely to be included in the Annual Meeting.
The Online Submission Form makes the submission process easy and fast! The Session & Workshop Proposal Worksheet will help you build your proposal before putting your information into the Online Submission Form. Simply download the Worksheet and begin planning.
Download Session & Workshop Proposal Worksheet
Download Proposal Guidelines
Download the WMA Program Rubric
Visit WMA's Annual Meeting FAQ Page
Submit Your Proposal Online
The deadline for all proposals is Friday, March 27, 2026
Poster Session
The perennially popular Poster Session offers a valuable opportunity for 1 or 2 individuals to share their academic research, innovative ideas, or public programs through visually engaging and informative posters. They also create a space for presenters and attendees to exchange ideas, ask questions, and network in a relaxed, informal setting.
To present at WMA's 2026 Poster Session, you must be in attendance, standing next to your poster where you can interact with attendees, answer questions, and discuss your projects/research on Friday, September 25, 2026, in the Exhibit Hall.
Have a question about the Poster Session? Please see our 2026 Annual Meeting FAQ page or email WMA staff.
Download the Poster Session Proposal Form
Roundtable Discussion Host
Interested in facilitating a conversation about a specific topic or trend relating to museums? Are you from a Federal agency, museum association, or other similar group and looking to connect with attendees? Want to get feedback about a program idea? This is the place! Whether you are looking to help others gain knowledge in a certain area, gain a new perspective to help your work, or engage with attendees on a certain topic, propose hosting a Roundtable Discussion to connect with colleagues over casual conversation. Here are some ideas to get your wheels turning:
- Exhibition development
- Membership programs
- Federal grants
- Collections management and registration
- BIPOC museum professionals’ experiences
- Emerging museum professionals’ experiences
- Topics related to a specific geographic area
- Mental health and self care for growth
- Current social media trends or best practices
- Building institutional relationships
- Green museum practices
- Volunteer / docent programs
- K-12 programs
- Fundraising
- Adult education / creative aging
- Sharing power / community collaborations
- Participating in state museum associations
Roundtables will take place on Saturday, September 26.
Have a question about the Roundtable Host? Please see our 2026 Annual Meeting FAQ page or email WMA staff.
Download the Roundtable Host Proposal Form
Activity Station Host
Looking to test an activity? Have an activity to share? This is the place! Propose a program for our Activity Station. Here are some Activity Station examples:
- An educational activity that you run at your museum and want to get feedback on
- A hands-on activity you want to do, but need some beta testing
- An interactive or creative activity that you think will benefit museum professionals (i.e., journal writing, meditation, label-making, etc.)
Activity Stations will take place throughout the Annual Meeting.
Have a question about the Activity Host? Please see our 2026 Annual Meeting FAQ page or email WMA staff.
Download the Activity Station Host Proposal Form
