Hilton Pasadena, California Ballroom

Learning Format: Conversation

This roundtable discussion will foster dialogue related to art museums with affiliated outdoor spaces (landscape settings, sculpture gardens, or parks). Focused breakout discussions will consider how to ensure that outdoor space use promotes deeper connections with visitors, staffing, interpretation, and programming practices, the potential for revenue, and how museums can acknowledge the histories of the land on which our outdoor spaces sit, including centering Indigenous peoples.

Learning Format: Active Learning

5 Museum industry themed challenges
4 Teams
3 Hosts
2 Much Fun!
1 Winner
Join a team and join the fun. This whirlwind competition will pit museum professionals against each other in a range of interesting and interactive games. 

Learning Format: Conversation

How should California’s public institutions and leaders address controversial monuments as we reckon with a legacy of injustice in public art? This panel will discuss the inherent vice of monuments, creative approaches to dealing with existing installations, and public engagement as a critical component in finding a sustainable path forward.

Join us as we welcome attendees to Pasadena, present the 2023 Awards – the Charles Redd Center Award for Exhibition Excellence, the WMA Leadership Award to an extraordinary individual with a lifetime of achievement in the field, and the WMA Impact Award to a mid-career professional–and get inspired by the 2023 keynote speaker!

OPENING REMARKS Jason B. Jones, Executive Director, Western Museums Association

WMA PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS Lorie Millward, Vice President of Design and Programming, Thanksgiving Point Institute

Learning Format: Active Learning

Historically, museum people have determined content, objects, interpretation, and intended visitor experience. It’s formulaic, which is why ‘creation for’ instead of ‘with’ has been employed for so long. The fear that loosening grip on the controls allowing our “end users” to drive us off a cliff is real and mired in colonial control strategies. We’ll challenge attendees to ponder, “Why continue using these models?”, “what if we didn’t?”, “how might our community become integral to our success?”

Learning Format: Conversation

Learning Format: Conversation

Exhibition content can be difficult, and it is vitally important for museums to anticipate how to help visitors not only engage with challenging content but also to provide support after they have viewed an exhibition. The panelists in this session will share their experiences presenting exhibitions at their institutions that contained difficult content, strategies for supporting visitors, and suggestions for museums who are looking to best serve their audiences.

Learning Format: Conversation

This roundtable session will bring together four museum professionals currently engaged in decolonization work as they discuss what it means to move towards an indigenization framework. Panelists, who span the gamut from seasoned staff to emerging professionals, will consider a range of questions such as: What is the difference between decolonization and indigenization? Who is engaged in this work? Are there good national or international models? And what are the implications for both museum policy and practice?

Learning Format: Active Learning

Explore the delicate balance between programming and preservation in museum galleries. Discover new approaches to activate your galleries for events and education programs, all while keeping your objects on display safe. Our panel of museum professionals will share their stories of innovation and creativity, challenging traditional collection/gallery rules to enhance visitor experience. From breaking outdated norms to making new ones, learn which rules are worth breaking and which are worth keeping.

Learning Format: Active Learning

In this session, learn how four different museums build and deliver their yearly programs. Join us for stories and tips from four different organizations, ranging from small to large, and learn the different ways we create and manage our programs. Hear ideas on building strategy, identifying audiences, balancing the offerings, assessment, and more. We’ll share our experiences, favorite tools, processes, and plenty of real talk.