2021 Conference: Re:Create, Re:Charge, and Re:Imagine
The NEMA 2021 Conference is this November 15, 17, and 19, 2021.
Monday’s Keynote will be: Resilience, Healing, and Museums: A Conversation with Dr. Lisa Wong. Dr. Wong is from the Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School and she will be in conversation with NEMA board member Brooke DiGiovanni Evans, Director of Visual Arts Education at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Wednesday’s Keynote will be: Equity, Governance, and the Future of Culture: A Conversation with Michael J. Bobbitt. Dan will have a conversation with Michael touching on issues of racial and gender equity, power dynamics, and how institutions can become better stewards of social justice. Michael will also share his vision and insights into how museums and culture can contribute to a better society.
NEMA Board Slate
The Nominating Committee of the NEMA Board of Directors has submitted the following slate for new officers and members of the NEMA board. The NEMA membership will vote virtually on November 19, 2021 during the Annual Meeting to approve the following board slate. All NEMA members are invited to attend the Annual Meeting. Click here to RSVP.
Officers
Susan Goganian, Executive Director, Historic Beverly (President); Rebekah Beaulieu, Executive Director, Florence Griswold Museum (First Vice-President); Matt Kirchman, Principal, ObjectIdea (Vice-President); Sherman “Pat” Morss, Associate Principal for Historic Preservation, Finegold Alexander & Associates (Treasurer); and Brooke DiGiovanni Evans, Director of Visual Arts Education, Brigham & Women’s Hospital (Clerk)
New Board Members
Amanda Goodheart Parks, Director of Education, New England Air Museum (CT); Margaret Tamulonis, Manager of Collections and Exhibitions, Fleming Museum of Art (VT); Doneeca Thurston, Executive Director, Lynn Museum/LynnArts (MA)
Renewing Board Members
Sue Goganian (3rd Term); Matt Kirchman (3rd Term); Lorén Spears, Executive Director, Tomaquag Museum (2nd Term)
Bylaws Update, 2021
The NEMA Board Governance Committee has proposed the following changes to the bylaws, which were approved by the full Board of Directors on June 18, 2021. The NEMA membership will vote virtually on November 19, 2021 during the Annual Meeting to approve the changes. All NEMA members are invited to attend the 2021 Annual Meeting. Click here to RSVP.
Article IV, Section 8. Annual and Regular Meetings:
The annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held each year immediately after and at the place of the annual meeting of the members at which the Board is elected. In the event the annual meeting is not held on such date, a special meeting in lieu of the annual meeting may be held with all the force and effect of an annual meeting. Regular meetings may be held four (4) times a year at such times and places as the directors may fix.
NEW:
Meetings of the Board of Directors may be held in-person, and/or by means of digital conference technology or any other means of communication by which all persons participating have access to the meeting and are able to hear one another. It is encouraged that a Director attend as many regular meetings in-person as possible.
Laura B. Roberts and Dan Yaeger
2021 Lifetime Achievement Award
We are pleased and delighted to present the 2021 NEMA Lifetime Achievement Award to Laura B. Roberts. Throughout her career, Laura has exemplified a deep and lasting commitment to NEMA: as the organization’s executive director, board member, scholarship supporter, adviser, and member of the NEMA 911 rapid response team. She was one of the organizers of the IMP PAG and now serves on the steering committee of the AAM IMP professional network. As the principal of Roberts Consulting, Laura has worked with more than 180 museums and cultural organizations around the country helping them build compelling strategic plans and strong organizations. Prior to her time at NEMA, she was director of education at the National Heritage Museum, USS Constitution Museum, and Rhode Island Historical Society, as well as executive director of the Boston Center for Adult Education. Laura is a founding member of The Museum Group, a national consortium of museum consultants, volunteers her time on several cultural boards, and is adjunct faculty at the Harvard University graduate program in Museum Studies and Bank Street College of Education’s Leadership in Museum Education program.
2021 Excellence Awards
NEMA is proud to honor our colleagues' extraordinary effort and commitment to the New England museum community. NEMA is proud to recognize the Excellence in our field to the following:
—Carole Charnow, President & CEO, Boston Children's Museum (general excellence)
—Maryann Gubala, Social and Content Producer, Old Sturbridge Village (general excellence)
—Erin McGough, Executive Director, Duxbury Rural and Historical Society (general excellence)
—Julie Garvin Riggs, Manager of Youth Education & Outreach, Florence Griswold Museum
(general excellence)
—Douglas Stark, Museum Director, International Tennis Hall of Fame Museum (general excellence)
—Marie Beam, Chief Development Officer, Discovery Museum (specific excellence)
—Allison Shilling, Concord Museum (specific excellence)
Award winners will be recognized at the NEMA Annual Meeting on November 19. All NEMA members are invited to attend the 2021 Annual Meeting. Click here to RSVP. For more information about the awardees read the Member Profile section.
IMLS Grant
We are pleased to announce that NEMA has been awarded an IMLS National Leadership Grant as fiscal agent for a nationwide project to measure the climate impact of museums. This important project, which begins September 1, will lead a comparative research study to collect and analyze energy use data from a representative sample of museums, creating the first estimate of the field’s energy impacts on climate. Project activities, completed in partnership with New Buildings Institute and up to 148 museums, will research the current state of energy consumption and management in the U.S. museum field and result in multiple data products, grouped by similar institutions or spaces, to guide museums in the reduction of energy consumption. The outcome of the project activities will help museums make strategic energy management decisions that benefit individual museums as well as the climate system for long-term health and safety of living beings, communities, and cultures. Sarah Sutton, CEO of Environment and Culture Partners, will act as project lead. For an overview of the project go to https://imls.gov/grants/awarded/mg-249183-oms-21.
New Advocacy Finding Aids
Finding the right resources to advocate effectively can be time-consuming, but we’ve just made it easier! There are now two new collections of advocacy resources available on the NEMA website collected by theme. Find research, examples, articles, position statements and more, on topics such as climate change, civic education, gender equity, and racial and ethnic justice in our Advocacy Resource Library and Green Museums Finding Aid. If you have any resources that you think should be included in either of these areas, please fill out our submission form here.
PAG Updates
If you are interested in getting involved as a Professional Affiliation Gathering chair, please get in touch with Meg at meg.winikates@nemanet.org.
Welcome to our new PAG Chairs for Education, Gabriela Perez-Dietz and Adam Johnson, as well as our new Membership, Development, Marketing and PR Chair, Allison Shilling.
We are looking for several PAG Chairs:
—HR & Volunteer Management
—Curators
—Exhibitions
—Children’s Museums
—Library and Archives
Four PAGs have Facebook groups! Join the Registrars & Collection Care Specialists (RACCS), Library & Archives, the Development, Marketing, PR, Membership, and the LGBTQ+ Museum Staff & Students PAGs online. Don’t forget to follow the NEMA Young and Emerging Professionals page.
Call for Articles
Have a great idea for an article for New England Museums Now? Museums Now is the professional journal for the voices of museum professionals across the geography, genres, and job descriptions present in our field, and we want your voice to be represented! Submissions for articles are accepted on a rolling basis. Though Museums Now issues each focus on a particular theme relevant to our field, we welcome articles on all museum topics. Your submission is not required to fit a theme for an upcoming issue. For complete details about submitting an article, click here.
Winter/Spring 2022: Spotlight on the Front Line
The pandemic has shown the vitality of the front of house staff in museums and related organizations. How has your training and support for front of house staff evolved to meet the challenges of the past two years? Do your visitor services, security, frontline educators, have a role in your strategic planning? How are your concessions and gift shop staff integrated in your exhibit planning? What kinds of support do visitor services staff want from their places of employment?
Inquiry deadline: February 18. Submission deadline: March 18.
Museum Learning Hub
NEMA and the other five regional museum associations recently completed its seventh month (out of ten) of digital programming as part of an IMLS-funded program designed to increase digital capacity in small museums. Through the Museum Learning Hub, you can take part in live-streamed webinars or access the recordings later in self-paced online training modules. Download resources, get inspired by your peers, and learn new skills during workshops taught by experts. You’ll be able to sign up for individual webinars or attend the entire series within each learning module - all at no cost.
Lead a virtual “Town Hall"
Do you have a topic you'd like to discuss with your fellow NEMA members? NEMA is offering the use of our Zoom channel to any members who would like to call together a group to discuss issues arising now for their particular roles. Please contact Meg Winikates at meg.winikates@nemanet.org and Heather A. Riggs at heather.riggs@nemanet.org if you would like to schedule a discussion. If you're interested in hosting a regional happy hour or tea, please reach out to Scarlett Hoey at scarlett.hoey@nemanet.org.
Thank you to all the PAG chairs, volunteers, and participants who have helped organize virtual events. Many of these have been recorded; go to http://ow.ly/1rps50zmrsg.
Executive Director Community of Practice
For the past several years, a group of first-time executive directors have met monthly online to share knowledge, inspiration, and support. Known as “EDCoP” (short for executive director community of practice), the program combines peer support and guest speakers to help them do their jobs better. If you’re interested in joining EDCoP or would like to create a NEMA-supported community of practice yourself, contact Dan Yaeger, dan.yaeger@nemanet.org.
NEMA Executive Roundtables
Since 2016, NEMA has offered an executive roundtable program for museum leaders with annual budgets of between $800,000 and $1.4 million. The roundtable is a confidential peer-learning group that improves the institution’s long-term stability and the director’s life. If you would like to discuss the Roundtable, contact Lawrence J. Yerdon (lyerdon@sbmuseum.org) or Dan Yaeger (dan.yaeger@nemanet.org).
NEMA 911
Museum leaders sometimes find themselves in uncharted territory, facing challenging situations for which they are unprepared or uncertain. These can include issues of finance, governance, ethics, facilities, collections, disaster management, personnel, and other concerns under the leadership umbrella. Unfortunately, resources to help them navigate these deep waters successfully can be scarce. Online guidance and books may be helpful, but they are no substitute for a trusted adviser who has the experience, judgment, and contacts to provide wise counsel.
NEMA 911 is a free, confidential service for members connecting museum leaders with helpful colleagues. Drawing upon a pool of volunteers who are senior-level professionals in or nearing retirement, NEMA 911 is a rapid-response resource that helps untangle problems, offer words of wisdom, and suggest pathways toward solutions. For more information on this free service, go to nemanet.org/nema-911.