Western Museums Association

Environmental sustainability and climate action are becoming increasingly important in museum work, but training has been limited. In November, WMA joined the California Association of Museums and Environmental & Culture Partners to host a webinar, offering guidance for professionals on how to feel more fluent and confident in starting to add this content to their professional skill set.

The FREE recording is now available to watch online. Click here to watch:

Connecting Around Climate Webinar.mp4

The Wanda Chin Scholarship recipients have reflected on their individual experiences at WMA's 2023 Annual Meeting, in Pasadena, CA. Today, we share a blog post written by Elayne Hinsch. Click to read: https://westmuse.org/articles/reflections-wma-pasadena-ca-elayne-hinsch

Congrats to all! The American Alliance of Museums recently announced 2 first-time accreditations and 41 reaccreditation awards made at the October 2023 meeting of the Accreditation Commission. Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, 1,106 are currently accredited.

View all museums at: https://www.aam-us.org/2023/11/28/aam-announces-latest-accreditation-awards-43-museums-achieve-this-distinction/

Environmental sustainability and climate action are becoming increasingly important in museum work, but training has been limited. In November, WMA joined the California Association of Museums and Environmental & Culture Partners to host a webinar, offering guidance for professionals on how to feel more fluent and confident in starting to add this content to their professional skill set.

The FREE recording is now available to watch online. Click here to watch:

Connecting Around Climate Webinar.mp4

CONGRATS to all!

Recognized as the field’s gold standard for museum excellence for over 50 years, AAM accreditation signifies a museum’s quality and credibility to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.

View this year's newly accredited and reaccredited museums.

43 Museums Achieve AAM Accreditation and Reaccreditation 2 first time accreditations and 41 reaccreditation awards made at the October 2023 meeting of the Accreditation Commission.

The Wanda Chin Scholarship recipients have reflected on their individual experiences at WMA's 2023 Annual Meeting, in Pasadena, CA. Today, we share a blog post written by Jessica Conn, Marketing & Outreach Coordinator, Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix. Click to read:

https://westmuse.org/articles/navigating-unfamiliar-museum-landscape-jessica-conn

Apart from financially supporting arts activities throughout the country, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) fosters greater appreciation and understanding of the arts through its NEA Artworks Podcast. This podcast series contains audio interviews with arts leaders from across the country on arts issues of interest.

Listen at:

NEA Art Works Podcast The agency’s podcast series contains audio interviews with arts leaders from across the country on arts issues of interest. Interviews have included curator Amanda Burdan of the Brandywine Museum of Art on the Votes for Women: A Visual History exhibition; visual artist and disability rights advoca...

Would you make a Trifle for Thanksgiving?
Watch a Friends fan-favorite Turkey Day clip:

Rachel's Thanksgiving Trifle | Friends “It tastes like feet.”Season 6 Episode 9: The One Where Ross Got HighStream on MAXhttps://www.max.com/shows/52dae4c7-2ab1-4bb9-ab1c-8100fd54e2f9Subscribe now...

During the Annual Meeting Opening General Session & Keynote, WMA presented the (AHS) with the 2023 Charles Redd Center Award for Exhibition Excellence, for their work on the exhibition "Rebuilding Home Plate: Baseball in Arizona’s Japanese American Incarceration Camps".

In today's blog post, AHS' Curator Elizabeth Kapp shares some insight into the exhibition's development and focus. https://westmuse.org/articles/rebuilding-home-plate-winner-2023-wma-charles-redd-award

Do you have a vision for the future of museums? Are you passionate about strengthening museums to help them serve their diverse communities?

If so, then you’d be a perfect fit for WMA’s Board of Directors, and we warmly invite you to submit your nomination for the 2024-2027 term. Learn more + submit your nomination here: https://westmuse.org/articles/wma%E2%80%99s-request-board-nominations-2023-fall

Several funding agencies make grants available for assessments, conservation treatment, digitization, audio preservation, and other preservation activities. The Northeast Document Conservation Center can help plan and carry out these grant-funded activities and offer advice.

Head to NEDCC.org to view upcoming grants and deadlines.
https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/funding-opportunities/overview

Funding Opportunities A number of funding agencies make grants available for assessments, conservation treatment, digitization, audio...

An exhibition at LACMA examines the legacy of Dutch colonization through a fictive 17th-century collector’s room of wonders.

How Cabinets of Curiosities Laid the Foundation for Modern Museums An exhibition at LACMA examines the legacy of Dutch colonization through a fictive 17th-century collector's room of wonders

Looking for holiday gifts? Shop at your favorite local museum store on , Sunday, November 26!
Find a participating store near you:

Find a Store — Museum Store Sunday

Bring the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read program to your community! Applications are now open for grants to support NEA Big Read projects between September 2024 and June 2025.
Learn more + apply here:
https://artsmidwest.org/update/big-read-shakespeare-applications-2024/

TOMORROW join WMA, California Association of Museums and Environment and Culture Partners for a free webinar on how to feel more confident in incorporating environmental sustainability and climate action into museum work!

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Connecting Around Climate: an Introduction to Taking Action for Museum Professionals with CAM & WMA. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Environmental sustainability and climate action are becoming increasingly important in museum work, but training has been limited. This free webinar provides baseline content and examples to help any type of museum worker feel more fluent and confident in starting to add this content to a profession...

Tomorrow is the deadline to apply for some Institute of Museum and Library Services grant programs! Learn more + apply ⬇️

IMLS Continues to Support Museums by Offering Six Grant Opportunities Museums and related organizations across the United States have six opportunities in the coming months to apply for grants from the nation’s primary source of federal funding for the museum field.

New Job postings on the WMA Job Board!
https://westmuse.org/job_board

It's November, which means is coming up!

On November 26, 2023, more than 2,100 Museum Stores representing all 50 states, 25 countries, and five continents will offer relaxing, inspired shopping inside your favorite museums and cultural institutions.

Find a participating institution near you:

Museum Store Sunday Museum Store Sunday is a global annual shopping event, taking place on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, where you can shop for uniquely curated gifts while supporting the mission and programming of museums and cultural institutions.

Last month, took place in Pasadena, CA. Over 400 attendees joined us for 4 days of networking, learning, and CONNECTING. THANK YOU to all for helping us make a huge success!

Take a look back, with our Flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB14oD

Bring the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read program to your community! Applications are now open for grants to support NEA Big Read projects between September 2024 and June 2025.

Learn more + apply here: https://artsmidwest.org/update/big-read-shakespeare-applications-2024

Environmental sustainability and climate action are becoming increasingly important in museum work, but training has been limited. Join WMA and the California Association of Museums on Nov 16, 2023, at 1:00pm PT, for a free webinar that'll make you feel more fluent and confident in starting to add this content to a professional skill set.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Connecting Around Climate: an Introduction to Taking Action for Museum Professionals with CAM & WMA. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Environmental sustainability and climate action are becoming increasingly important in museum work, but training has been limited. This free webinar provides baseline content and examples to help any type of museum worker feel more fluent and confident in starting to add this content to a profession...

Happy Halloween from WMA! 🎃

As October comes to a close, we invite you to look back at WMA's 2023 Annual Meeting with us, which took place earlier this month on October 5-8 in Pasadena, CA. We all had so much fun learning, networking, and CONNECTING with one another!

View our Flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB14oD

Today, take a look back at this year’s 4 spectacular, super fun, and incredibly inspiring Evening Events!

1-4: &
5-6:
7-8:
9-10:

THANK YOU to all of these institutions for hosting us! Now, we just can’t wait to see what next years’ Evening Events will bring!

Discover emerging trends and gain insights to help you plan for the future at AAM's virtual Future of Museums Summit. Enter WEST10OFF for 10% off registration: summit.aam-us.org

Culture Over Carbon: Understanding the Impact of Museums’ Energy Use - Environment & Culture Partners The Culture Over Carbon (COC) research study created the cultural sector’s first in-depth energy use analysis and the first estimate of the sector’s energy impacts on climate. Cultural institutions can use this data to support strategic planning, and implement structural, mechanical, and behavio...

Learn about the American Alliance of Museums Voluntary Repatriation, Restitution, and Reparations project and download your FREE copy of The First Horizon report today!

On behalf of the Western Museums Association (WMA) Board of Directors, staff, and members, WMA wants to thank all of our wonderful volunteers at the WMA 2023 Annual Meeting in Pasadena, CA!

Read our Open to Letter to the WMA 2023 Volunteers on the WestMuse Blog.
https://westmuse.org/articles/open-letter-wma-2023-volunteers

Tomorrow, the Institute of Museum and Library Services in partnership with the America 250 Foundation, will host a virtual informational webinar about IMLS funding opportunities primed to support Semiquincentennial projects. Register and tune in!

America250 America250 is the nationwide commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 led by the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission.

The Lahaina Restoration Foundation manages and maintains over a dozen museums and historic sites in and around Lahaina, and has suffered total loss to several of its historic buildings and collections as a result of the August Lahaina wildfires.

Annually, the Foundation releases a poster for sale – and this year proceeds will help the Lahaina Restoration Foundation rebuild the town and support the Lahaina community.
Please purchase a poster today:
https://lahainarestoration.org/product/2023-lahaina-poster/

Congrats to all our Wanda Chin Scholarship recipients! And THANK YOU to all who supported the Scholarship fund through donations and the Silent Auction – your donations make WMA's Annual Meeting financially accessible to individuals who might otherwise not be able to attend.

https://westmuse.org/annual-meeting/awards-scholarships/wanda-chin-scholarship

Need a fun craft to get into the Halloween spirit? Try making some colorful Kirigami Spider Webs!

Halloween Craft: Kirigami Spider Webs Learn how to make a kirigami spider web from a sheet of paper! This is a fun Halloween paper craft! See how we supersized them here: https://babbledabbledo....

This year at , attendees were invited to bid on some wonderful items at the annual Silent Auction! 🏛️✏️✨ All proceeds, supported the Wanda Chin Scholarship Fund, helping to make attendance at WMA‘s annual meeting financially accessible to individuals who might otherwise not be able to attend.

Thank you to all who contributed this year!

To make a donation please see the link in bio.

During the first few days of the Annual Meeting, attendees were invited into the Exhibit Hall for networking receptions and lunch, where they explored various vendor offerings.

Thank you to all our exhibitors for coming out to WMA 2023!

For the final Evening Event, last night, attendees became inspired by a showcase of Asian and Pacific Islander voices and visions at , located in the heart of Old Town Pasadena.

Everyone CONNECTED in the courtyard garden, explored beautiful exhibition spaces, and purchased items in the gift shop. Thank you for such a magical time !

This year’s WMA Community Lunch guest speaker was Regan Pro, Deputy Director of Public Programs and Social Impact . Regan spoke about storytelling and interpretation, and shared insight into how museums can develop a sense of belonging in their communities.

THANK YOU !

Our attendees had a spectacular time visiting last night where they enjoyed a fantastic spread of food, and wandered through the galleries, exploring shifting ideas in the Western landscape.

Thank you !!!