About

Western Museums Association

The Western Museums Association provides opportunities for learning and personal interaction to enhance the creative skills and enrich the lives of individuals who do museum work.

OUR CORE VALUES In furthering our mission, these core values guide and sustain our work on behalf of our constituents:

• Social Benefit: The Western Museums Association supports the work that institutions do for their communities, and we seek to inspire excellence in this service to the public.
• Excellence: We challenge museums to strive, because we believe that all museums have the potential to have an extraordinary impact on the lives of others.
• Leadership: We promote the professional development of all staff, volunteers, and trustees, and seek to enhance their positive change and growth, because we believe that all individuals have the potential to be leaders.
• Collegiality: We provide opportunities for individuals to connect and develop life-long relationships, as they create a community of colleagues who support each other’s institutional endeavors and personal well-being.
• Fun: We believe that good humor facilitates learning and relationship building, and enjoyment in an association of colleagues helps build a community of talented, connected individuals who are energized about their profession.
• Trust: We respect one another and trust in the integrity of our diverse museum community.
• Inclusion: We encourage differences of opinions and perspectives, and unfamiliar ideas, for they enrich our association.
• Sustainability: In seeking innovation, we take a measured and responsible approach to decisions and initiatives, as we appreciate that our actions today affect our future success and vitality.

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AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THE WESTERN MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION

The Western Museums Association is currently undergoing a restructuring process to ensure that our 74-year-old organization continues to thrive. The goals of the restructure are to create a business model that cuts overhead costs and thus streamlines administrative activities. This new model focuses on exploring new ways to better communicate and promote dialog with the individuals and museums that comprise our community, including investing in digital communications and social media. This focus on digital communications, rather than printed, will greatly reduce our overhead costs. Unfortunately, the greatest overhead costs were in paid staff positions and the maintenance of a physical home for WMA, both of which have been eliminated as of December 2009. WMA is now an organization run entirely by volunteers. Despite that fact, WMA will continue to offer value and great experiences for the museums of the western region, including the continuation of our annual meeting. We hope that you will join us in Portland in 2010 for our conference and to celebrate WMA’s 75th anniversary!

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You can contact WMA in the following ways:

Snail Mail:
Western Museums Association
P.O. Box 8367
Emeryville, California 94662

Email: westernmuseumsassoc@gmail.com

Phone: (307) 578-4011

The WMA is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization, incorporated in the state of California.

Tax ID# 23-7312905