Early Bird Registration for WMA 2013 Now Open!

The Western Museums Association (WMA) in partnership with the Utah Museums Association is excited to announce the opening of Early Bird Registration for the 2013 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City! WMA’s 2013 Annual Meeting will be held on October 9-12, 2013. In addition 50 engaging sessions, the program also includes pre-conference tours to Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty and Park City, nine pre-conference workshops, and evening events hosted by the Natural History Museum of Utah, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Church History Museum. For the first time ever, the WMA will also be having a Poster Session, an informal opportunity to obtain new insights, share ideas and projects, and network with emerging and seasoned museum colleagues. With so much going on, the 2013 Annual Meeting will be thought-provoking, innovative, and something special!

The 2013 Preliminary Program is available! VIEW it now!

REGISTER online now and save! Early Bird Registration rates end July 31, 2013.

The official hotel of the 2013 Annual Meeting is the Hilton Salt Lake City Center. A discounted room rate of $135.00 + tax has been made available to WMA 2013 attendees. RESERVE a room online today!

WMA would like to extend a special thank you this year’s Annual Meeting Sponsors and Exhibitors. Click here to view our current list of 2013 Annual Meeting’s corporate partners.

Additionally, there are still many opportunities for companies, individuals, and museums to sponsor or participate in the 2013 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City! Click here to download the Partnership Brochure, or contact Jason B. Jones – wma(at)westmuse.org – for more information.

Register now for Early Bird rates and save!

Hawai`i Museum Association 2013 Annual Meeting Recap

By Heather Diamond

The Hawai`i Museum Association (HMA) held its 2013 Annual Meeting on April 5, 2013 in Honolulu. The meeting was hosted at the Queen Emma Summer Palace, and 34 members attended this afternoon event.

We had a lovely location for our meeting. Hānaiakamalama, or Queen Emma Summer Palace, is a historic landmark and museum located on the Pali Highway in Nuuanu Valley. The site was a summer home and retreat for Queen Emma, her husband King Kamehameha IV, and their son Albert. Siding for the Greek Revival structure was cut in Boston and shipped to Hawai`i where it was assembled in 1848 by John Lewis, a part Hawaiian businessman. In 1860, it was sold to Queen Emma’s uncle who willed it to his niece in 1857. Although she lost her son in 1862 and her husband in 1863, Queen Emma maintained this residence from 1857 until her death in 1885. When the Provisional Government of Hawai`i threatened to build a park on the site, the Summer Palace was purchased by the Daughters of Hawaii and preserved as a historic site.

Prior the Annual Meeting, members had the opportunity to take self-guided tours through the Palace before gathering in a stone meeting hall connected to the Palace by a breezeway. The museum houses an assortment of Victorian, fusion, and Hawaiian artifacts and memorabilia that illustrate the close ties of the Hawaiian monarchs to Great Britain, as well as to Hawaiian tradition. The buildings sit on a hill overlooking a valley, and are surrounded by lawns and foliage. Once there, it is easy to understand why the high chiefs and monarchs of Hawai`i preferred to escape Honolulu’s summer heat for this beautiful, breezy location.

Topics covered during the meeting reflected some of the unique circumstances and challenges faced by museums in Hawai`i, as well as issues common to other regional organizations. Members of HMA are spread out among several islands, so cultivating diversity in the organization includes ensuring that not only the various islands are represented, but also the variety of museums and cultural organizations. Current board members come from Maui, Kaua`i, Hawai`i Island, and Oahu. Travel between islands has recently become more expensive with fewer flights per day, so bringing all of our board members or our membership together for meetings is challenging. For the same geographical reasons, upgrading and maximizing the potential of social media was also an important topic of discussion.

We capitalized on our host location by including an interesting talk by local author and historian Barbara Del Piano about the seminal role The Daughters of Hawai`i played in establishing historic preservation in Hawai`i. Originally started as a small social club whose members could all trace their origins to missionary descent, the Daughters grew to include relatives, friends, and Hawaiian elite. With a primary focus on preserving the history of important sites and correct pronunciation of the Hawaiian language, they installed the first historic plaques in the islands. When they assumed control of Queen Emma Summer Palace in 1917, they established the first historic house museum in the Territory of Hawai`i. Today these “pioneers of historic preservation in Hawai`i are now 1300 strong and manage both Queen Emma Summer Palace and Hulihe`e on the Island of Hawai’i, another retreat for Hawaiian monarchs. They also do charity work.

The meeting was adjourned with a reminder from President Jane Hoffman (from Kilauea Lighthouse on Kaua`i) that we will be starting early to plan a mini-conference at our Annual Meeting next year.

Heather Diamond is the curator at `Iolani Palace as well as adjunct faculty at the University of Hawaii where she teaches Museum Studies and other courses. She received her B.F.A. and M.A. at the University of Houston and her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Hawai`i. She is a board member of the Hawai`i Museum Association.

Spotlight on the Integrated Exhibition and Heritage Musical Education Program at the William Grant Still Arts Center, Los Angeles

By Renee Montgomery

Big government is usually equated with bureaucracy, red tape and ineffective spending. But occasionally big government gets it right…very right. Case in point is the Heritage Music Education and Exhibition program at the William Grant Still Art Center, a bureau of the City of Los Angeles, located in the multi-cultural West Adams/Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. Currently featured at the Center is the Arkestry of the Cosmos: The Universe Language of Sun Ra, an exhibition of the archives, art, and interviews of legendary musician Sun Ra and members of his “Ark.” The exhibition is the fifth in the Still’s African-American Heritage Exhibition series, celebrating the life of African-American composers. Prior exhibitions at this community center have featured such jazz legends as Charlie Minkus, Thelonious Monk, and partners Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach.

The Still’s exemplary Heritage Music Education and Exhibition program focuses on an influential musician, opens with a related professional performance, and then utilizes the famous musician’s oeuvre as the basis for the Center’s low-cost youth music lessons. For instance, the current Sun Ra exhibition was launched in February to a SRO audience with special one-time performance of alumni from The Arkestra and other noted local musicians. Sun Ra (1914-1993) was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, and synthesizer, whose music, poetry and performances was based on a “cosmic philosophy” and quest to expand minds, music, and the souls through musical experimentation. Famous for his eclectic and quirky music and lifestyle, Sun Ra led an ensemble called “The Arkestra” – and other names as Sun Ra’s music constantly changed and grew. Music aficionados consider Ra’s influence to be great, because of his many technical music innovations and reaffirmation of music rooted in black history, mysticism and spirituality. The Center’s rollicking opening concert included former Arkestra member Dale Williams with Dwight Trible, Edwin Livingston, Bobby West, Marcus Miller and Derf Reklaw. In addition to the public music lessons, the Center supports “The William Grant Still Youth Ensemble,” comprised of local youth musicians ages 11-14, most of whom began their music education with the center as young children. The Ensemble made their public debut in 2012 at the South LA Summer Power Festival and at LAXART gallery as part of the “Made in LA” series. The Ensemble has also been learning about Sun Ra – performing on April 20-21 and again on April 26.

Featuring artwork by video art pioneer Ulysses Jenkins, Ramses, Norm Maxwell, Samuel Pace, and murals by Aise Bourne, the exhibition is comprised of over 150 rare photographs, videos, articles, important highlights from The Arkestra’s vinyl discography (33-1/3’s, 45’s, and 78’s) plus original concert posters pulled from local collections. This exhibition and integrated music program is especially relevant to neighborhood audiences seeing that Sun Ra’s first appeared in Los Angeles at the Dorsey High School Auditorium in 1969, just blocks from the Grant Still Arts Center.

The Center is named after William Grant Still, a prominent African-American classical composer and the first Black to conduct a major American symphony. Decorating the Center’s exterior is a poignant wall mural depicting Still’s opera entitled The Troubled Island.

The Sun Ra exhibition will close on April 27. The William Grant Still Arts Center is located at 2520 W. View Street, Los Angeles, CA 90016 (323) 734-1165

Submitted by Guest Blogger, Renee Montgomery, Assistant Director, Insurance and Risk Management, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Queering the Museum Project – Request for Proposals

By Erin Bailey

Please help spread the word about the upcoming Queering the History Museum Symposium on June 8, 2013 at the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle, Washington.

On June 8^th Queering The Museum Project (QTM) and the Museum of History & Industry are joining forces for the Queering the History Museum Symposium. This symposium will feature the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History based out of New York, and include a variety of breakout sessions to discuss issues of representation, inclusion and the role of museums in forming social norms around gender, race and sexuality. After the symposium we will host a reception on board the historic Virginia V steamship!

QTM is designed to be a community-based project that works to engage individuals in the administrative, historic, and creative components of museums, and this symposium is no different. We are requesting proposals from historians, artists, activists and community organizations to lead sessions during the symposium. Each session will be between 60-90 minutes in length. We welcome non-traditional session proposals that feature creative, interactive or performance-based activities.

We welcome a diverse array of presenters, including those:

• Of both Queer and non-Queer communities
• Of different levels of experience
• Both professionals and non professionals
• From community groups or individuals

In particular, the Community Advisory Committee is interested in proposals that accomplish one or more of the following:

• Feature diverse practices in historical, archive and museum work
• Incorporate performance based sessions
• Are relevant to our region and beyond
• Draw upon exhibits at MOHAI or other local museums
• Are based or supported by current research
• Stimulate and foster creative thinking
• Highlight links between the local and the global

The symposium will address themes, such as Presentation of Museums, Where’s the Queer, Future of Queer, and Community Engagement in museums.

Session proposals should include the following information:

• A 100 word description of the proposed session activities
• A 100 word explanation of why you think this session is a good fit for the symposium
• A brief biography of the session leaders
• Required equipment needs

Please submit proposals to queeringthemuseum@gmail.com by 5:00 pm on May 1, 2013.

For more information please visit our website, www.queeringthemuseum.org.

Interested in attending? Tickets are on sale, please visit MOHAI’s website to purchase your ticket today.

Get Ready to Wonder

By Susan Spero

As you enter the gallery spaces in the new Exploratorium building on Pier 15 in San Francisco, a sign with a revolving message bodes you to “get ready to wonder” and “rearrange your thinking.” Camera in tow, I went to see the new digs with my daughter, a former Explainer at the museum.

Was there wonder? Check. My daughter claims that the Exploratorium has never been about the building, but instead about experiencing discovery through the hands-on exhibits. Yet, this new building lets the place breathe with light and space in a way that changes, and in my opinion, improves the experience.

Was my thinking about the Exploratorium rearranged? Check. These snaps offer you some sneak peaks.

The large East Gallery showcases living systems and offers a grand view of the San Francisco Bay. The tall glass pipes in this scene indicate tide levels over a 24-hour period. Towards the back of this image you can see the redwood tree sculpture which has seating ledges made from the wood making it possible for you to sit and look carefully at the majesty of this specimen.

The new space throughout echoes what I will now think of as the classic Exploratorium. This Time and Motion gallery is one of several that have lower ceilings and permanent walls, a space change from the former Palace building.

This display titled, The Museum of Wear and Tear is located along the South Corridor. Since its Geometry Playground exhibition created several years ago, the Exploratorium now includes more objects to highlight their own inherent possibilities. Notice the plywood siding that also contributes to the lighter feel of the museum.

You’ll find interactives all throughout the building, including in nooks and crannies that let you get way from the crowds if you want. These two found their own fun underneath a staircase as they made colored shadows on the table by blocking the light from below.

The shop, a core essence of the Exploratorium, still stands, bigger and even more visible to the public. This staff work space sits right across from the Tinkering Studio where visitor makers can try their own hands at using tools.

In the Bay Area much of the media blitz about the reopening includes photographs of people playing with their reflections in this oversized parabolic mirror. Certainly a show-stopper, visitors flock to it to see themselves in a world turned upside-down. If you flip this image in your mind’s eye, you can see that high ceilings remain a trademark of the Exploratorium.

Several donor panels stand along the East Corridor allowing you to acknowledge the patron support, yet still see the waterway beyond.

The entrance way to the new Exploratorium on Pier 15.

Hats off to the staff and volunteers who made the physical transition from the Palace to Pier in less than four months. As the staff finishes their move “to do” lists and settles into these engaging spaces on the Pier there will be adjustments. One of the Exploratorium’s best traits, and fundamental to it is that it is an institution that is constantly “becoming.” As such, what a great place to wonder and rethink!

Susan Spero, Professor of Museum Studies at John F. Kennedy University has taught over a half-dozen staff at the Exploratorium during her career. She appreciates the pride on their faces as they showed the new Exploratorium to friends and family over the weekend. This past year she additionally volunteered on a project with the Exploratorium’s Tinkering Studio.

Wanda Chin Scholarship Deadline for WMA 2013

The June 1^st deadline is rapidly approaching!

The Wanda Chin Scholarship program helps fund participation and travel to the Western Museums Association (WMA) 2013 Annual Meeting by professionals who might otherwise not be able to attend. Scholarships are available to members of the field at the student, incoming professional and mid-career professional levels. The Scholarship program is a vital component of our mission. Apply today!

TO APPLY:

Please fill out the Wanda Chin Scholarship form and return by June 1 , 2013.

TO DONATE:

1. Please fill out the Wanda Chin Donation form
2. Ship your donation to the conference location no more than 10 days prior to the conference, or simply bring the donation with you to the conference. Please note: WMA is not responsible for items shipped to the conference location but not received.

Suggested donation items are:

• Museum gift shop items; craft supplies; jewelry; books; etc.
• A stay at your vacation home
• Wine from your state

If WMA receives written notification of your donation by one month prior to the conference, you will be acknowledged in the List of Auction Items, which is posted on our website and at the conference.

Items may be brought or sent directly to the Annual Meeting location, but you must fill out this form in advance in order to receive proper acknowledgement at the conference. Please provide us with a description of the item and estimated value. Large items may be shipped to high bidder (at the donor’s expense) after the conference as long a clear photograph of the item is provided to WMA in advance for the auction table. Please note that WMA may combine your item with others if such a combination would bring higher bids.

Blog posts by Wanda Chin Award recipients:

•  Pacific Islands Museum Association’s Secretary-General at WMA 2012
•  When I Grow Up, I Want To Be a Museum Professional
• What Community Means to Museums: The Broader Cultural Landscape
• The Spirit of Aloha
•  Gaining Mastery in the Museum Field

Museums in the West Accepted to Museum Assessment Program

The Western Museums Association would like to formally congratulate the 20 latest museums from the West to be accepted into the American Alliance of Museum’s Museum Assessment Program (MAP). These museums deserve to be commended for their commitment to standards and institutional growth. The museums will complete a self-study and then have a consultative site visit with a peer museum professional. The museum, city and assessment type are listed as follows:

Alaska

• Seldovia Museum, Seldovia, Organizational

Arizona

• University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, Organizational

California

• California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, Santa Rosa, Community Engagement
• Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland, Community Engagement
• Children’s Creativity Museum, San Francisco, Community Engagement
• Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco, Collections
• Chumash Indian Museum, Thousand Oaks, Collections
• Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum, Rancho Dominguez, Organizational
• Imperial Valley Desert Museum, Ocotillo, Collections
• Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, Organizational
• Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, Organizational
• Santa Monica History Museum, Santa Monica, Organizational
• Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, Organizational
• Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology, Chico, Organizational
• Walt Disney Family Museum, San Francisco, Collections

Oregon

• A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village, Salem, Organizational
• Garibaldi Museum, Garibaldi, Organizational
• High Desert Museum, Bend, Community Engagement
• Museum of Natural and Cultural History University of Oregon, Eugene, Organizational
• Oregon Maritime Museum, Portland, Organizational

Would you like to get involved with MAP? The next MAP deadline is July 1, 2013, and you can learn more about the MAP program here.

Your museum can also take the AAM’s Pledge of Excellence, which the WMA wrote about here, to show your museum’s commitment to being a good steward of the resources it holds in the public trust.