Tuesday, January 17 – Friday, January 20, 2023
Clarence Brown Conference Center, Cartersville, Georgia
Museums: The (Fill in the Blank) Frontier
Deadline: July 29, 2022
As Georgia museums emerge from the pandemic and return to long-range planning, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel has become more expansive. Institutions are grappling with the aftermath of dramatic shifts in programming, exhibitions, and operations. Staff, board members, and volunteers are also considering how to address a host of thorny issues – racial justice, climate change, political turmoil, the nature of democracy, and other concerns – in a time when tensions are high and work/life balance feels increasingly elusive. As we move forward, the horizons before us are full of frontiers both exciting and challenging.
The frontier is one of the most central and complicated tenets of American identity. Historian Frederick Jackson Turner believed that the frontier and (white, male) citizens’ ability to tame it was key to the United States’ spirit and success. For many others, especially Indigenous and Latine populations, the idea of the frontier, or "la frontera," evokes more complicated considerations. The museums of Cartersville, Georgia, interpret many different types of frontiers: the transformation of northwest Georgia with the simultaneous forced Removal of Cherokee peoples, settlement of Euro-American farmers, and enslavement of African Americans; scenes of American westward expansion; the transportation revolution of the automobile; and the wide-open expanses of space, the classic final frontier.
The Georgia Association of Museums invites submissions for its 2023 conference on the theme of Museums: The (Fill in the Blank) Frontier. In our own way, each of us is contemplating the frontiers of our lives and profession. The Program Committee encourages submitters to develop sessions and workshops that “fill in the blank” to explore many different frontiers and topics.
Potential words to consider for describing Georgia museum frontiers:
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Boundless
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Challenging
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Complicated
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Elusive
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Fast-changing
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Fickle
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Forward
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Fragmented
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Fraught
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Hopeful
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Opportunities
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Reflective
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Scary
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Unified
Potential session topics requested by GAM 2022 attendees:
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DEAI best practices in hiring and daily operations
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Collaboration ideas for small museums engaging with community members
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Building partnerships with other museums and nonprofits
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Social justice in programming, exhibitions, and daily operations
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Exhibiting and programming around civic engagement
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New resources available to museums
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STEAM programming/exhibitions
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Strategies for handling common problems
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Security
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Marketing/PR
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Organizational change: defining a mission, managing growth or reduction
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Exhibitions: planning and development, designing with intention
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Negotiating salaries and benefits
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EMP-related content
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Museum education
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New technologies and applications for museums
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Collections care for unprocessed collections
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History-specific: programming related to slavery and the Civil War, reflections on the Reframing History report and podcast produced by the American Association for State and Local History
Presentation formats include:
Panel (75 minutes): Focus on a theme or issues that will engage audiences. The most successful panels include a range of perspectives and case studies with practical strategies that have broad applications to many different kinds of museums.
Roundtable (75 minutes): Short presentation by the chair and/or co-chairs, followed by a moderated discussion about a particular topic.
Workshop (120 minutes): Hands-on activities and practical solutions to specific challenges or issues that will engage audiences. The most successful workshops also include handouts.
Please complete and submit the following proposal form by Friday, July 29, 2022. Questions? Contact Rebecca Bush, GAM Vice President and Program Committee Chair, at
rbush@columbusmuseum.com.
