Common Threads
Washington Museum Association Annual Meeting
June 9-11, 2025
Chelan, WA
Museums are the Common Threads that bring communities together, create safe spaces, and foster meaningful dialogue. Museums aspire to leave one feeling something – a sense of place, history, beauty, understanding, and community. At our 2025 conference, we will explore how we can build community, strengthen neighborly connections, and tell our stories.
- What work are you doing that creates a sense of community?
- What collaborations or partnerships have you forged to create connections?
- In what ways are you utilizing shared stories to nurture and inspire community for future generations?
- How are you making the museum experiences a home or place of belonging for your communities?
- What obstacles stand in the way of museums being effective community builders?
- What communities have been underserved by museums, and how can this be rectified?
We invite our colleagues from heritage museums, science centers, children’s museums, and art museums to convene in historic downtown Chelan to discuss the Common Threads that connect our work and create community across Washington State.
Sponsorship Opportunities
$2,500
- Up to five (5) conference registrations
- Full-page advertisement in conference program and inclusion on all signage (Logo in marquee placement)
- Keynote, luncheon, or reception sponsor opportunity
- Table in exhibitor hall
- Keynote Session Spotlight: pre-recorded video (30s) played or verbal acknowledgement before keynote
- Company name/logo on website (1 year)
- 1-year Business Membership
$1,000
- Up to three (3) conference registrations
- Half-page advertisement in conference program and inclusion on all signage (Logo in premiere placement)
- Session room sponsor opportunity
- Table in exhibitor hall
- Company name/logo on website (1 year)
- 1-year Business Membership
$750
- Up to two (2) conference registrations
- Quarter-page advertisement in conference program (Logo) and inclusion on most signage
- Table in exhibitor hall
- Company name/logo on website (1 year)
- 1-year Institutional Membership
$500
- Up to two (2) conference registrations
- Table in the exhibitor hall OR Quarter-page advertisement in the conference program (Logo) and inclusion on most signage
$300
- Up to one (1) conference registration
- Table in exhibitor hall
- Acknowledgment in conference program and inclusion on limited signage (written name)
$150
- Table in exhibitor hall
Questions? Email us at [email protected]
Accommodations:
Information will be added soon!
Registrars to the Rescue
What is Registrars to the Rescue?
At each WaMA Annual Conference Registrars to the Rescue (R2R) partners with Art Work Fine Art Services to bring together a team of trained museum professionals to volunteer on a special collections project in a Washington museum.
Previous Projects
- 2022 – Lewis Army Museum, JBLM
Rehoused 20 linear feet of the 9th Infantry Division Archives (one of the organization’s most used resources)
Bigelow House Museum, Olympia
Rehoused about 100 garments, quick cataloged seven boxes of hats and rehoused and inventoried two linear feet of sheet music - 2021 – canceled due to Covid
- 2020 – canceled due to Covid
- 2019 – Registrars to the Rescue (R2R) Workshop
Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University - 2018 – Skagit County Historical Museum, Mt. Vernon
Conducted inventory and took photos of artifacts stored at the museum’s off-site storage area.
Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum, Mount Vernon
Volunteers rehoused, inventoried, and photographed quilts.
Sedro-Woolley Museum
Inventoried and rehoused artifacts from museum’s collection of maps. - 2017 – Wanapum Heritage Center, Mattawa
Volunteers created storage mounts for Native American ethnographic artifacts, completed condition reports, photography, and readjusted storage housing
Quincy Valley Historical Society & Museum
Volunteers inventoried items in the 1904 Reiman-Simmons House. - 2016 – Scandinavian Cultural Center, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma
Completed condition reports and rehoused traditional Norwegian folk costumes.
Tacoma Historical Society, Tacoma
Completed inventory of object storage and rehoused textiles and fragile documents. - 2015 – Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale
Prepared objects for relocation to Brim Family Research Center by using mount making skills reviewed at workshop. - 2014 – Jefferson County Historical Society, Port Townsend
Completed condition reports, new mounts, and relocation for Victorian-era ontological collection. - 2013 – Clymer Museum & Gallery, Ellensburg
Completed condition reports for and relocated of painting collection to new storage racks. - 2012 – Karshner Museum, Puyallup
Completed condition reports 50 items in the Native American collection that included coiled baskets
Questions?
Contact Rebecca Engelhardt email, [email protected] or Call 253.284.4705
WaMA Registrars to the Rescue Committee
c/o Rebecca Engelhardt
Museum of Glass
1801 Dock Street
Tacoma, WA 98402
Our Sponsors
Accessibility & Inclusion
WaMA works to create an annual conference that is accessible to all. An accessibility request question is available during the registration process and can also be sent to [email protected]. If possible, please make accommodation requests no later than a month before the conference.
Conference Refund Policy
If you are unable to attend the conference for any reason after registering, please email [email protected] to request a refund. Refund requests will be granted until May 23, 2025. No refunds will be processed after that date.
WaMA offers a transfer policy for individuals who can no longer attend the conference as planned. If you’d like to transfer your registration in full to another individual, please email [email protected]. The deadline for this is Thursday, June 5th, 2025, at 5 p.m.
WaMA is unable to divide a single registration among multiple people.