2026 Conference Schedule
The Power of Place: Museums Supporting Communities | October 19 -21, 2026 |
Suquamish / Bainbridge Island, WA
Monday, October 19, 2026
Registrars to the Rescue
9am – 3pm (Tentative)
Over the course of a single day, volunteers contribute their expertise to complete work that can be difficult for museums to complete with limited staff time. Projects often include inventorying collections, conducting condition reports, and rehousing objects.
Please note: There is an application process to participate. If interested in participating, please add the ticket to your registration or email rengelhardt@museumofglass.org
Tours (Tickets required)
Suquamish Museum
Tour Times: 12:30 to 1:30 and 3:00 to 4:00pm
Join a guided journey through Suquamish history, culture, and living traditions. Explore exhibits, featuring stories, art, culture, canoe culture, fishing, resilience, and the enduring spirit of the Suquamish people. (Please note, the museum store will be closed this day).
Pre-Conference Workshops (Tickets required)
10:30am – 12:30pm
Workshop 1: Mountmaking for Museum Exhibition: Introduction to Theory and Practice.
Presenter: Devorah Romanek, Independent Curator
Successful exhibitions depend on access to the objects on display, on the ability for audiences to engage with the material culture presented. In this workshop participants will have the opportunity to both engage in some of the thinking behind mountmaking for museum exhibition. This will be followed by a conversation/demonstration about mount design and build techniques and get to design a mount. While this workshop is meant as an introduction to best practice in mountmaking, it will be helpful to those who have an interest in embarking on a journey to learn how to make mounts themselves, or for those who might supervise the work of those designing and making mounts. A variety of materials and techniques will be covered in introductory fashion. The use of mountmaking materials such as Acrylic, Brass, Steel, and Composites will be covered. And mounts for collections found in museums of Anthropology, Natural history, Social history, Tribal history, Applied arts and Fine arts will be considered. This is a workshop that has been presented at Die Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart, University College London, The British Museum, University of Toronto and University of Washington. (Price includes a $20 materials fee.)
Workshop 2: Museum Kits that Work: Research-Based Strategies for Hands-on Inquiry
Presenter: Dr. Lindsey Snyder
Description: Museum kits are powerful tools for connecting collections to classrooms—but only when they are designed with teacher and student needs in mind. Drawing on research with eleven elementary educators, this session shares practical, research-based strategies for designing museum kits and teacher programming that foster inquiry, critical thinking, and engagement. Participants will experience object-based learning firsthand, explore what teachers actually use (and don’t use) in kits, and apply design principles to improve their own programs. Grounded in “The Power of Place,” this session highlights how thoughtfully designed outreach that incorporates community voices can expand access and strengthen educational impacts.
Workshop 3: Meeting Your Community Where They Are
Presenter: Lindsay Ogles, Director of Exhibits and Engagement, Bainbridge History Museum
In the face of limited funds, increased demands on museum staff, and changing community needs, museums are faced with the daunting task of facilitating exhibit, education, and programming in an ever-changing environment. Through a series of examples and brainstorming activities, workshop participants will be able to clarify the needs of their communities, identify the barriers that currently exist, and brainstorm affordable and impactful solutions. Upon entry, workshop participants will be able to select seated around tables based upon whether they are most interested in discussing exhibits, education, or programming. Seated with others interested in the same areas, the brainstorming session will include handouts for targeted planning as well as guided discussion and examples for each area of consideration.
Workshop 4: The Power of Place Starts Within: Leading Grounded, Resilient Institutions.
Presenter: Lisa Jackson, Director, Suquamish Museum
Description: Strong leadership begins from within. This interactive workshop invites participants to explore how self-awareness, regulation, and grounded leadership practices strengthen teams and organizations during times of uncertainty. Through guided exercises, real-life scenarios, and group discussion, attendees will practice tools for managing stress, making thoughtful decisions, and leading with clarity and confidence. Participants will engage in hands-on activities that support emotional regulation and explore how their responses impact workplace culture. By the end of the session, attendees will leave with practical strategies to lead with resilience, foster trust, and create stable, supportive environments within their organizations.
1:30pm – 3:30pm
Workshop 5: Creating a Seat at the Table, Practical Methods of Inclusion
Presenters:
- Wendy Meluch, Wendy Meluch Consulting,
- Kathryn Owen, Kathryn Owen Consulting
Place shapes people, just as people shape their place. Museums are perfectly positioned to facilitate experiences that expand our understanding of each other and the world around us. Museum staff can’t – and shouldn’t – do this alone. Involving the communities we are part of is integral to experience design and strategic planning. This workshop offers practical methods for bringing visitors and community members into the conversation to ensure that your programs and your organization are relevant and accessible. Participants will learn about manageable data collection methods (surveys, live polling and passive systems), and how these can be used alone or in the context of interactive, in-person events with community partners. We will cover fundamentals including technical best practices, cultural competency, sample design and size guidelines, and analysis tips. Participants are encouraged to arrive with a project or research/messaging need in mind which they can develop during the session. Attendees will expand their thinking about and enhance their toolkits for community engagement. Workshop presenters have over 60 years of combined experience in the field, and reputations for fun, dynamic training sessions in the US and abroad. Join us for some laughs and learning.
Workshop 6: Planning for People: Why Logistics are Critical for Community Engagement
Presenters:
- Melanna Kallionakis, Director of Visitor Services, Museum of History and Industry
- Nicole Robert, Independent Museum Professional
Have you had to chase after visitors because they didn’t know where to buy a ticket? Did your community participant bring live plants to create a shared art piece? Was your presenter physically unable to access your stage? There’s a better way! Many museum activities are planned without fully understanding how to support the visitor and community experience. Understand why considering essential visitor logistics is critical to successful community engagement, and how to apply key visitor planning principles to your museum projects. Drawing from their years in the museum field managing visitor engagement, public programs and community-led interpretation, Melanna and Nicole will share examples from their experiences and guide you through key learnings that are broadly applicable to museum work. Attendees will work collaboratively to consider specific museum and community-impacting scenarios and apply the principles learned to these scenarios. Participants are encouraged to bring their own questions.
Workshop 7: Cultural Access: Learning the Hard Way
Presenter: Stephanie Lile, Director, Harbor History Museum
What does it take to launch a Cultural Access campaign in your community? Learn the good, the bad, and the ugly from a boots-on-the-ground campaign.
Workshop 8: Reclaiming Space: Museums, Memory, and Community Responsibility.
Presenter: Charlotte Campbell, Museum Educator, Holocaust Center for Humanity
What responsibility do museums have to the voices history has marginalized—and to the stories and forms of resistance that often go unrecognized? What does it mean to transform a space once marked by exclusion into a place of learning, reflection, and responsibility? This interactive workshop explores how the Holocaust Center for Humanity engages these questions through place-based interpretation and inquiry-driven education. Founded by Holocaust survivors, the Center operates within a building that once hosted exclusionary events, including Ku Klux Klan rallies. Today, that space has been reinterpreted as a living memorial that invites students to connect past injustice to present responsibility. Participants will engage in image-based and artifact-centered inquiry activities that model how individual stories can illuminate broader systems of oppression. This work is informed by ongoing relationships with Indigenous communities, including the Spokane Tribe of Indians, who have imparted an understanding of place and memory as living, evolving, and relational. As we enter a post-survivor era, participants will also consider how museums can ethically preserve and expand memory. The session offers practical strategies for activating space, centering lived experience, and fostering meaningful community engagement.
4:00 – 5:30 pm -Self-guided walking tour
5:30 – 7:30 pm – Welcoming Reception – Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
Come together with friends and colleagues from across the state at our annual conference kick-off and welcome party. Enjoy nibbles, drinks, and live music while catching up with your colleagues in the museum field.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
8:00 – 9:30 am Breakfast & Coffee & Networking at the House of Awakened Culture
9:30 – 11:30 am Welcome, Introductions & Keynote at the House of Awakened Culture
11:30 – 12:00 pm – Transition to Clearwater Resort Conference Hall
11:30 am – Exhibit Hall Opens at the Clearwater Resort Conference Hall
12:00 – 1:15 pm Advocacy Lunch
1:30 – 2:30 pm (Breakout Sessions)
Session 1: Empowering Regional Collaboration
Presenters:
- Rebecca Andrews, Collections Manager, North and South American Cultures, Burke Museum
- Marta Belmont, Curator / Archivist, Suquamish Museum
- Kim Owens, Curation Specialist and Office Manager, Willamette Cultural Resources Associates
- Sophie Glass, Assistant Archaeology Collections Manager, Burke Museum
Over the past year, cultural heritage institutions have faced increasing pressure to secure their own support and funding, as the federal government dismantles the granting institutions that support museums, libraries, and cultural centers. To navigate the loss of funding and training opportunities once offered by federal agencies, museum professionals are thinking creatively to procure the knowledge and resources they need. Seeking local collaborations with other cultural heritage professionals, especially at Tribal Museums, is an effective way to build relationships, capacity, and culturally-informed collection management skills without centralized support from the federal government. Recently, staff from the Burke Museum, Suquamish Museum, and Willamette Cultural Resources have successfully collaborated on collections-management projects. By exchanging their expertise, staff from these three separate organizations found that they shared an extensive overlap in the challenges they’re encountering in cultural heritage. This team collaborated to organize data, archives, and physical collections related to culturally significant sites in the Puget Sound region to help develop a long-term, collaborative stewardship plan. This panel discussion will share experiences and strategies for maximizing resources through local collaboration and how this model strengthens reciprocal relationships with Tribal Museums that encourage more cultural understanding and care for Native cultural heritage.
Session 2: Showing Up!: Museums as the Anchor for Culturally Inclusive Community
Presenter: Sade’Monique James, Director of Museum Events, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
What does it mean for a museum to truly show up for its community? Not just open its doors, but actively create a space where people of all backgrounds feel seen, celebrated, and at home. At the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, a small nonprofit in a tight-knit island community, events like our Black History Month Soirée, Día de los Muertos Celebration, and MLK Celebration have become more than just programming, they are deeply rooted in our desire to support our community. This is a deliberate, recurring commitment to making our museum feel like it belongs to everyone. This session explores what it actually takes to build and sustain cultural celebrations that center community voices. From co-planning with community leaders to curating vendors, artists, performers, and speakers who reflect the communities being honored, to designing a physical space that feels elevated and welcoming rather than institutional. We’ll discuss how these events have evolved at BIMA, the relationships they have built, and the lessons learned along the way, including what happens when a museum moves from venue to co-creator. Attendees will leave with a framework for designing culturally inclusive events that deepen community trust and reflect a museum’s genuine commitment to the people it serves.
Session 3: Myth or Memory: How to Tell an Honest Story
Presenter: Carson McCully, Manager of Adult Programs, National Nordic Museum
Museums are the physical manifestation of memory, which have the power to uphold or distort history. They connect people to their personal identities, offer space for intergenerational learning, and shape how collective memory is constructed and disseminated. This talk will explore how the power of memory can influence interpretation practices and museum education. Examples from across the industry will be used as case studies to demonstrate how memory can be utilized in museum stewardship as well as show the social and political repercussions for changing narratives. The audience will be left to consider the stories they carry at their institutions, inheritance of traditions and practices, and the privilege and responsibility of being communal memory-keepers.
Session 4: Shared Conservation Services at the University of Washington
Presenters:
- Claire Kenny, Assoc. Conservator for Paper & Photographs, University of Washington,
- Stephanie Lamson, Director of Preservation Services, University of Washington Libraries,
- Stephanie Mohr, Manager of Collections, Henry Art Gallery
Since 2016, the University of Washington has explored shared conservation services with support from the Mellon Foundation. Beginning with the joint appointment of a paper and photograph conservator to provide conservation services for the Henry Art Gallery and University of Washington Libraries, UW’s shared conservation services engaged a team of three staff to provide a range of conservation services for the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Henry Art Gallery, and University of Washington Libraries. In our presentation, we will discuss the challenges and opportunities of this collaborative model, including what we have learned after nearly ten years. We will review how we have promoted access to the UW’s extensive and important collections for exhibition, teaching, and learning; shared conservation expertise among collections care professionals and students; and provided collaborative conservation services at a time when fiscally sustainable solutions are needed. When a commitment is made to truly engage in collaborative practices, shared conservation services can reinforce what is most distinctive, valued, and unique about each organization while creating efficiencies and the potential for new and imaginative ways for libraries and museums to work together.
2:45 – 3:45 pm (Breakout Sessions)
Session 1: Tailoring Travel Exhibitions to Meet the Needs of Your Community
Presenters:
- Mytyl Hernandez, Museum Manager, Hibulb Cultural Center
- Emilie Miller, Senior Curator, & Curator of Collections, Hibulb Cultural Center
Bringing in Traveling Exhibitions is a great way to keep things fresh and exciting in museums. The Hibulb Cultural Center works to use traveling exhibits as way to showcase how the exhibit theme impacts and/or inspires our own Tribal Community. Using traveling exhibits creates new and diverse ideas and gives communities the opportunity to tell their own stories and perspectives. This presentation will share examples and experiences of the Hibulb Cultural Center. The presentation will also share information on how to blend a traveling exhibit with a customized section to make an overall cohesive and impactful exhibition.
Session 2: In Consideration of Nostalgia as Related to Place in Museum Interpretation
Presenter: Devorah Romanek, Independent Curator
Museums can be places of profound emotional experience, either elicited with intention, or experienced inadvertently. And one of the strongest elicitors of such an emotional experience can be through evoking the power of place—the lands, waters, and communities represented in exhibition. One of the ways emotions are brought forth in relation to the power of place is by deploying nostalgia. This presentation considers the uses, and more importantly, the pitfalls of employing nostalgia in consideration of the power of place. This presentation queries who benefits and who is denied through various assertions of nostalgia? What does this have to do with relation to place and a sense of belonging or exclusion? How does deploying nostalgia related to the power of place in museum exhibition impact the current status of that place, and its future? By using Critical Nostalgia approaches, the ways in which museums have and do engage in reflective nostalgia, anemoia, and (perhaps of particular relevance in museums) defamliarization will be explored. This will be done by using relevant case studies, current scholarship, and current human needs as related to the power of place as presented and represented in museums.
Session 3: Museums as Places of Dementia-Inclusive Connection: The Alzheimer’s Café Model
Presenters:
- Lea Lovelace, Associate Director of Creative Aging Programs, Frye Art Museum.
- Marigrace Becker, Director of the Memory Hub; Program Manager for Community Education and Impact, UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center
As our population ages, museums can play a key role as a place of connection, support and creative expression for older adults and persons living with dementia. In this session, learn about the dynamic field of creative aging, and the opportunity for museums to expand access and meet a vital need by developing dementia-inclusive programming. Gain insights from the Frye Art Museum’s robust Creative Aging Department and a community partner specializing in dementia care, the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center. Discover a social and arts engagement program you can bring to your own museum – the Alzheimer’s Café model – and ways to adapt the program to your home community and cultures. Leave equipped with practical tools for best welcoming and engaging the growing audience of older adults and persons living with dementia at your museum.
Session 4: Keeping House: How Front-of-House Museum Employees Create and Maintain Community
Presenters:
- Claire Jacobs, Guest Services Associate, National Nordic Museum
- Mia Walchuk, , Guest Services Manager, National Nordic Museum
- Jens Malone, Guest Services Associate, National Nordic Museum
Creating and maintaining community is a challenge faced by institutions across the museum field. While discussion usually centers around programming and development efforts to create community, front-line employees play a key role in community building at a museum. Facilitators from the National Nordic Museum’s Front-of-House team will guide an exploratory conversation about the importance of public- facing museum roles (e.g. Guest Services, Visitor Experience, Front of House) in creating and maintaining an institution’s community. How does an institution’s history shape its community and public facing teams? How do front-of-house employees interpret their museum community and their role in shaping it? How do front-of-house employees advance their museum’s mission, stewarding cultural heritage along the way? Join us for this round table chat to discuss this and more!
4:00 – 5:00 pm (Breakout Sessions)
Session 1: Case Studies in Meaningful & Innovative Youth Engagement
Presenters:
- Jenna d’Anna, Director of Learning & Engagement, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
- Tara McCauley, Executive Director, Jefferson County Museum of Art + History
- Andy Clark, Manager of Youth & Family Engagement, The Burke Museum
Many museums engage youth primarily through school tours or simple interactive activities. But what happens when young people are invited to participate as creators, collaborators, and community voices within museum spaces? This panel shares case studies from three museums of different sizes and missions that are expanding youth engagement beyond traditional education programs. Presenters will highlight strategies that work in both rural museums with limited resources and larger institutions with dedicated youth programming, with attention to approaches that can be adapted across different staffing levels and community needs. Tara McCauley from the Jefferson County Museum of Art + History in Port Townsend will share the Future Homes project, where youth helped design speculative homes that were later realized through 3D printing and exhibited publicly, as well as early learning and play-based environments integrated into museum spaces. Andy Clark from the Burke Museum will share youth-led symposia and short-format programs that bring young people into direct dialogue with museum work and create space for them to engage with collections and ideas in active ways. Jenna d’Anna from Bainbridge Island Museum of Art will share youth summer camps that culminate in pop-up exhibitions, as well as Prime Time Family Reading, an annual 6-week program of free community dinners, storytelling and art appreciation for families, in partnership with Humanities Washington, Kitsap Regional Libraries, and the Suquamish Tribe. The session will include short presentations followed by facilitated discussion, with time for participants to reflect on their own work, share challenges, and exchange ideas.
Session 2: Practical Digitization Resources for Local History Organizations
Presenters:
- Caitlin Patterson, Community Digitization Coordinator, Washington State Library
- Rachel Bufalino, Museology Student, University of Washington
- Di Galbraith, Museology Student, University of Washington
- Dylan High, Statewide Partnerships Coordinator, Washington State Historical Society
- Brandon Locke, Program Manager, CALMA, University of Washington
This session introduces Saving Local History Collections Toolkit, a newly published toolkit designed to support the digitization of collections within local history organizations, with a focus on accessibility and practical implementation. Developed through a collaboration between Washington State Library, Washington State Historical Society, and CALMA at the University of Washington, the toolkit responds to the growing need for practical digitization strategies, particularly among under-resourced institutions. Originally created for the Washington Rural Heritage program, the resources have been expanded through the Saving Local History Roadshow workshop series and further shaped by two students from the UW Museology graduate program. Panelists will discuss how the need for these digitization resources was identified, along with their implementation and ongoing development. The session will explore key opportunities for local history organizations to begin or expand digitization efforts, while also addressing foundational collections management concerns such as pest mitigation, mold prevention, and emergency preparedness. Particular attention will be given to the guiding questions that shaped the toolkit—what challenges practitioners face, what knowledge gaps persist, and how these informed the structure and content of the resource.
Session 3: Accessible Pathways: Career Connected Education, Place-based Learning, and Empowering Community
Presenters:
- Clare Tally-Foos, Aerospace Camp Experience Program Manager, Museum of Flight
- Arthur Bednar, Senior Manager, Museum of Flight
Join us for a conversation about the role of career-connected education in museums and how showcasing work and careers can be a vehicle for place-based learning. In this session, the Museum of Flight will share several examples of how we are integrating information about careers into programming for school-aged learners and partnering with communities to empower youth with options for their futures. We will share examples of how exposure to the possible career pathways into local industries are introduced early through programs like our summer day camp and how we have worked with local school districts to build responsive programming for entire grade bands, all with the goal of ensuring local communities are given the equitable access to local opportunities. After the presentation, there will be time for session participants to ask questions and explore ways careers could be an opportunity for new community partnerships or a new lens for established programming. Time will be devoted to brainstorming next steps and following the interests of the session participants.
Session 4: Lesser Addressed Sensitivities: Ageism, Neurodiversity, Classism
Presenter: Kim Seigel, Gallery Manager & Curatorial Associate, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
A discussion roundtable guided by a PPT defining variations of and effects of ageism, neurodiversity, and classism, along with strategies on how to foster micro and macro inclusions.
5:15 – Exhibit Hall Closes
5:00 – 6:00 pm Emerging Museum Professionals Social Hour & Mixer
6:15 – 8:15 pm Awards Banquet Program (Tickets Required):
Join us for an evening of celebration and connection at the Awards Banquet Dinner, featuring a special program presented by Barbara Lawrence, a Suquamish Tribal Elder, traditional storyteller, educator, and advocate dedicated to preserving and sharing Suquamish culture and history. Suquamish storytelling is a traditional way of teaching, and Barbara uses this form of education with all ages, from preschoolers to the elderly. She has a passion for and deep knowledge of Suquamish and Coast Salish history, culture, archaeology, social justice, environmental racism, and contemporary tribal issues.
During the banquet, Awards of Excellence will be presented in the categories of Projects, Publications, Exhibits, and Individual Achievement, recognizing outstanding contributions and accomplishments across the field.
8:30 pm – Firepit Meet up (Weather permitting)
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
7:00 am – Exhibit Hall Opens
7:00 am – 8:30 am – Heritage Breakfast
9:00 – 10:00 am (Breakout Sessions)
Session 1: More Than a Post: Crafting Messaging That Drives Real Impact
Presenters:
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- Grace Olscamp, Marketing Coordinator, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
- Fina Valenzuela-Fletcher, Senior Manager of Marketing and Digital Program, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
These days, connections first happen on a screen—and there’s a lot of people and places vying for that connection. If you aren’t crafting compelling, consistent messages on the right platforms, you might just miss your next guest, donor, or volunteer. This presentation will start by exploring why consistent branding and voice matters when you have only a swipe to make an impression and how to get started on building a brand and voice that’s written by real people, for people. You have a brand and voice—now what? This presentation will then dive into effectively using digital media to not just get likes, but get people in the door. We’ll focus on how to use platforms strategically to reach the right audiences, not just the largest ones, by identifying where your community is spending time and tailoring your messaging accordingly. Presented by two millennials who WILL make staff and volunteers appear in their org’s TikToks, together they have over a decade of experience creating compelling messaging, telling stories for different industries, and going viral.
Session 2: Collaborating with Communities: Co-Designing Nature Based Experiences with Youth
Presenter: Anna Rebecca Lopez, Learning Partnerships Manager, Woodland Park Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo’s Community Collaborative Team co-developed a Community Collaboration Framework with south Seattle partners that centers lived-experience as expertise and facilitates development of culturally-relevant programs. The Collaborative is utilizing this framework in a three-year, scaffolded program for teens called the Youth Leadership Nature Coalition (YLNC). The program explores and demonstrates the beneficial connection between nature and mental, emotional, and physical wellness. In the first year, youth participated in six unique nature experiences co-designed in partnership with two community-based organizations. Nature experiences encouraged youth to connect with wildlife, explore the outdoors, engage in food systems, and learn how plants can be used for wellness – all in their local communities alongside community leaders and experts. Now in the second year, youth shifted from program participants to co-design partners to re-design the nature experiences. Youth worked with zoo staff to develop collaboration norms, program outcomes, curriculum, evaluation methods, and identify community resources and expertise. In this session, we will briefly present YLNC, highlight the framework, and share best practices for collaborating with youth. This will serve as a jumping-off point for a facilitated discussion with the larger museum community about collaborating with the communities they serve, challenges encountered and lessons learned.
Session 3: Carrying the Work Without Carrying the Weight
Presenters: Lisa Jackson, Director, Suquamish Museum
Description: Leadership often comes with an invisible burden—the emotional weight of supporting teams, navigating conflict, and holding space for others during difficult times. This session explores how leaders can remain deeply connected to their work and communities without becoming overwhelmed. Drawing from real-life experiences, we will discuss secondary trauma, boundary setting in both workplace and community roles, and strategies for making clear decisions under pressure. Participants will receive practical tools through guided reflection and partner discussions, along with take-home resources. This session offers a grounded approach to sustaining leadership, protecting personal well-being, and continuing to lead with strength and care.
Session 4: The Volunteer Workflow System: Documenting Labor, Building Capacity, Sustaining Stewardship
Presenters:
- EJ Klein, Author, 2026 UW Museology Graduate
- Robby Grillo, Director, Shoreline Historical Museum
This lecture presents practical, low‑barrier approaches to documentation and time tracking in volunteer‑led and small museums, using the Volunteer Workflow System (VWS) as a guiding framework. It addresses common challenges such as undocumented “in‑head” knowledge, inconsistent processes, volunteer burnout, unclear expectations, and the chronic underreporting of volunteer labor. By making work visible and repeatable, the system helps museums move beyond survival mode toward sustainable operations. Grounded in real‑world implementation, the lecture explores how the Volunteer Workflow System uses simple process documentation, project worksheets, and consistent time tracking to solve persistent issues in onboarding, continuity, and reporting. Participants will learn how capturing work as it happens reduces training gaps, supports realistic planning, and transforms scattered effort into meaningful data for boards, funders, and communities. Rather than relying on complex technology, this session emphasizes adaptable, paper‑forward tools that integrate easily into daily museum life. Attendees will leave with concrete strategies for documenting work, tracking time with intention, and using that information to strengthen decision‑making, funding narratives, and long‑term organizational resilience.
10:15 – 11:15 am (Breakout Sessions)
Session 1: Dates to Doorways: A Practical Toolkit for Milestones, Reflection & Engagement
Presenters: Emily Jacobs, Story Quilters LLC
This year, the United States marks its 250th anniversary—an inspiration for heritage and tourism practitioners to treat milestones as more than a date on the calendar. To meet this moment, the Oregon Heritage Commission partnered with Story Quilters, LLC to create Dates to Doorways, a free downloadable toolkit to help organizations plan milestone moments with intention. In this session, you’ll be introduced to the toolkit, learn from real-world examples, and leave with practical ideas for special programming, community engagement, collections/community memory, and capacity building. Whether you are celebrating your 10th or 100th anniversary, this session is not to be missed!
Session 2: Reimagining Museum Engagement: Designing Docent and Volunteer Programs for Museums
Presenters: Clarel Ruvalcaba, Gallery One
Docents and volunteers are involved in museums, from interpreting and visiting exhibitions to outreach and community programs. Yet, all too often, many museums do not have sufficient resources to adequately recruit, train and support them. This session will describe a model for developing an active docent program and a complementary volunteer program for small and mid-sized general and fine arts museums of all kinds. Using Gallery One Visual Arts Center’s new docent program as a model, the session will go in great detail about possible rotation cycles and scheduling options, training models and other ideas for linking docent and volunteer activities to goals of the museum and needs of the community. This session will give museums the tools from onboarding processes and examples of docent and volunteer programs, to training and evaluation tools, as well as accessibility and inclusive recruitment and the implementation of Indigenous knowledge and community-led approaches. By the end of this session participants will have a set of tools and resources in hand to be able to train and support their own docents and volunteers from scratch, whether launching a new program in a small organization or refreshing an existing program where staff and budget are limited.
Session 3: Unlikely Combos: The Art of Unexpected Collaboration
Presenters:
- Carolyn Lane, Director of Education Puget Sound Navy Museum
- Valerie Johnson, Director of Education U.S. Naval Undersea Museum
- Sam DeLano, STEM Coordinator, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Keyport
- Erin Guizzetti, STEM Coordinator, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility
What do two museums, a shipyard, and a naval warfare center have in common? Unexpected partners can ease creative stagnation and lead to more current programming that meets the community where it’s at. These organizations have partnered for over 10 years to provide award-winning educational programming to local schools.
Session 4: Campbell House: Telling new stories in an old house
Presenters:
- Linda Strong, Manager of Interpretation, Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
- Angela Ferguson, Volunteer Coordinator, Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
Sometimes old buildings need support reaching their full potential and telling stories that are both relevant and fun can attract visitors to these historic homes. Linda Strong and Angela Ferguson will share examples of successful, dynamic programs that the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) has created to attract new audiences, promote membership, and bring repeat visitors back to the historic Campbell House. Whether it is collaborating with diverse communities to share their own stories, organizing tours with unique topics, or using your historic house as a stage for dramatic readings of Dracula, discover new ways to think outside the box.