Cornerstone Learning Highly focused, timely and cost-effective professional development offerings

Based on feedback from our members and the museum community in the Mid-Atlantic region, the MAAM Board of Directors approved a series of highly focused, timely, informative and cost effective professional development offerings. These topics will be complemented by dedicated discussion and networking time at each venue.

This program has a rolling schedule is always in development with current topics month to month in addition to the other larger MAAM programs. We expect a small and comfortable gathering of dedicated museum professionals at various venues throughout the MAAM region.

UPCOMING  EVENTS:

Check back often to see what’s being offered!

PAST EVENTS:

Cornerstone Workshop: Museum Security

Tuesday January 28, 2020 from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM

Where: Department of the Interior, North Penthouse | 1849 C St NW | Washington, DC 20240

Museum security is a real issue on many fronts. We wonder how to protect our collection, our staff, and our data. But, where to start?

Join security specialists from the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution for a day-long workshop in Washington D.C. on the latest tips, tools, and information relating to museum security. The workshop will include sessions on risk assessment, operational security procedures, physical security hardware and electronic security systems, as well as security best practices in collection storage areas, and information technology security.

Speakers: Joan Bacharach, Senior Curator, Museum Management Program, National Park Service; Michelle Schonzeit, Office of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, National Park Service; Doug Hall, Deputy Director, Office of Protection Services, Smithsonian Institution; Tony Baker, IT Security Specialist, Information Technology Security Office, National Park Service.

“Making Public History” Lecture & Discussion
Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm EDT

Location: Arts and Sciences Hall Seton Hall Room 107

Seton Hall’s Museum Professions Program and the Institute of Museum Ethics, in partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, present a free public lecture and discussion “The Challenges and Opportunities of Making Public History.”

Join author, historian and museum professional Bob Beatty, Ph.D. in a lively discussion on the world of history organizations, the most numerous of all museums, as they strive to commemorate the past and discern how to use the past to better understand the present and chart the future. Beatty will share major themes he documented in his 2017 book, An American Association for State and Local History Guide to Making Public History, and explore the challenges and opportunities that are important to any museum, nonprofit, and/or small business: entrepreneurship, change, transformation, possibility/opportunity and partnerships.

This free, public lecture and discussion takes place on Thursday, Sept. 26, 6:30 – 8 p.m. in the Arts and Sciences Building, Room 107.

Free to all attendees. Space is limited – RSVP requested. https://events.shu.edu/view/event/event_id/5940

Presented by the College of Communication and the Arts’ Museum Professions Program and the Institute of Museum Ethics, in partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums

Cornerstone Workshop: Deaccessioning: It’s Essential

Wednesday, October 16, 2019 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Where: The Thayer Hotel at West Point, 674 Thayer Road, West Point, NY 10996

What if you, personally, were required to keep everything you ever bought or were given—forever? Sometimes it seems that museums are asked to retain collections, in their entirety, in perpetuity.

Deaccessioning has acquired a “reputation” in mainstream media, but that doesn’t mean it is not an essential process. This session will review responsible deaccessioning, new accounting guidelines for use of deaccession proceeds, and engage in interactive case studies.

Participants of the workshop are invited to submit anonymous questions for problem-solving suggestions from colleagues. Most importantly, this workshop will help you advocate for appropriate deaccessioning in your organization and community.

Fee: $15 MAAM members, $25 Non-Members

Speakers: Erin Richardson, Erin Richardson Consulting; Ellen Endslow, Director of Collections/Curator, Chester County Historical Society

MAAM Mixer: Randi Korn on Intentional Practice for Museums

Wednesday, April 17, 2019 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Where: URBN ANNEX Screening Room at Drexel University, 3401 Filbert St., Philadelphia, PA 19104

Randi Korn will discuss her book, Intentional Practice for Museums: A Guide for Maximizing Impact,with Danielle Rice, Professor of Arts Administration and Museum Leadership, Drexel University. The book describes an impact-driven way of thinking and working that places a museum’s reason for being—achieving impact—at the center of its work. It is sure to be a fascinating conversation that will deepen the knowledge of museum professionals considering or already pursuing intentional practice. This event, sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums is free and open to all. The first 10 MAAM members to arrive will receive free copies of the book. Museum Council Members are also very welcome!

Randi Korn is Founding Director of RK&A, a company that partners with cultural organizations to plan and evaluate their work around achieving impact. She has served on the editorial board of Museums and Social Issues and as a reviewer for Curator: The Museum Studies Journal and Museum Management and Curatorship. She was appointed Research Commissioner for the National Art Education Association (NAEA) and served for three years and received the NAEA Southeastern Museum Educator of the Year award. She taught evaluation at The George Washington University for 18 years, lectured at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Washington and was a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan.

Cornerstone: What do Visitors Really Want From Museums?:  A Conversation with Leaders in the Field

Friday, March 29, 2019 from 9:30am to 3:00pm 

Where: The Cooperstown Graduate Program (5838 NY-80, Cooperstown, NY 13326)

Speakers: Deborah Schwartz, Director, the Brooklyn Historical Society and Fath Ruffins, Curator, National Museum of American History

While we don’t know everything about what motivates visitors to come to museums, we do know a great deal gathered over time from quantitative and qualitative studies, as well as good old fashioned anecdotes.

Join us for a conversation informed by studies such as LaPlaca Cohen’s important Culture Track reports, to a sampling of studies created for individual museums or exhibitions.  Should we extrapolate from other museums to learn more about our own institutions? What can we learn when we listen carefully to our visitors? Are we making full use of our knowledge when we make decisions about what exhibitions and programs to produce each year? Are we giving visitors what they want, or are we following our own idiosyncratic interests? Given the competition for the public’s use of their valuable leisure time, are museums paying enough attention to what we know about our audiences?

MAAM Mixer: A Conversation with Martha Morris on ‘Leading Museums Today’

November 7, 2018 at the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives 

About 50 participants joined us for an evening of networking with colleagues and learning more about what MAAM has to offer! Distinguished professional Martha Morris (bio below) presented on her newest book, Leading Museums Today: Theory and Practice, and shared valuable insight from her experiences in museums. 

Martha Morris is Associate Professor Emerita of Museum Studies at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has over 45 years of experience in the museum field as a manager and leader. Her career began in registration and collections management at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and later at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History where she eventually served as deputy director. Her work and her teaching have consistently focused on management and leadership practices, including strategic planning, project management, teambuilding, staff development, and facilities projects. As a member of the board of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums she served as founding program chair of the annual Building Museums symposium. She has designed workshops, lectured and written on a number of topics including collections planning and management, exhibition development, leading change, museum facilities programs, museum mergers, and 21^st century leadership skills. She is author of Leading Museums Today: Theory and Practice, 2018, Managing People and Projects in Museums (2017) and co-author of Planning Successful Museum Building Projects (2009). She holds BA and MA degrees in Art History and a Master’s in Business Administration.

Cornerstone: Copyright 101

July 20, 2018

MAAM presented a summer Cornerstone™, “Copyright 101”, in conjunction with the The Library of Congress​ Copyright Office. Staff of the Copyright Office and colleagues covered topics including a brief overview of copyright law, museums and copyright law, overview of the registration process, and presentation of records and certification.

Speakers included Aurelia Schultz, Counsel for Policy and International Affairs Office; Whitney Levandusky, Attorney Advisor to the Public Information and Education Office, and other members of the Copyright Office.

Cornerstone: New Ideas for Historic Houses
March 23, 2017

“This is our number one priority so the material was 100% on target.  More current than any books!” – Cornerstone Participant

MAAM presented “New Ideas for Old Houses” at the Albany Institute of History and Art in March of 2017.  The event brought in participants from as far as Colonial Williamsburg to Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site.

Heidi Hill, Site Manager of Schuyler Mansion, spoke about how historic houses can appeal to their communities through exhibitions and programs.  Cordell Reaves, Historic Interpretation and Preservation Analyst at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, engaged in discussion with participants on tough topics including the Emmett Till controversy Whitney Biennial and how to best approach tough subjects and controversy in historic houses.

Keynote speaker, director of Old Salem Village, and author Franklin Vagnone closed out the day with a lecture and workshop on topics from his book, The Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums.  The workshop overall received positive reviews, and reminded us at MAAM why these professional development events are important to our museums and institutions.