The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) might have returned to in-person events last year for a joyful if somewhat smaller event in Boston, Massachusetts, but at this year’s AAM Annual Meeting 2023 in Denver, Colorado, it truly felt like the event was back with a bang. The MuseumExpo featured a packed trade show floor with exhibitors across the sector and the agenda was jam-packed with insightful sessions on a huge range of relevant topics.
Plus, attendees were eager to connect, learn, and discover Denver’s exceptional museum scene.
AAM Annual Meeting 2023 is open!
On Thursday morning, attendees filled the Four Seasons Ballroom at the Colorado Convention Center for a warm welcome from the AAM team.
The departing chair of the board, Chevy Humphrey, kicked things off with a welcome address. She said:
“We are so happy that you are here, and are looking forward to the next few days of learning, inspiration, and connection. What makes a museum truly essential? What causes a community and a workforce to fight for their museum’s survival? That’s exactly what AAM2023 sets out to answer.”
"We are so happy that you are here, and are looking forward to the next few days of learning, inspiration, and connection with each other."
— American Alliance of Museums (@AAMers) May 19, 2023
Chevy Humphrey (@chevyluvscience), Chair of the AAM Board of Directors, welcomes #AAM2023 attendees. pic.twitter.com/HA12em5CT5
She also said:
“Let’s also not forget what we have collectively been through and what so many are still going through. Throughout our time together, I urge you to connect over and challenge ideas, not each other.”
Goodbye Laura Lott
Following this, AAM president and CEO Laura Lott took to the stage. During her opening address, Lott reflected on the critical ways museum professionals step up to serve their communities, and especially how they have served communities in crisis the past several years.
"Museums must do 3 things to secure their position as essential community infrastructure, ensuring financial sustainability & relevance.
— American Alliance of Museums (@AAMers) May 19, 2023
1 Listen to communities
2 Center equity, inclusion & accessibility
3 Share social/community impact
We are well under way." -Laura Lott #AAM2023
Lott asked:
“How will you and your museum answer the call to be more integral to societal issues, and embedded in your communities? How do you know you are having an impact and making a positive difference in the world? And how will you share that story of impact?” She concluded her speech by saying:
“None of us are alone – that is the power of an alliance. Together, we are a force.”
AAM Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo 2023 was the final such event to be presided over by Lott. AAM recently announced that she will stand down on 15 June 2023. As she left the stage after her opening remarks, during which she gave thanks for the support she had received during her tenure, attendees gave her a standing ovation.
Following 13 years of leadership at AAM, Lott is moving to a new position at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. As administrator, she will lead the museum’s operational, architecture and sustainability strategy. Brooke Leonard, the current AAM chief of staff, will become interim CEO.
A tribute to a true museum leader
During the opening general session, AAM also shared a tribute to Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, the late director of the Illinois State Museum. Catlin-Legutko was honoured with AAM’s Award for Distinguished Service to Museums.
“Cinnamon used her power to change lives, inspire movements, and challenge the status quo—and is greatly missed,” said AAM. Humphrey said: “She truly exemplified the best that our field has to offer…she inspired us to do better. A true leader, generous mentor, and caring friend”
Attendees then enjoyed a poem from Colorado Poet Laureate Bobby LeFebre and a performance by the dance troupe ArtistiCO.
Thank you @BobbyLefebre for sharing with thousands of museum professionals your inspiring, empowering, and dynamic words in a special poetry reading at #AAM2023. pic.twitter.com/r1Q6HJmgQs
— American Alliance of Museums (@AAMers) May 19, 2023
Highlights from the AAM Annual Meeting 2023
Over the course of the event, we had the opportunity to hear from over 300 speakers. Sessions took place across four session tracks: People, Planet, Power, and Possibility.
Day one
A highlight on day one, and a popular fixture on the AAM agenda, was a session from AAM’s Center for the Future of Museums. In this, Elizabeth Merritt, VP of strategic foresight and founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums presented insights from TrendsWatch: Building the Post-pandemic World.
Merritt began her session by reflecting on the disruption of the past few years, saying:
“Massive disruptions aren’t the end of the world, they also open space for opportunities. We should always be looking for the opportunity to make things better.”
On the trending topic of AI, she pointed out that when museums use new digital technologies, such as AI, they need to consider who profits, what message they are sending out about trustworthiness, and what is the environmental impact. A follow-on session invited attendees to join discussion tables. These focused on three main topics of the 2023 TrendsWatch report: the post-pandemic workforce, the digital revolution, and the partisan divide.
Sustainability, community engagement and more
In the afternoon on day one of the AAM Annual Meeting 2023, we enjoyed a quick-fire sustainability session.
This was presented by Andrea Froehle, VP of marketing & communications at Event Network, a leading retail operator for experiential cultural attractions in North America. She was joined by Cynthia J. Jones of The Henry Ford Museum, Joyce Lee of IndigoJLD Green + Health/AAM ECN, Charles Walbridge of the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Michaeleen Gallagher of The Annenberg Foundation Trust.
Christine Murray, content director at Art Processors, joined Sam Flowers from the Woody Guthrie Center and Carla Herran from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) for a session entitled Engagement or Partnership? Community Collaboration and Co-creation.
This focused on three interesting projects designed to further long-term community collaboration. These were Folk the Vote at the Woody Guthrie Center, Designing our Tomorrow at OMSI and Streets of Bronzeville in Chicago.
Later in the afternoon, in Every Museum Is a Community Museum: Defining and Prioritizing Communities, a panel explored ways that museums are defining and redefining their communities, offering practical approaches, frameworks, and conversation starters. Speakers included Holly Shen of Lord Cultural Resources, Stephanie Wilchfort of Brooklyn Children’s Museum and Kristian Weatherspoon from the Atlanta History Center.
Several events took place in the evening, including a ‘Meet the Brits’ reception at the appropriately-themed Pints Pub, hosted by the British Consulate-General, Chicago. There was also a reception hosted by Exhibits Development Group (EDG), a global leader in travelling exhibitions. The evening’s festivities concluded with the NAME Party at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
Made some new friends at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science this evening #AAM2023 pic.twitter.com/DuuUlInnFf
— blooloop (@Blooloop) May 20, 2023
Day two
Early on day two at the AAM Annual Meeting 2023, there was a panel exploring carbon neutrality in travelling exhibitions. This was hosted by The Shipping Monster‘s Robert Aspinall and included insights from Felicity Sylvester of the Natural History Museum (NHM) and Tim Pethick of Nomad Exhibitions.
Sylvester talked about NHM’s Our Broken Planet exhibition, which is the museum’s first touring exhibition to be delivered 100% digitally. Pethick explained some of the ways that Nomad Exhibitions has worked to reduce the carbon footprint of its travelling exhibitions.
Aspinall‘s advice was to start thinking about sustainability early in the design process. He said that travelling exhibition designers should design elements to fit in 8ft packing cubes. They should also plan for appropriate modes of transport.
Keynote speaker Gregg Deal
Attendees then headed back to the Four Seasons Ballroom for the AAM Annual Meeting 2023 keynote, Indigenous in Plain Sight. The speaker was artist and disruptor Gregg Deal, whose work challenges ahistorical and stereotypical depictions of Indigenous people in art.
Deal said that Museum professionals “have to put aside ego and a belief that we are so educated as to skirt responsibility. Culturally, small things for my people amount to big things. How will you move forward with the responsibility this country has to its Native inhabitants?”
He also said:
“If you’re going to invite marginalized people to the table, you’re also going to have to invite marginalized problems to the table. There are issues that exist whether you like it or not. As museums are having a discussion with marginalized groups, there has to be a level of equality that exists—the same footing, at the same level.
“Equality is going to manifest itself in the way that you treat somebody, the amount of respect that you give them, and making sure the person present is going to be paid for their time, and given the resources to participate with a level of equality.”
After his address, Deal was then in conversation with Virgil Ortiz, artist and indigenous futurist; C.J. Brafford, director of the Ute Indian Museum, (Lakota Oglala Sioux Indian Tribe); John Lukavic, Andrew W. Mellon curator of native arts, Denver Art Museum; and moderator, Dawn DiPrince, executive director & state historic preservation officer, History Colorado.Â
Educational sessions continue
Concurrent sessions continued on day two of the AAM Annual Meeting 2023 after the keynote session. In a session called Is ‘Immersive’ the New ‘Interactive’? we heard from Cynthia Brown of Museum EXP, Monica Ramsey from The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Abigail Bysshe of The Franklin Institute, Jesse Kramer from the Conner Prairie Museum, Roto’s Sarah Lima and Erika Kiessner of GSM.
We also heard from the team at Art Processors, the experiential design consultancy, in Creating New Dimensions in Storytelling. This featured examples of meaningful cultural experiences that explore the emotional relationship between people, place and authentic narratives, including the firm’s recent project at Pentridge Prison.
Next, financial sustainability was the topic under discussion in a travelling exhibits-focused Session: Conjuring Sustainable Traveling Exhibitions Models without the Wizardry. For this, Debbie Donohue of Imagine Exhibitions was joined by Cynthia Brown of Museum EXP, AJ Goehle of Luci Creative, Daniel Guyton from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Sarah Myers from The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and Mark Ewing from Ravenswood Studio.
At the end of a session called Engage, Innovate, Collaborate: Using AR, VR, and Immersive Experiences, which explored the opportunities presented by these new digital tools, attendees had a chance to try out some of the examples for themselves.
The speakers were Dana Duran of Guru Experience Co., the app specialist for the cultural sector, Lisa Falk, from Arizona State Museum, Cindy Petersen of the Taubman Museum of Art; Helen A. A. Harrison, from the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center and Eddie Carbin of The Exploratorium.
In the evening, the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus hosted the Connect Networking Event.
Day three
On day three of the AAM Annual Meeting 2023, a session called The Art of Going Green tackled an important question: how can we make art museums more sustainable? The Denver Art Museum team spoke about the work that the museum has done in this area. It was one of the first museums to be selected for the Frankenthaler Grant for Energy Improvement.
During a workshop called “Journey Maps: What Are They and How Do I Make One?” attendees were invited to work together to create a journey map. This is a visual representation of how individuals transition through completing a goal. The activity helped participants learn how the tool improves audiences’ experiences.
Another interesting session on day three was #MuseumOfThePeople: Digital Museum Storytelling for Maximum Social Impact. The desire for digital engagement has remained even post-pandemic. Many museums are looking at the best way to continue their digital strategies.
In this session, Ashleigh Richelle and Amy Burke from the Oakland Museum of California shared resources, best practices, and examples, for a digital storytelling strategy that aligns with the mission and maximizes social impact.
Elsewhere, in Coauthoring Community History with Museum of Memory Practitioners, Dawn DiPrince of History Colorado guided attendees through an exercise where they drew floor plans of their childhood homes. This helped them to learn more about the impact of community projects based on collective memory.
The day finished with the annual AAM party, hosted by History Colorado.
Highlights from MuseumExpo
The MuseumExpo at AAM Annual Meeting 2023 opened at 10:30 am on Friday 19 May. Attendees were able to access the trade show floor from 10.30 am to 5:00 pm on Friday. It was also open from 9.00 am to 5.30 pm on Saturday. There were also Poster Talks and NeighborHubs throughout the event and a MuseumExpo Closing Happy Hour on Saturday.
Travelling exhibitions
There were exhibitors from across the sector on the trade show floor. For instance, when it came to travelling exhibitions, attendees could discover the latest offerings from a range of companies. Imagine Exhibitions, a leader in worldwide travelling exhibitions and entertainment, was showcasing Brick Planet, amongst other titles. This is a new exhibition concept that the firm is creating with artist Sean Kenney. It is also preparing to launch its new Ice Dinosaurs exhibition in early 2024.
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) showcased shows like T. rex: The Ultimate Predator; Nature’s Superheroes; Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids: Mythic Creatures; The World’s Largest Dinosaurs; Extinct & Endangered: Insects in Peril and more.
EDG highlighted its Dinosaurs of the Sahara exhibition. This debuts at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio on 26 May 2023. The new exhibition comes from world-renowned palaeontologist and professor Paul Sereno and the team at the University of Chicago Fossil Lab.
Attendees could also discover the latest offerings from Flying Fish, a leading producer of touring museum and science centre exhibitions. This includes OceanXperience, Mission Astronaut, Dream Tomorrow Today, Stardust and You and Julia Child: A Recipe for Life.
National Geographic’s travelling exhibitions were on show too. National Geographic brings stories of adventure, world cultures and wild places to life in exhibitions, live events and experiences. These are designed to be shared with audiences of all ages.
Museum tech
Mad Systems Inc., the award-winning audiovisual and interactive system designer and integrator, was on hand to talk to attendees about Alice. This is a patent-pending AI technology, designed to transform immersive experiences.
Electrosonic, a leading international audiovisual and technology services company, was offering complimentary blue-sky ideation charettes during the show. In these sessions, the team talked through the latest experiential technology solutions.
The team from Tessitura, a nonprofit technology company dedicated to helping arts and cultural organisations thrive, was on hand to talk about the platform’s streamlined new features to help museums and attractions grow and retain memberships.
RocketRez, the end-to-end cloud ticketing platform for tours and attractions, highlighted its new Rocket Pass solution. This offers a centralised location for tour and attraction guests to buy tickets and items, receive communication from attraction operators, store payment information, and manage their entire experience.
Speak Creative, an award-winning digital agency with a focus on client partnerships, was highlighting PassPlay. This is a new digital pass and loyalty solution.
Exhibit design, museum consultancy and more
Elsewhere on the trade show floor at the AAM Annual Meeting 2023, attendees could meet Lord Cultural Resources, the world’s largest cultural professional practice, Roto, a leading planning & design-build firm and Chicago-based design and fabrication company Bridgewater Studio.
Riggs Ward Design, a multi-disciplinary design and planning firm and Luci Creative, a full-service experiential design studio and creator of dynamic experiences for civic, cultural, and corporate organisations, were also exhibiting.
Sponsors
AAM Annual Meeting 2023 Visionary level sponsors were Blackbaud, Denver Art Museum, History Colorado and HTB Affinity Nonprofits. The Leader sponsors were Bonfils Stanton Foundation, The Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus, Denver Botanic Gardens and neon, a global experience entertainment company.
Patron sponsors were .ART, Art Processors, Amazon Web Services, Clyfford Still Museum, D&P, Denver Arts & Venues, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, ERCO, Etix, Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, HGA, Imagine Exhibitions, Kress, Next Decentrum, Northern Trust, Sage View, Smith + Howard, The Anschutz Foundation, The Colorado Health Foundation and Travelers.
AAM thanks the Denver organisations that have helped to make the Annual Meeting accessible and inclusive for all attendees. This includes El Pomar Foundation, Foothills Art Center, Golden History Museum & Park, Rose Community Foundation and UMB Bank.
This year’s Platinum NAME sponsors were Cortina Productions, Electrosonic, Eos Lightmedia and Reich&Petch. Meanwhile, the Gold NAME sponsors were Mapsted and Solid Light, and the Silver sponsors were Roto and The Design Minds.
Save the date for the 2024 AAM Annual Meeting, 16 – 19 May in Baltimore, Maryland.
