Voice 3126 W Cary St 447 | Richmond Virginia 23221-3504 | 804 3583170 | wwwvamuseumsorg | Spring 2016

i

Third Wednesday at the Chrysler Museum of Artrsquos Glass Studio June 2013 Godzilla Goes to the Beach Innovative

Programming at

Virginiarsquos Art Museums

Making the Most of your Museumrsquos Membership in VAM Member Profile Virginia Museum of Transportation

Cove

r Sto

ryInnovative Programming Engages Audiences at Virginiarsquos Art Museums

2

by Heather Widener

Experiential Itrsquos one of those words Itrsquos trendy sounds great and is usually followed by learning But at the same time itrsquos hard to pin down What con-stitutes experiential learning vs ldquootherrdquo learning Isnrsquot learning itself by defini-tion experiential Is it not the way we experience the world that causes us to learn and grow Indeed the viewing of art is an experience and sometimes it is a transformative one Increasingly however museums are going beyond the presenting of art to intentionally creating innovative experiences based on that art with engagement and learning as the goal

We examined several programs at Virginia art museums to see what expe-riential innovative programming looks like in 2016 From bicycle-powered vid-eo tours of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) to linking in to a national MuseumEdMashup in Virginia Beach at the Virginia Museum of Contempo-rary Art (MOCA) from combining glass blowing with comedy magic music and theatre at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk to using Aboriginal art as the springboard for fashion design at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Muse-um there is no lack of out-of-the-box experiences for the public to engage with at Virginiarsquos art museums

Chrysler Museum of ArtGlass Studio Manager amp Programming Director Charlotte Potter of the Chrys-ler is happy to report that her program has expanded the museumrsquos audience base and is breaking down traditional barriers to engagement with art It centers on the notion of glass art as performance art part of the Chryslerrsquos

Third Thursdays program Held in the Glass Studio at the Chrysler the pro-gram incorporates a type of art-making that is inherently physical experiential elemental and chemical glass-mak-ing It doesnrsquot stop there though The program incorporates various art forms into the glass-blowing experience For example one week on the hot shop floor in the studio Ms Potter incorpo-rated a theatre troupersquos rendition of Tennessee Williamsrsquo The Glass Menag-erie Another weekrsquos performance was entitled More than Meets the Eye and was described thus

ldquoThe Chrysler Studio Team lead by Hannah Kirkpatrick collaborated with guest musicians Kishi Bashi and Tall Tall Trees to create optical devices of wonder in the performance entitled More than Meets the Eye

There were shadow bubble pup-pet shows glass records moving projection screens and in the crescendo artist Robin Rogersrsquo mirror sphere rotated around Kishi Bashi as his ethereal sounds capped an immersive evening of surprise and spectaclerdquo

Ms Potter notices that people to-day are looking for experiences over ldquothingsrdquo There is a philosophical shift away from objects into the process of how theyrsquore made The final product is a souvenir or relic of the act of making and in the case of glass-blowing the act itself is a performance

The program is so unique and suc-cessful that it has garnered the most sincere form of flattery imitation Not only that it has resulted in the Chrysler Museum of Art being chosen as the venue for the Glass Art Societyrsquos (GAS) 2017 Annual Conference This is quite the achievement scrolling through the GAS list of conference venues since 1971 places such as New York California Japan and Australia are mentioned but never has a Virginia site been a host venue

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art MuseumTo the west yoursquoll find the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum at the Uni-versity of Virginia (UVa) It is the only museum in the United States dedicated to the exhibition and study of Aus-tralian Aboriginal art The museumrsquos mission is to advance knowledge and understanding of Australiarsquos Indigenous people and their art and culture world-wide Lauren Maupin of the Kluge-Ruhe spearheaded a program that incorpo-rated Aboriginal art with contemporary fashion design and reached across dis-ciplines within the greater community

Kluge-Ruhe created a fashion design contest in January 2015 prompting students from UVa to submit original sketches for garments which would honor Indigenous hand-printed textiles as artworks themselves Given that UVA does not have a fashion program the Kluge-Ruhe project helped to fill a need for students Marcy Linton in the Department of Drama agreed to offer an advanced course in Costume Tech-nology (DRAM4598) in which students would fabricate the winning designs

After receiving numerous sketched de-signs Maupin and Linton selected ten

exmiddotpemiddotrimiddotenmiddottial ikˌspirēˈen(t)SH(ə)l adjective experiential involving or based on experience and observation

ldquoMore Than Meets the Eyerdquo at the Chrysler Museum of Artrsquos Glass Studio

Innovative Programming Engages Audiences at Virginiarsquos Art Museums

and paired them with fabric from four different communities in northern Aus-tralia Babbarra Womenrsquos Corporation Injalak Arts and Crafts Erub Erwer Meta and Merrepen Arts Patterns were made by Linton and Dorothy Smith Costume Shop Supervisor in the Department of Drama and local seamstress Beth Nev-ille Evans Seven students from various disciplines enrolled in Lintonrsquos course and successfully constructed their garments during the Fall 2015 semester Part of the course involved learning about Indigenous Australian art and culture through visits to the Kluge-Ruhe Collection and by skyping with textile artists in one of the communities where the fabric was made

The project culminated on March 19 2016 with an evening fashion perfor-mance titled Culture Couture at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville The project sponsored by the UVa Arts Council the Embassy of Australia the UVa Parents Committee the UVa Department of Drama and the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts introduced Charlottesville to Indigenous Australian fashion and the remarkable creativity of UVa students In addition to Aborig-inal art-inspired fashion the evening featured Australian-themed food as well as music trio Biliirr with Lucy Simpson and her sisters Nardi Simpson and Jilda Andrews (Yuwaalaraay) who gave their first American performance as part of the eveningrsquos celebration of Indigenous creativity

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA)At the VMFA visitors can experience the museum in a unique way by visiting the Art-Cycle interactive space Inspired by the UCI Road World Championships that took place in Richmond in September 2015 Art-Cycle challenges visitors to tinker experiment create engage and reflect in the space Running from Sep-tember 2015 ndash June 2016 the hallmark of Art-Cycle are the bikes themselves Visitors can take a virtual tour on a bike through works in VMFArsquos collection The participatory exhibit uses an Arduino board open source processing script

created by a professor at VCU and a 6-minute video featuring works from the permanent collection The youth of Richmond Cycling Corps are featured at the beginning and end of the video

In addition to the virtual bike tour which inspires the visitor to learn more about the permanent collections and to go see the pieces of art themselves the space features hands-on stations that relate bicycle parts and shapes to art Visitors can use a Spirograph work with gears design their very own cycle racing shirt and tinker with spokes and straws The space is geared toward visitors of all generations Additionally yet another local partnership ndash with Richmond artist Matt Lively ndash resulted in a mural that not only enlivens the space with playful bicycle-themed art but also provides a backdrop for the all-important visitor selfie

Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)Virginia MOCA participated in a nation-wide Museum Mashup event this past February The Museum Mashup started at a National Art Education Associa-tion (NAEA) conference in 2015 as an attempt to shake up traditional confer-ence lecture sessions The first Mashup included over 100 participants who were randomly assigned into groups of three and assigned an art object They

had 45 minutes to develop a 5-7 minute experience around their work that would be enacted with the audience The participants were asked to take a risk create something new and not to teach ndash the focus was on experience and the possibility of failure According to ArtMuseumTeachingcom a Mashup ldquofocuses hellip on the creation of experi-ences with objects people stories and surroundingsrdquo

VAMrsquos own Rebecca Guest was able to attend the MOCA event as a participant Rebecca described how one group approached the project when presented with Crystal Wagnerrsquos art piece called Surface Tension The group asked the oth-er participants to examine the piece and brainstorm a sound that they felt rep-resented the piece Each group shared their sound and then all the groups demonstrated their sounds in unison Museum Mashups are another indication of this trend that seems to be moving toward focusing on experience and par-ticipation ndash on active learning around art rather than passive observation

Of course there will always be intrinsic value in viewing studying and con-templating art Todayrsquos art museums are recognizing that these are not however the only ways to experience art As technology increasingly enables our engagement with art on various levels and as museum visitorsrsquo expec-tations change the increased focus on experiential learning and participatory programming are part of a natural evolution To be sure it is an exciting time to engage at one of Virginiarsquos many museums

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 3

ArtCycle at the VMFA Photo David Stover copy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Cove

r Sto

ryInnovative Programming Engages Audiences at Virginiarsquos Art Museums

2

by Heather Widener

Experiential Itrsquos one of those words Itrsquos trendy sounds great and is usually followed by learning But at the same time itrsquos hard to pin down What con-stitutes experiential learning vs ldquootherrdquo learning Isnrsquot learning itself by defini-tion experiential Is it not the way we experience the world that causes us to learn and grow Indeed the viewing of art is an experience and sometimes it is a transformative one Increasingly however museums are going beyond the presenting of art to intentionally creating innovative experiences based on that art with engagement and learning as the goal

We examined several programs at Virginia art museums to see what expe-riential innovative programming looks like in 2016 From bicycle-powered vid-eo tours of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) to linking in to a national MuseumEdMashup in Virginia Beach at the Virginia Museum of Contempo-rary Art (MOCA) from combining glass blowing with comedy magic music and theatre at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk to using Aboriginal art as the springboard for fashion design at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Muse-um there is no lack of out-of-the-box experiences for the public to engage with at Virginiarsquos art museums

Chrysler Museum of ArtGlass Studio Manager amp Programming Director Charlotte Potter of the Chrys-ler is happy to report that her program has expanded the museumrsquos audience base and is breaking down traditional barriers to engagement with art It centers on the notion of glass art as performance art part of the Chryslerrsquos

Third Thursdays program Held in the Glass Studio at the Chrysler the pro-gram incorporates a type of art-making that is inherently physical experiential elemental and chemical glass-mak-ing It doesnrsquot stop there though The program incorporates various art forms into the glass-blowing experience For example one week on the hot shop floor in the studio Ms Potter incorpo-rated a theatre troupersquos rendition of Tennessee Williamsrsquo The Glass Menag-erie Another weekrsquos performance was entitled More than Meets the Eye and was described thus

ldquoThe Chrysler Studio Team lead by Hannah Kirkpatrick collaborated with guest musicians Kishi Bashi and Tall Tall Trees to create optical devices of wonder in the performance entitled More than Meets the Eye

There were shadow bubble pup-pet shows glass records moving projection screens and in the crescendo artist Robin Rogersrsquo mirror sphere rotated around Kishi Bashi as his ethereal sounds capped an immersive evening of surprise and spectaclerdquo

Ms Potter notices that people to-day are looking for experiences over ldquothingsrdquo There is a philosophical shift away from objects into the process of how theyrsquore made The final product is a souvenir or relic of the act of making and in the case of glass-blowing the act itself is a performance

The program is so unique and suc-cessful that it has garnered the most sincere form of flattery imitation Not only that it has resulted in the Chrysler Museum of Art being chosen as the venue for the Glass Art Societyrsquos (GAS) 2017 Annual Conference This is quite the achievement scrolling through the GAS list of conference venues since 1971 places such as New York California Japan and Australia are mentioned but never has a Virginia site been a host venue

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art MuseumTo the west yoursquoll find the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum at the Uni-versity of Virginia (UVa) It is the only museum in the United States dedicated to the exhibition and study of Aus-tralian Aboriginal art The museumrsquos mission is to advance knowledge and understanding of Australiarsquos Indigenous people and their art and culture world-wide Lauren Maupin of the Kluge-Ruhe spearheaded a program that incorpo-rated Aboriginal art with contemporary fashion design and reached across dis-ciplines within the greater community

Kluge-Ruhe created a fashion design contest in January 2015 prompting students from UVa to submit original sketches for garments which would honor Indigenous hand-printed textiles as artworks themselves Given that UVA does not have a fashion program the Kluge-Ruhe project helped to fill a need for students Marcy Linton in the Department of Drama agreed to offer an advanced course in Costume Tech-nology (DRAM4598) in which students would fabricate the winning designs

After receiving numerous sketched de-signs Maupin and Linton selected ten

exmiddotpemiddotrimiddotenmiddottial ikˌspirēˈen(t)SH(ə)l adjective experiential involving or based on experience and observation

ldquoMore Than Meets the Eyerdquo at the Chrysler Museum of Artrsquos Glass Studio

Innovative Programming Engages Audiences at Virginiarsquos Art Museums

and paired them with fabric from four different communities in northern Aus-tralia Babbarra Womenrsquos Corporation Injalak Arts and Crafts Erub Erwer Meta and Merrepen Arts Patterns were made by Linton and Dorothy Smith Costume Shop Supervisor in the Department of Drama and local seamstress Beth Nev-ille Evans Seven students from various disciplines enrolled in Lintonrsquos course and successfully constructed their garments during the Fall 2015 semester Part of the course involved learning about Indigenous Australian art and culture through visits to the Kluge-Ruhe Collection and by skyping with textile artists in one of the communities where the fabric was made

The project culminated on March 19 2016 with an evening fashion perfor-mance titled Culture Couture at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville The project sponsored by the UVa Arts Council the Embassy of Australia the UVa Parents Committee the UVa Department of Drama and the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts introduced Charlottesville to Indigenous Australian fashion and the remarkable creativity of UVa students In addition to Aborig-inal art-inspired fashion the evening featured Australian-themed food as well as music trio Biliirr with Lucy Simpson and her sisters Nardi Simpson and Jilda Andrews (Yuwaalaraay) who gave their first American performance as part of the eveningrsquos celebration of Indigenous creativity

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA)At the VMFA visitors can experience the museum in a unique way by visiting the Art-Cycle interactive space Inspired by the UCI Road World Championships that took place in Richmond in September 2015 Art-Cycle challenges visitors to tinker experiment create engage and reflect in the space Running from Sep-tember 2015 ndash June 2016 the hallmark of Art-Cycle are the bikes themselves Visitors can take a virtual tour on a bike through works in VMFArsquos collection The participatory exhibit uses an Arduino board open source processing script

created by a professor at VCU and a 6-minute video featuring works from the permanent collection The youth of Richmond Cycling Corps are featured at the beginning and end of the video

In addition to the virtual bike tour which inspires the visitor to learn more about the permanent collections and to go see the pieces of art themselves the space features hands-on stations that relate bicycle parts and shapes to art Visitors can use a Spirograph work with gears design their very own cycle racing shirt and tinker with spokes and straws The space is geared toward visitors of all generations Additionally yet another local partnership ndash with Richmond artist Matt Lively ndash resulted in a mural that not only enlivens the space with playful bicycle-themed art but also provides a backdrop for the all-important visitor selfie

Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)Virginia MOCA participated in a nation-wide Museum Mashup event this past February The Museum Mashup started at a National Art Education Associa-tion (NAEA) conference in 2015 as an attempt to shake up traditional confer-ence lecture sessions The first Mashup included over 100 participants who were randomly assigned into groups of three and assigned an art object They

had 45 minutes to develop a 5-7 minute experience around their work that would be enacted with the audience The participants were asked to take a risk create something new and not to teach ndash the focus was on experience and the possibility of failure According to ArtMuseumTeachingcom a Mashup ldquofocuses hellip on the creation of experi-ences with objects people stories and surroundingsrdquo

VAMrsquos own Rebecca Guest was able to attend the MOCA event as a participant Rebecca described how one group approached the project when presented with Crystal Wagnerrsquos art piece called Surface Tension The group asked the oth-er participants to examine the piece and brainstorm a sound that they felt rep-resented the piece Each group shared their sound and then all the groups demonstrated their sounds in unison Museum Mashups are another indication of this trend that seems to be moving toward focusing on experience and par-ticipation ndash on active learning around art rather than passive observation

Of course there will always be intrinsic value in viewing studying and con-templating art Todayrsquos art museums are recognizing that these are not however the only ways to experience art As technology increasingly enables our engagement with art on various levels and as museum visitorsrsquo expec-tations change the increased focus on experiential learning and participatory programming are part of a natural evolution To be sure it is an exciting time to engage at one of Virginiarsquos many museums

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 3

ArtCycle at the VMFA Photo David Stover copy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Innovative Programming Engages Audiences at Virginiarsquos Art Museums

and paired them with fabric from four different communities in northern Aus-tralia Babbarra Womenrsquos Corporation Injalak Arts and Crafts Erub Erwer Meta and Merrepen Arts Patterns were made by Linton and Dorothy Smith Costume Shop Supervisor in the Department of Drama and local seamstress Beth Nev-ille Evans Seven students from various disciplines enrolled in Lintonrsquos course and successfully constructed their garments during the Fall 2015 semester Part of the course involved learning about Indigenous Australian art and culture through visits to the Kluge-Ruhe Collection and by skyping with textile artists in one of the communities where the fabric was made

The project culminated on March 19 2016 with an evening fashion perfor-mance titled Culture Couture at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville The project sponsored by the UVa Arts Council the Embassy of Australia the UVa Parents Committee the UVa Department of Drama and the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts introduced Charlottesville to Indigenous Australian fashion and the remarkable creativity of UVa students In addition to Aborig-inal art-inspired fashion the evening featured Australian-themed food as well as music trio Biliirr with Lucy Simpson and her sisters Nardi Simpson and Jilda Andrews (Yuwaalaraay) who gave their first American performance as part of the eveningrsquos celebration of Indigenous creativity

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA)At the VMFA visitors can experience the museum in a unique way by visiting the Art-Cycle interactive space Inspired by the UCI Road World Championships that took place in Richmond in September 2015 Art-Cycle challenges visitors to tinker experiment create engage and reflect in the space Running from Sep-tember 2015 ndash June 2016 the hallmark of Art-Cycle are the bikes themselves Visitors can take a virtual tour on a bike through works in VMFArsquos collection The participatory exhibit uses an Arduino board open source processing script

created by a professor at VCU and a 6-minute video featuring works from the permanent collection The youth of Richmond Cycling Corps are featured at the beginning and end of the video

In addition to the virtual bike tour which inspires the visitor to learn more about the permanent collections and to go see the pieces of art themselves the space features hands-on stations that relate bicycle parts and shapes to art Visitors can use a Spirograph work with gears design their very own cycle racing shirt and tinker with spokes and straws The space is geared toward visitors of all generations Additionally yet another local partnership ndash with Richmond artist Matt Lively ndash resulted in a mural that not only enlivens the space with playful bicycle-themed art but also provides a backdrop for the all-important visitor selfie

Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)Virginia MOCA participated in a nation-wide Museum Mashup event this past February The Museum Mashup started at a National Art Education Associa-tion (NAEA) conference in 2015 as an attempt to shake up traditional confer-ence lecture sessions The first Mashup included over 100 participants who were randomly assigned into groups of three and assigned an art object They

had 45 minutes to develop a 5-7 minute experience around their work that would be enacted with the audience The participants were asked to take a risk create something new and not to teach ndash the focus was on experience and the possibility of failure According to ArtMuseumTeachingcom a Mashup ldquofocuses hellip on the creation of experi-ences with objects people stories and surroundingsrdquo

VAMrsquos own Rebecca Guest was able to attend the MOCA event as a participant Rebecca described how one group approached the project when presented with Crystal Wagnerrsquos art piece called Surface Tension The group asked the oth-er participants to examine the piece and brainstorm a sound that they felt rep-resented the piece Each group shared their sound and then all the groups demonstrated their sounds in unison Museum Mashups are another indication of this trend that seems to be moving toward focusing on experience and par-ticipation ndash on active learning around art rather than passive observation

Of course there will always be intrinsic value in viewing studying and con-templating art Todayrsquos art museums are recognizing that these are not however the only ways to experience art As technology increasingly enables our engagement with art on various levels and as museum visitorsrsquo expec-tations change the increased focus on experiential learning and participatory programming are part of a natural evolution To be sure it is an exciting time to engage at one of Virginiarsquos many museums

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 3

ArtCycle at the VMFA Photo David Stover copy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Tech

nica

l Ins

ert

iMaking the Most of your Museumrsquos Membership in VAM

by Heather Widener

As you know VAM recently redesigned its membership program As of December 2015 every staff person volunteer or board member involved with a VAM mem-ber museum enjoys full VAM membership benefits As such simply maintaining one Museum level membership provides pro-fessional development career services plus an array of professional resources for everyone associated with the muse-um All of these benefits are included in one annual membership fee which VAM continues to base upon museum budget What do these changes mean to you however Read on to learn how to best take best advantage of all that our new membership program has to offer

Benefits of Museum MembershipThe Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) is the finest and largest state museum association in the nation Our goal is to always meet the needs of our members and work toward our vision A united museum community inspiring the world around us It has never been easier for your museum to become an active part of VAM and to easily justify the membership dues to your museumrsquos own stakeholders For the first time ever EVERYONE at your museum will be able to take advantage of free or discounted access to

bull Virginia Certificate in Museum Manage-ment program bull Annual Conference registrationbull Professional development workshops bull Career support through VAM bull VAM Voice quarterly news magazinebull Legislative alertsbull Virginia Museum Advocacy Day and AAMrsquos Museums Advocacy Daybull Free posting to VAMrsquos job board and access to member resumesbull Use of VAMrsquos logo to show that you are a part of our dynamic museum community

Additionally members can access the following through our affiliates

bull Health plans through Optima Health

bull Banking services through Langley Feder-al Credit Union

Membership has ValueHow does this translate to value for your museum Letrsquos look at an example Museum X is a small to mid-sized institution with an annual budget of $400000 Based upon that their VAM membership dues would equal $300 For that price every-one associated with Museum X can then become members of VAM Museum Xrsquos Board of Directors are able to stay abreast of issues and best practices in the Virginia museum community The museumrsquos small staff may choose to use their memberships to read the VAM Voice news magazine and one volunteer attends a workshop on

4

Membership for Everyone

VAM is the finest (and largest) state museum association in the nation Our goal is to meet the needs of our museum members and

work toward our vision

A united museum community inspiring the world around us To more effectively serve our community including the staff volunteers and board members of all Virginia Museums VAM has redesigned our membership program Now your museum membership includes full VAM membership benefits for every staff person volunteer or board member involved in your museum As a museum member of VAM you will be providing professional development career services and professional resources for everyone associated with your museum simply by maintaining one membership All of these benefits are included in one annual museum membership fee based upon your museum budget Everyone has free or discounted access to

Virginia Certificate in Museum Management program

Annual Conference registration Professional development workshops Career support through VAM VAM Voice quarterly museum news magazine Legislative alerts Virginia Museum Advocacy Day and AAMrsquos

Museums Advocacy Day VAM job board Use of the VAM logo to show that you are a part of this dynamic museum community

Plus through our affiliates you can also access Health plans through Optima Health Banking services through Langley Federal Credit Union

Leadership Level Want to demonstrate an even higher level of commitment to your Virginia museum community Your museum may join at the Leadership museum membership level for $2500 Your commitment as a Leadership member allows VAM to provide free membership to any student wishing to engage with our museum community Leadership members are recognized on our website in our annual report and at our annual conference Consider paying it forward today

Learn more wwwvamuseumsorg Questions Call us at 8043583170

or email membershipvamuseumsorg

Museum Budget Membership Fee All-volunteer lt $ 25000 $ 50

$ 25001 - $ 100000 $ 150 $ 100001 - $ 250000 $ 225 $ 250001 - $ 500000 $ 300

$ 500001 - $ 1000000 $ 500 $ 1000001 - $ 2500000 $ 650 $ 2500001 - $ 4000000 $ 850

Over $ 4000000 $ 1100

Want to demonstrate a higher level of commitment to Virginiarsquos museum community Consider a Leadership museum membership At $2500 Leadership members allow VAM to provide free student membership Leadership members are recognized on our website in our annual report and at our annual confer-ence Consider paying it forward today

VAM is welcomed to an Evening in Yorktown during its 2016 Annual Conference Members have opportunities to network and engage in professional development throughout the year

Making the Most of your Museumrsquos Membership in VAM

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 5

visitor services and saves $25 because of the museumrsquos membership The museumrsquos educator decides to attend VAMrsquos Annual Conference at a savings of $50 over the non-member price and chooses to join the Virginia Certificate in Museum Management program (and saves the membership fee of $45) After a big exhibition closes at the mu-seum five of its staff and volunteers head to a VAM networking event where they enjoy a social evening with peers and meet new colleagues in their local area

The museum director chooses to join the VAM contingent at AAM Advocacy Day in Washington DC (and saves $75 through VAM membership) The museumrsquos market-ing director accesses VAM white papers on blogging how to create a social media policy and responsive web design helping move the museum forward through effective public relations A collections professional at the museum hears of VAMrsquos Top 10 Endangered Artifacts competition and decides to nominate an item from the museumrsquos collection garnering local press coverage and engaging new audiences When the museum has a staff position to fill the director posts the job to the VAM job board for two months at a savings of $50

At the end of the year Museum X has not only recouped well over half of the dollar amount paid in membership dues through program discounts but it has had opportu-nities to engage at the national statewide and local levels and to access resources that allow the museum to more effectively meet its mission The return on Museum Xrsquos investment is worthwhile in many ways

Get Your Staff On BoardIf you are a leader of a VAM member mu-seum make accessing member benefits easy for all the staff volunteers and board members at your museum by using the following tools and tips bull First connect the folks at your museum with VAM so that they may get news program alerts and notice of professional development opportunities networking events advocacy alerts and more There are several ways to do this

OPTION 1 Send VAM a spreadsheet of contact information for the people associ-ated with your museum The spreadsheet must include at a minimum a field for first name a field for last name a field for email and a field for title Spreadsheets should be emailed to membershipvamuseumsorg

OPTION 2 Contact VAM to get a customized signup URL for your museum VAMrsquos website includes a template letter to distribute this customized URL to everyone at your museum and let them sign up if they are interested in taking advantage of the benefits of VAM membership Email membershipvamuseumsorg or call the VAM office at 8043583170 to get your museumrsquos URL or with any questions

bull You may request VAM materials (member brochures bookmarks pencils and bumper stickers) for distribution to the staff volun-teers and board members at your museum Make your request to membershipvamu-seumsorg Quantities are limited

bull Additionally we have the following avail-able for download- VAM benefits listing to distribute to your staff volunteers and board members- VAM logo for use on your website - let oth-ers know you are a proud member of VAM

If you work with a Virginia museum be sure to inquire with your museum director as to whether your museum is a current member of VAM If so be sure to take ad-vantage of all that VAM membership has to offer and let your director know how you feel about the value of VAM membership As always if you have any questions or need some assistance please contact us at the VAM office (8043583170)

Helpful Linksbull Packet for Membersbull Museum Membership Informationbull List of Benefits bull How to Use the VAM Website bull Template letter for distribution to mem-ber museum employees volunteers board members

Making the Most of your Museumrsquos Membership in VAM

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 5

visitor services and saves $25 because of the museumrsquos membership The museumrsquos educator decides to attend VAMrsquos Annual Conference at a savings of $50 over the non-member price and chooses to join the Virginia Certificate in Museum Management program (and saves the membership fee of $45) After a big exhibition closes at the mu-seum five of its staff and volunteers head to a VAM networking event where they enjoy a social evening with peers and meet new colleagues in their local area

The museum director chooses to join the VAM contingent at AAM Advocacy Day in Washington DC (and saves $75 through VAM membership) The museumrsquos market-ing director accesses VAM white papers on blogging how to create a social media policy and responsive web design helping move the museum forward through effective public relations A collections professional at the museum hears of VAMrsquos Top 10 Endangered Artifacts competition and decides to nominate an item from the museumrsquos collection garnering local press coverage and engaging new audiences When the museum has a staff position to fill the director posts the job to the VAM job board for two months at a savings of $50

At the end of the year Museum X has not only recouped well over half of the dollar amount paid in membership dues through program discounts but it has had opportu-nities to engage at the national statewide and local levels and to access resources that allow the museum to more effectively meet its mission The return on Museum Xrsquos investment is worthwhile in many ways

Get Your Staff On BoardIf you are a leader of a VAM member mu-seum make accessing member benefits easy for all the staff volunteers and board members at your museum by using the following tools and tips bull First connect the folks at your museum with VAM so that they may get news program alerts and notice of professional development opportunities networking events advocacy alerts and more There are several ways to do this

OPTION 1 Send VAM a spreadsheet of contact information for the people associ-ated with your museum The spreadsheet must include at a minimum a field for first name a field for last name a field for email and a field for title Spreadsheets should be emailed to membershipvamuseumsorg

OPTION 2 Contact VAM to get a customized signup URL for your museum VAMrsquos website includes a template letter to distribute this customized URL to everyone at your museum and let them sign up if they are interested in taking advantage of the benefits of VAM membership Email membershipvamuseumsorg or call the VAM office at 8043583170 to get your museumrsquos URL or with any questions

bull You may request VAM materials (member brochures bookmarks pencils and bumper stickers) for distribution to the staff volun-teers and board members at your museum Make your request to membershipvamu-seumsorg Quantities are limited

bull Additionally we have the following avail-able for download- VAM benefits listing to distribute to your staff volunteers and board members- VAM logo for use on your website - let oth-ers know you are a proud member of VAM

If you work with a Virginia museum be sure to inquire with your museum director as to whether your museum is a current member of VAM If so be sure to take ad-vantage of all that VAM membership has to offer and let your director know how you feel about the value of VAM membership As always if you have any questions or need some assistance please contact us at the VAM office (8043583170)

Helpful Linksbull Packet for Membersbull Museum Membership Informationbull List of Benefits bull How to Use the VAM Website bull Template letter for distribution to mem-ber museum employees volunteers board members

6

Prog

ram

Upd

ates

PHILANTHROPY FORUM Offered as a 12 day option or as a full day workshopMonday May 9 2016 Virginia Museum of TransportationRoanoke Virginia

Join VAM for a full day of fundraising training or select from one of two topics ndash donor retention and crowdfunding - for a half day focus Learn help-ful insights and how-to strategies from top development professionals who will help you reach in to improve donor retention and reach out to attract new crowdfunded income

Speakers Allan Burrows President Capital Development Jeff Liverman Executive Di-rector Jacksonville Center for the Arts Dr Jessica Turner Museum Director Birthplace of Country Music

VAM Certificate in Museum Management Credit External Relations

BOTH A BORROWER amp LENDER BEFriday May 20 2016Science Museum of VirginiaRichmond Virginia

How to ready a panel exhibition for travel and then what to expect on the receiving end plus how to work with multiple lenders ndash both public and private ndash when borrowing objects for exhibitions Items covered include forms insurance transportation responsibilities and making ldquothe askrdquo

Speakers Barbara Batson Exhibitions Coordinator Library of Virginia Mary Helen Del-linger Curator Manassas Museum Rebecca Rose Registrar Virginia Historical Society

VAM Certificate in Museum Management Credit Collections or Exhibitions

SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES UNTANGLING YOUR COLLECTIONS MESSMonday June 6 2016Hermitage Museum amp Gardens Norfolk Virginia

Did you inherit a collections mess Are you moving your archive Maybe you have more cannonballs than you know what to do with Learn about processes resources and helpful tools not to mention ldquobeen-there-done-thatrdquo advice to help guide your plans for tackling your collection

Speakers Beth Austin Hampton History Museum Colin Brady Curator Hermitage Museum and Gardens Diane Cripps Curator Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum Harold Jacobson Petersburg Museums

VAM Certificate in Museum Management Credit Collections

Workshop Registration 930am - 1000amWorkshop 1000am - 300pm

Registration $80 - non-members$55 - members$30 - student members

Spring 2016 Workshops

Save the Date for VAM2017March 18 - 21 2017

Roanoke Virginia

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 7

Virginiarsquos Top 10 Endangered ArtifactsTop 10 has helped capture public attention and support for conservation

Herersquos what participants had to say in their Top 10 press coverage

ldquoVirginiarsquos Top 10 campaign offers an interactive opportunity for supporters of Muscarelle Museum of Art to become engaged in bring-ing the importance of this mission into the public spotlightrdquo

Aaron De Groft director and CEO of the Muscarelle Museum of ArtBusiness Wire (2014)

ldquoSometimes we arenrsquot sure just how many people we are able to reach We are a small museum on a hill in Southern Appalachia but we work hard to bring our community exhibitions that are of the caliber you could find in a major city Minnie Ma spent much of her life

amidst the mountains that I can see from my office She would never have expected her name and her painting to be printed in news-papers across the nation She would be so amazed The national attention it has brought to Minnie Marsquos story and paintings and the

William King Museum is extraordinaryrdquoLeila Cartier curator William King Museum of Art

Bristol Herald-Courier (2013)

ldquoI am very pleased that our artifacts were recognizedrdquo Elder said ldquoOur honoree status will raise awareness in the community about our Mill House collection and start us down the road to the conservation of these historically valuable itemsrdquo

Dolores Elder curator Occoquan Historic Society Inside NOVA (2015)

ldquoThis has been a great program for us and we are very happy to have raised awareness of these historic photosrdquo said Long ldquoWe were pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support we garnered which proves once again what great supporters our

historical society hasrdquoJohn Long director Salem Museum

Roanoke Times (2015)

2016 Top 10 nominations will be accepted in JuneLearn more at wwwvatop10artifactsorg and nominate an artifact in 2016

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 7

Virginiarsquos Top 10 Endangered ArtifactsTop 10 has helped capture public attention and support for conservation

Herersquos what participants had to say in their Top 10 press coverage

ldquoVirginiarsquos Top 10 campaign offers an interactive opportunity for supporters of Muscarelle Museum of Art to become engaged in bring-ing the importance of this mission into the public spotlightrdquo

Aaron De Groft director and CEO of the Muscarelle Museum of ArtBusiness Wire (2014)

ldquoSometimes we arenrsquot sure just how many people we are able to reach We are a small museum on a hill in Southern Appalachia but we work hard to bring our community exhibitions that are of the caliber you could find in a major city Minnie Ma spent much of her life

amidst the mountains that I can see from my office She would never have expected her name and her painting to be printed in news-papers across the nation She would be so amazed The national attention it has brought to Minnie Marsquos story and paintings and the

William King Museum is extraordinaryrdquoLeila Cartier curator William King Museum of Art

Bristol Herald-Courier (2013)

ldquoI am very pleased that our artifacts were recognizedrdquo Elder said ldquoOur honoree status will raise awareness in the community about our Mill House collection and start us down the road to the conservation of these historically valuable itemsrdquo

Dolores Elder curator Occoquan Historic Society Inside NOVA (2015)

ldquoThis has been a great program for us and we are very happy to have raised awareness of these historic photosrdquo said Long ldquoWe were pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support we garnered which proves once again what great supporters our

historical society hasrdquoJohn Long director Salem Museum

Roanoke Times (2015)

2016 Top 10 nominations will be accepted in JuneLearn more at wwwvatop10artifactsorg and nominate an artifact in 2016

Mem

ber P

rofil

eby Fran Ferguson

The Virginia Museum of Transportation is the statersquos official transportation museum

but like most museums in Virginia receives no state funding Local government support represents only a tiny fraction of overall revenue We are located in Roanokersquos former Norfolk amp Western freight station a nearly 100-year-old building that has never been completely renovated Challenges are many but over the last ten years the Museumrsquos atten-dance has grown from 12000 to 50000 annual visitors and the muse-um has seen the addition of new galleries exhibits and programs

The VMTrsquos recent success is due to

bull Surveying guests and other constituents and making their wishesmdashnot the boardrsquos or staffrsquosmdashtop prioritybull Partnering with every organization imaginablebull Nurturing our corps of volunteersbull Being willing to take risksbull Converting our biggest asset into a revenue-generator

Roanoke is world-famous for the amazing steam locomotives that were designed and built here by the Norfolk amp Western Railway No other railroad in America could touch the NampWrsquos record for power and efficien-cy The Virginia Museum of Transpor-tation then is the only place you can see the best of the best the Norfolk amp Western Class J 611 passenger locomotive the Class A 1218 freight locomotive and the Class Y6a 2156 coal-hauling locomotive These three engines have become known as the Norfolk amp Western ldquoBig Threerdquo Each of these locomotives is the sole survivor of its type and visitors travel to Roa-noke from over 50 countries annually to see these stars in our collection

The most popular of the Big Three is the Class J 611 a National Historical Mechanical Engineering Landmark also known as the Queen of Steam and the Spirit of Roanoke With its bullet nose elegant streamlining and incredible power it evokes memories family stories and nostal-gia for a period of American prosperity It is a traveling history science and technology lesson on the rails

In 2013 the Museum began a capital campaign to restore the 611 which last ran 20 years ago Telling of its in-ternational reputation funding came from every state and 19 countries with only 6 of funding originating in the Roanoke Valley The Museum gratefully acknowledges support from Norfolk Southern and thou-sands of donors who made the restoration possible The locomotive was restored to operating condition after a year-long effort undertaken at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer NC

The 611 triumphantly returned to Roanoke under its own steam in May 2015 and pulled a successful season of excursions across western

central and northern Virginia Tickets are now on sale for the 2016 season with eleven trips planned across Virginia and North Carolina Visit Fire-Up611org for more information

In 2015 the Museum also debuted a childrenrsquos book about 611 called Dash Dupree and the Queen of Steam and in mid-2016 the Muse-um will release its first documentary 611 American Icon Shot in 4K the documentary which is funded in part by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities showcases the history of the Norfolk amp Western the restoration process and an oppor-tunity to watch 611 thunder past under steam in excursion service

The benefits of converting 611 from a static display into a living breath-ing operating steam excursion engine are many

bull 611 now serves as a traveling ambassador for Roanoke and the Virginia Museum of Transportationbull The museum has significantly raised its profilemdashand visitor and donor basesmdashinternationallybull Earned income from excursions are

The Virginia Museum of Transportation Quite a Trip

8

Norfolk amp Westernrsquos Big Three the Class Y6a 2156 coal-hauling locomotive the Norfolk amp Western Class J 611 passenger locomotive and the Class A 1218 freight locomotive

The Virginia Museum of Transportation Quite a Tripenabling the museum to invest in much-needed infrastructure and visitor amenities as well as new exhibits and soon a new building to house the Big Three and pro-vide venue and educational space

Joining the Big Three in the muse-umrsquos rail yard are about 40 other pieces of rail equipment steam diesel and electric locomotives a variety of passenger and freight cars and cabooses Modern Nor-folk Southern trains roll by all day to the delight of visitors

Inside we host a collection of antique automobiles spanning the 20th century including two extremely rare vehicles made in Virginia We are grateful to the Vir-ginia Historical Society for its loan one of these a Kline Touring Car built in Richmond About half of the cars in the automotive gallery are on loan allowing us to rotate exhibits and keep our exhibition fresh

We opened our aviation gallery in 2012 the first gallery developed after we created our master inter-pretive plan The gallery enabled us to test a variety of ideas and offer what visitors wanted more of in the museum more peoplersquos stories more videos more inter-active exhibits and a more clearly articulated story arch New ex-hibits developed since then have included more of these successful features

ldquoChildrenrdquo of all ages love our O Gauge model train displaysmdashfor who doesnrsquot become a kid watching model trains Volunteers work on our layout weekly adding miniature buildings people and trains with special emphasis on the lower-level ldquokid-heightrdquo win-dow boxes Trains roll past holi-day- or story-themed displays that

change every couple of months

Our educational programs have grown sharply again by tailoring our offerings to the needs of our customers the arearsquos schools Full-day curricula for kindergarten fourth and seventh grade students have been developed in partner-ship with the Roanoke City Public Schools each covering a couple dozen SOLs in all disciplines to make the program extremely valuable to teachers The seventh graders use digital tablets to guide them in discovery-based learning throughout the Museum which includes taking small group selfies with our exhibits

The Museum welcomes visitors seven days a week and looks forward to opportunities to part-ner further with museums across Virginia

611 will be at the North Carolina Transporta-tion Museum in Spencer NC or pulling excursions until its return to Roanoke on April 26 2156 is on loan from the Museum of Transportation St Louis MO

The Virginia Museum of Transportation303 Norfolk Ave SWRoanoke VA 24016

540-342-5670wwwVMTorgwwwFireUp611org

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 9

Kline Touring Car on loan from the Virginia Historical Society (top) children enjoy the O Gauge model train

displays at the Virginia Museum of Transportation

Book ReviewMindset The New Psychology of Successby Carol S Dweck PhD

10

by Heather Widener

ldquoPeople in the growth mindset donrsquot just seek challenge they thrive on it The bigger the challenge the more they

stretchrdquo ndash Dweck pg 21

Mindset The New Psychology of Success is about how our preconceived ways of seeing the world affect our reac-tions our decisions and even our happiness effective-ness and success Through years of study and research author Carol S Dweck has boiled down much of our way of approaching the world into either what she terms a ldquofixedrdquo mindset or a ldquogrowthrdquo mindset

The fixed mindset is just that ndash a mindset based on the assumption that the world a personrsquos intellect innate abilities etc are fixed (ie She is more successful than I am therefore she must be more intelligent than I am) For someone with a fixed mindset intelligence and ability are innate The conclusion is that the power to change does not lie within us Throughout her book Dweck proves this approach can be limiting and that everyone can work to change their mindset

The second mindset is the growth mindset in which a person takes a more open approach to abilities intellect and change Those with a growth mindset are more apt to take on a challenge and put real effort into doing hard things because they see effort as a real means to improvement ndash they live in a world where ability and excellence are not fixed but instead grow through effort

The tenets of this book are applicable to everyone Muse-um directors would benefit by considering how their own mindset affects their leadership style while visitor services professionals and museum educators should consider how mindset informs their approach to visitors ndash particularly to students Regardless of your role within your museum or in business consider Dweckrsquos Mindset a tool you can use to better understand yourself and others

Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S Dweck PhDPublisher Ballantine Books Reprint edition (December 26 2007)ISBN-10 0345472322 ISBN-13 978-0345472328

ELYrsquos13 storage13 facili1es13 offer13 customizable13 areas13 from13 fully13 par11oned13 exclusive13 vaults13 with13 dedicated13 humidity13 and13 temperature13 monitoring13 to13 co-shy‐mingled13 non-shy‐climate13 warehousing13 13

Museum13 Quality13 Storage13 ndash13 Available13 Now13

ELY13 a13 woman-shy‐owned13 small13 business13 also13 provides13 Mountmaking13 Crang13 and13 Collecons13 Relocaons13 as13 well13 as13 Art13 and13 Arfact13 Handling13 and13 Traveling13 Exhibion13 Services13

yen  2800013 square13 foot13 stand13 alone13 building13

yen  24713 fire13 and13 temperature13 monitoring13

yen  24713 video13 surveillance13

yen  FREE13 access13 to13 collec1ons13 while13 in13 storage13

11

Directorrsquos Corner

Dear Members

It was so wonderful to see so many of our members at our recent conference in Williamsburg The entire VAM staff looks forward to the conference all yearmdashnot just because it is our biggest event but because it is our best opportunity to engage with our members to listen to what is going on in all of our Virginia museums to celebrate new jobs retirements and students entering the field and to work together with our board to provide a great program

Now that the conference is completed for another year we can turn our focus to some of the other programs and services we are committed to Many of these like workshops Top 10 Endangered Artifacts and our career services are well-known and popular among our members who benefit directly from them A couple though are broader in scope affecting museums nationwide as well as in Virginia VAM is proud to have been asked to sit at the table for these projects and work hard to make sure that our input leads to positive outcomes that come home to our members in the long run How does this work and what exactly are we working on

Coalition to Advance LearningThis project is funded by IMLS and is de-signed to improve continuing education and professional development in museums li-braries and archives Specifically the projects we work on as part of the national advisory committee focus on removing the barriers that exist between sectors and find ways to educate across sectors so that all three types of institutions can benefit One of the pro-

grams funded by this grant is the Collective Wisdom conference exchange A cohort of 18 LAM (library archive museum) represen-tatives will attend 3 national conferences this year (one each in the library archive and museum sector) and then share what theyrsquove learned with LAM organizations as well as organizations like VAM Theyrsquoll look at questions such as

How do these conferences work similarly What do they do differently What can we learn from each sector What challenges do we all have in common that we could build on together

I am very proud to announce that VAM will have our very own member of the cohortmdashChristina Newton has been selected to participate in this very important adventure VAM members will benefit from all the new knowledge that Christina brings back and shares Congratulations Christina

Museums UnitedThis project is also funded by IMLS VAM is one of five key partners on this grant along with four other state museum associations The goal of this project is to build the capac-ity of all our 45 state museum associations including VAM While we are one of the largest state museum associations what we have learned from this project is that all of the associations do creative work and have resources that all of us can share to better serve our members Pooling our resources and building our connections with each oth-er will also help VAMrsquos membersmdashwe can take what we learn and bring it back to you in the form of new workshops conference sessions and other resources

VAM will always expend our energies and resources to serve our members these na-tional partnerships will never take away from that energy Instead they add to what we can provide to you and increase our knowl-edge of the museum field and those of our close colleagues libraries and archives

Sincerely

Jennifer Thomas

Executive DirectorVirginia Association of Museums

Our Governing CouncilPresident Gary SandlingVP Planning amp Resources Gretchen BulovaVP Programming Rob OrrisonSecretary Dana PugaTreasurer Eric AppPast President Al SchweizerEx-Officio Members Robert C Vaughan and Jeffrey Allison

Direc torsPaige Backus Lisa MartinJamie Bosket Jeffrey NicholsDr Mikell Brown Scott StrohKaren L Daly Vanessa Thaxton-Ward PhDCharles Grant Sarah WhitingDebi Gray Charlotte WhittedJoe Keiper Eric S Wilson

Our Staf fExecutive Director Jennifer ThomasAssistant Director Christina NewtonCommunications Director Heather WidenerMembership Coordinator Rebecca Guest Accountant Su Thongpan

Our Contac tsPhone 804 3583170 Fax 804 3583174wwwvamuseumsorg

Our VoiceVAM Voice is published quarterly for our mem-bers The editor encourages readers to submit article proposals Contact the communications director for more information

Our News Deadl inesSpring February 15thSummer May 15th Fall August 15thWinter November 1st

Our VisionA united museum community inspiring the world around us

Our MissionThe Virginia Association of Museums is a state-wide network serving the museum community

11

Directorrsquos Corner

Dear Members

It was so wonderful to see so many of our members at our recent conference in Williamsburg The entire VAM staff looks forward to the conference all yearmdashnot just because it is our biggest event but because it is our best opportunity to engage with our members to listen to what is going on in all of our Virginia museums to celebrate new jobs retirements and students entering the field and to work together with our board to provide a great program

Now that the conference is completed for another year we can turn our focus to some of the other programs and services we are committed to Many of these like workshops Top 10 Endangered Artifacts and our career services are well-known and popular among our members who benefit directly from them A couple though are broader in scope affecting museums nationwide as well as in Virginia VAM is proud to have been asked to sit at the table for these projects and work hard to make sure that our input leads to positive outcomes that come home to our members in the long run How does this work and what exactly are we working on

Coalition to Advance LearningThis project is funded by IMLS and is de-signed to improve continuing education and professional development in museums li-braries and archives Specifically the projects we work on as part of the national advisory committee focus on removing the barriers that exist between sectors and find ways to educate across sectors so that all three types of institutions can benefit One of the pro-

grams funded by this grant is the Collective Wisdom conference exchange A cohort of 18 LAM (library archive museum) represen-tatives will attend 3 national conferences this year (one each in the library archive and museum sector) and then share what theyrsquove learned with LAM organizations as well as organizations like VAM Theyrsquoll look at questions such as

How do these conferences work similarly What do they do differently What can we learn from each sector What challenges do we all have in common that we could build on together

I am very proud to announce that VAM will have our very own member of the cohortmdashChristina Newton has been selected to participate in this very important adventure VAM members will benefit from all the new knowledge that Christina brings back and shares Congratulations Christina

Museums UnitedThis project is also funded by IMLS VAM is one of five key partners on this grant along with four other state museum associations The goal of this project is to build the capac-ity of all our 45 state museum associations including VAM While we are one of the largest state museum associations what we have learned from this project is that all of the associations do creative work and have resources that all of us can share to better serve our members Pooling our resources and building our connections with each oth-er will also help VAMrsquos membersmdashwe can take what we learn and bring it back to you in the form of new workshops conference sessions and other resources

VAM will always expend our energies and resources to serve our members these na-tional partnerships will never take away from that energy Instead they add to what we can provide to you and increase our knowl-edge of the museum field and those of our close colleagues libraries and archives

Sincerely

Jennifer Thomas

Executive DirectorVirginia Association of Museums

Our Governing CouncilPresident Gary SandlingVP Planning amp Resources Gretchen BulovaVP Programming Rob OrrisonSecretary Dana PugaTreasurer Eric AppPast President Al SchweizerEx-Officio Members Robert C Vaughan and Jeffrey Allison

Direc torsPaige Backus Lisa MartinJamie Bosket Jeffrey NicholsDr Mikell Brown Scott StrohKaren L Daly Vanessa Thaxton-Ward PhDCharles Grant Sarah WhitingDebi Gray Charlotte WhittedJoe Keiper Eric S Wilson

Our Staf fExecutive Director Jennifer ThomasAssistant Director Christina NewtonCommunications Director Heather WidenerMembership Coordinator Rebecca Guest Accountant Su Thongpan

Our Contac tsPhone 804 3583170 Fax 804 3583174wwwvamuseumsorg

Our VoiceVAM Voice is published quarterly for our mem-bers The editor encourages readers to submit article proposals Contact the communications director for more information

Our News Deadl inesSpring February 15thSummer May 15th Fall August 15thWinter November 1st

Our VisionA united museum community inspiring the world around us

Our MissionThe Virginia Association of Museums is a state-wide network serving the museum community