Details
About the NAEA26 Museum Preconvention
Save the date for the NAEA26 Museum Education Division Preconvention happening in-person on Wednesday, March 4, from 8:45am-5:00pm CT, in Chicago, IL. Preconvention registration will open mid-November.
Galactic Conversations in Museum Education and Programs
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 | 8:45am-5:00pm CT | Chicago, IL
This Preconvention offers hands-on, in-depth explorations of integrating bold conversation into museum programming in meaningful, thoughtful ways for a wide array of audiences. Discover strategies for practical, creative bold conversations that meet the needs of multiple perspectives. Exchange ideas on how to apply these topics into program development, gallery teaching, and community engagement, from the core to the periphery. Through case studies, collaborative exercises, and discussions, we will identify ways to make museum programs and experiences welcoming for all.
Call for Proposals
We invite you to submit a proposal to deepen and expand our cultural imaginations, and we encourage you to consider a wide range of presentation methods. This call for proposals requests submissions that share ideas on how to incorporate visual arts–adjacent disciplines into museum education and explore the vibrant role of museums as collecting institutions.
Building on the value NAEA invests in arts education holistically, this Preconvention seeks to amplify interdisciplinary approaches to engagement in art museums. Combining contemporary arts absent from or underrepresented in museum collections suggests a pedagogical potential for galactic audience interconnectivity and bold conversations. Consider: How can museums be sites of reference for hopeful, experiential, and respectful learning with relevant cultures in museums? How do we make space for each other to have meaningful conversations in museums to expand our understanding of past and present lived experiences?
The NAEA Museum Education Division invites proposals for the NAEA26 where the top 5 goals of this Preconvention are to:
- provide ways to make museum visits engaging for students,
- expand the knowledge base for object-based learning and popular culture,
- make museums relevant with the currency of multiple art forms,
- foster learning from lived experiences with an emphasis on culture, and
- learn about different methodologies to utilize in museums.
Proposal Guidelines:
- Proposals must be submitted by Thursday, October 30, 2025, 11;59pm ET.
- Presenters must be NAEA members.
- If selected, presenters must register and attend the Preconvention in person.
- Presenters must pay their full Preconvention fee (no discounts).
- Proposals will be anonymously reviewed; please do not include identifying information (such as the name of your museum) in the proposal description. Reviewers will not receive your contact information.
- Preconvention sessions are meant to be conversational, interactive, and/or demonstrations of best practices, not the kind of presentation you’d give at the full Convention.
- Sessions will take place in the galleries, and no technology will be available (i.e., no PowerPoints).
- Presenters will share their sessions TWICE at the Preconvention. For each session, you should be prepared to present a 30- to 40-minute in-gallery experience, and allow time for questions, responses, and feedback.
Deadline for submission: Thursday, October 30, 11:59pm ET.
Final presenters will be notified of their selection on Friday, November 14, 2025.
NOTE OF ENCOURAGEMENT: We are all stretched thin these days, so don’t agonize over your proposal to make it “perfect.” It’s more important that you share your ideas and thoughts rather than have smooth transition sentences or perfect editing. We want your contribution!
If you have any questions, email audrey.hudson@board.arteducators.org. We are happy to help!