NAEA Museum Education Preconference - Diversity & Inclusion: Art Museum Educators as Levers of Change

Wednesday, March 1, 2017
9:15 am – 4:45 pm, followed by an after-hours wine reception from 6:30-8:00 pm
New York City, New York
#NAEAMusEd17

The NAEA Museum Education Preconference brings together art museum educators, students, consultants, and researchers to build community, generate new insights into issues and practices affecting the field of museum education, and leverage the knowledge of the group as well as the expertise of partners and specialists in other disciplines to strengthen museum education practice.

Preconference enrollment is limited to 350 participants, so please register early to reserve your spot!

Download e-Brochure

Registration Fees
$99.00 for Active Members, $75.00 for Student Members, $125.00 for Non-Members

The 2017 NAEA Annual Convention (March 2-4) theme is The Challenge of Change. At the Museum Education Division’s 31st annual Preconference, we ask ourselves, ​“How Can I Be A Lever Of Change?”

Cultural institutions are increasingly adding diversity, equity, inclusion, and community outreach into their strategic plans, mission statements, and audience goals. While these ideals require us to think deeply about all of our various identities and social relationships, a thorough understanding of the historical and contemporary dimensions of race and racism in museums is particularly relevant at this moment in our country. With the changing racial demographics, the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the increasing social media focus on the intersection of race and museums, there is a clear call to examine how race influences our work in museum education.

Before we can start to address these initiatives on behalf of our institutions, we must pause to take a closer look at ourselves and our own lenses, beliefs, experiences with race, and how they affect our programs and interactions with museum visitors, artworks, museum spaces, colleagues. This year’s Preconference will support our field in a focused exploration of some of the following questions as a way of rethinking how we can be effective change leaders in our institutions:

  • How do we define diversity, equity, and inclusion?
  • How do we create cultures of hiring and staffing that prioritize and support racial equity?
  • How do we ensure our practices and messaging are inclusive?
  • How do we self-reflect to ensure our work aligns with anti-racist values?
  • What does an intersectional approach to teaching and interpretation look like?
  • How can I be a Lever of Change to create programs, work, teaching, and leadership, that fosters a value for diversity, equity, and inclusion?
  • How do we know if we are successful?

This work and the paradigm shift is hard. And yet, it is of utmost importance if museums are to evolve to be more open, affirming, and inclusive spaces. Our Preconference will be an opportunity for art museum educators to self-reflect on the lenses and perceptions that we use everyday, establish brave spaces to have these difficult conversations and outline concrete steps we can take individually and as a field to make our work more diverse and inclusive.

Schedule and Registration

As the Preconference aims to provide opportunities to explore several cultural institutions in Manhattan throughout the day, plenty of time has been allotted for travel between sites as well as for exploring and networking on your own. Also, as the Whitney has generously made their spaces available after hours, we are starting the day a bit later than usual, with more networking time in the morning during the optional coffee hours to kick off your day.

Also since many art museum colleagues are situated in and around New York City, we have increased this year’s attendance capacity to 350. However, last year’s Preconference sold out months in advance, so register early.

Lastly, NAEA arranges Registration in a way that requires you to also sign-up for the National Convention to encourage both membership and to maximize your time with colleagues. If you wish to only attend the Preconference, contact the Museum Education Division Director-Elect Michelle Grohe at NAEAMusEd@gmail.com for next steps.

Program

8:30-9:15 am: Optional Coffee with Colleagues
Get caffeinated while you network with NAEA peers. Join a small group of colleagues for an informal coffee and/or breakfast within a short walk of the Met. Sign-up sheets will be available via Google in February 2017. Buy your own coffee, or treat a new or old colleague!

9:15-9:45 am: Registration
Uris Education Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Please enter via the 81st Street ground-level entrance to the Museum for conference checkin-in and MET admissions sticker.

10:00-10:15 am: Welcome by NAEA Museum Education Division Leaders
Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, MET Museum

10:15-11:30 am: Keynote Speakers, *How Can Art Museum Educators Work for Racial Equity?*
Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, MET Museum
Dr. Marit Dewhurst, Director of Art Education, City College of New York
Keonna Hendrick, Cultural Strategist, Educator, and Consultant

Today we will focus on race. To remain relevant, 21st Century museums must seek to align their practices with democratic values and change how they connect with people and their diverse experiences. How then do we create spaces and experiences for visitors and colleagues who have not been historically represented or acknowledged? As museum educators, we have a responsibility to do this. Hendrick and Dewhurst will provide a historic overview to issues of race and racism in the context of museums, define shared terms for us to use as a field and throughout the day, establish structures for having conversations and nurturing brave spaces, and model a few strategies to address real-life issues in the museum workplace.

11:30 am-12:45 pm: Explore Best Teaching Practices in the Galleries
Join colleagues in the MET galleries for a practical experience gallery experience applying the themes of the day. A call for facilitators and interactive activities that address the Levers of Change theme will be released in October 2016. Topics or themes will include: selecting culturally relevant artwork, remaining engaged during difficult topics, discussing art to build community interdepartmentally, and more. Participants will make selections in January 2017 during follow-up registration.

12:45-2:45 pm: Explore, Lunch, and Travel
Take this time to explore the MET galleries on your own, pick up your lunch, and travel to breakout locations. Limited seating will be available in the Uris Education Center classrooms.

2:45-4:45 pm: Becoming Levers of Change Breakout Sessions
Break out groups will meet at various locations, including the Museum of Arts and Design, New Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Frick Collection, The Guggenheim, and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, among others.

How can we infuse our commitment to racial equity into our teaching, daily work practices, and professional leadership? In small groups, we will spend time working collaboratively to expand our understanding of racial inequities and develop strategies to create a racially inclusive museum. Topics and facilitators will be identified in the fall of 2016 based on members’ interests, which may include: label writing, hiring practices, teen agency, racial diversity and equity as an institutional priority, understanding how intersectionality (such as between race and LGBTQ identities) informs our work as educators, and creating shared agency in teaching with school and family groups. Attendees will rank top 3 breakout session topics in January 2017 in follow-up registration.

4:45-6:30 pm: Explore, Network, and Travel
Stay tuned for informal options to decompress, such as grabbing coffee, a meetup for those new to the field, or drinks to talk about mentorship.

6:30-8:00 pm: Closing Reception
Enjoy this ​rare after-hours reception​ at the ​Whitney Museum of American Art​, including time to explore the galleries featuring their permanent collection. Drinks, including wine and beer, as well as snacks, will be served.

Speakers

Dr. Marit Dewhurst is the Director of Art Education and Assistant Professor of Art and Museum Education at The City College of New York. She has worked as an arts educator and program coordinator in multiple settings both nationally and abroad including community centers, museums, juvenile detention centers, and international development projects. Her research and teaching interests include social justice education, community-based art, youth empowerment, and the role of the arts in community development. Her book, Social Justice Art: A framework for activist art pedagogy was recently published by Harvard Education Press.

Keonna Hendrick is a cultural strategist, educator and author who promotes critical thinking, expands cultural perceptions, and supports self-actualization. She is the co-founder of SHIFT, a collective of cultural workers engaging anti-oppressive feminist professional and personal development. She is also co-creator of multicultural critical reflective practice, a professional development model. Keonna continues to provide professional development to educators in museums and classrooms nationally, including ArtsConnection, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Modern Art, New York City Museum Educator Roundtable, and The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Questions? Please contact:
Michelle Grohe, NAEA Museum Education Division Director-Elect NAEAMusEd@gmail.com​ or (617) 278-5149