Schedule

Thursday 

November 2nd

Registration & Information Table

7:30 am – 2:30 pm Registration (Santa Ana A & B)
7:30 am – 8:30 am Drop Off Silent Auction Donations (Santa Ana A & B)

8:30 am – 9:45 am Concurrent Sessions A

Revitalizing Student Employment in Museums

8:30 am – 9:45 am | Lobo A

Inspired by a change in the student employment structure at the University of New Mexico Art Museum, this roundtable discussion will focus on how museums employ university students. The facilitator will briefly present this new model in which student jobs were redesigned to expand past entry-level work in visitor services and into communications, events and programs, and social media. The presentation will outline the goals, logistics, and successes of this program. After the facilitator presentation, the discussion will be open to participants to share their own experiences working with university students, ask questions, celebrate successes, and work through challenges.
Presenter: Devin E. Geraci, Associate Director of Operations, UNM Art Museum

Ask a Registrar!

8:30 am – 9:45 am | Lobo B

Have you ever wanted to know more about cataloging, loan agreements, art shipping, insurance, or collections management systems/databases? Wonder what a Registrar does? Bring your questions to this session! This is an informal Q&A for emerging museum professionals and students to ask questions about the nuances of museum registration work and learn more about this side of the profession (established museum professionals interested in learning more about registration are also welcome to join). Our goal is to de-mystify one of the less well-known areas of museum work, and to provide resources for new/future registrars. Often combined with other job titles (such as Collections Manager, Exhibition Manager, Database Administrator, etc.), registrars interact with nearly every other department within a museum, as well as the general public. We frequently manage the logistics of incoming and outgoing loans, acquisitions, image requests, and other behind-the-scenes projects. Join us to learn more!
Presenter: Katherine Barry, Museum Collections Registrar, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Co-presenter: Cloe Medrano, Registrar, Roswell Museum & Art Center

Specimens and Artists: Opening the Door for Artistic Exploration in Museum Collections 

8:30 am – 9:45 am | (Fiesta A & B)

The Museum of Southwestern Biology faces unique challenges when planning for public outreach; mainly, our lack of space to host the public. This summer, the MSB faced our annual fear of bringing people into our collections on a larger scale than ever before... then we did it all again a week later for the International Evolutionary Biology Conference attendees. In total, we hosted nearly 1000 visitors in our collections and lab spaces in one week, and along the way we learned a lot about how to safely manage collections visits of all sizes. As the head of planning this massive summer of programming, I’d like to share what I learned about how to bring people into collections spaces. I’ll be covering logistical and legal considerations, safety of specimens, comfort of employees who have never worked with the public, and even ethical and social considerations when deciding what to have on display. I’d then like to allow attendees to brainstorm (in small groups or as a whole, depending on class size) how their institutions may be able to expand their collections access and begin working through difficulties they may have to face.
Presenter: Bre Kappel, Museum Program Coordinator, Museum of Southwestern Biology

9:45am-10:00am Coffee Break (Sub-Ballroom B)
Sponsored by the UNM Museum Studies Program
9:45am Silent Auction opens (Santa Ana A & B)

10:00am – 10:50am Official Welcome (Sub-Ballroom B)
Adrienne Boggs, President, New Mexico Association of Museums
Dr. Shelle Sanchez, Director, City of Albuquerque Arts & Culture Department
Dr. Loa Traxler, Director, University of Mexico Museum Studies Department
Debra Garcia y Griego, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of
Cultural Affairs

10:50am – 11:50am Keynote Address (Sub-Ballroom B)

Generalizing in New Mexico Leads to Disaster!
Keynote Speaker: Andrew Connors, Director, Albuquerque MuseumIntroduction: Arif Khan, Director, University of New Mexico Art Museum

In this illustrated talk, Connors will examine a few objects mostly from the collection of the Albuquerque Museum and explore some of the complex stories that these objects tell. From 19th-century portraits and cityscapes, to aesthetic uses of recycled materials due to economic challenges, to the use of found natural materials for personal adornment, creative individuals in New Mexico always seem to exceed superlatives. Any attempt to reduce New Mexican cultures to easy generalizations or marketing slogans simply leads to disastrous missed opportunities for celebrating our diverse humanities.

11:50am – 12pm Break

12pm – 1:00pm Lunch & Annual Business Meeting (Sub-Ballroom C)

1:00pm – 1:15pm Break

1:15pm – 2:30pm Concurrent Sessions B

Turning Outward: Listening to Connect with Community

1:15 pm – 2:30 pm | Lobo B

How can learning about community aspirations support you to be intentional about the work you do? Learn how listening has informed strategic initiatives at Explora and provided an avenue for greater impact and relevance in the community. You’ll have opportunity to practice listening to learn about community aspirations and reflect with other museums on the space and impact each occupies in the community.
Presenter: Tara Henderson, Director of Education, Explora

Introducing the Vladem Contemporary New Mexico
Museum of Art

1:15 pm – 2:30 pm | Fiesta A & B

Christian Waguespack, Chief Curator and Alexandra Terry, Curator of Contemporary Art, New Mexico Museum of Art will present an introduction on the Vladem Contemporary and the upcoming exhibition Off Center? Off Center, the second exhibition staged at the Vladem and is a project that the entire curatorial department will be working on with a focus on art made in New Mexico from 1970-2000.
Presenters: Christian Waguespack, Head of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of 20th Century Art, NM Museum of Art – Vladem Contemporary;
Alexandra Terry, Curator of Contemporary Art, NM Museum of Art – Vladem Contemporary

Graduate Research Session at New Mexico Association of Museums Conference

1:15 pm – 2:30 pm | Lobo A

This interdisciplinary session showcases a variety of graduate student research and projects underway in New Mexico on any museum related research topic, issue, project, initiative, or activism. The session is designed to give emerging scholars an opportunity to present papers, participate in discussions, and develop collaborations across all fields of museum studies and work. The presentations will be followed by a Q&A period and a spontaneous and collaborative group discussion generated by one question each panelist will pose to audience members on any topic related to museum theory, practice, professional development, and more.
Chair: Dr. Rachel Snow, Adjunct Faculty, University of New Mexico Museum Studies Department
Presenters:
Marcy Botwick – “Mary Greene and Ernest Blumenschein: Marginalized Experience and Representation at House Museum”
Ash Boydston-Schmidt – “A Contextual History of NAGPRA at Chaco Culture National Historical Park”
Hannah Cerne – “From the University of New Mexico Art Museum Archives: Taos and Santa Fe: The Artist’s Environment, 1882 – 1942”
Lucas McDaniel – “Imaging the West: The Life of Artist’s Model
Ben Lujan”
Sarah Mielke – “The Dangers of a Closed Door: Missed Opportunities for Student Involvement in Museum Collection Stewardship”

2:30pm – 2:45pm Break

2:45pm – 4:00pm Concurrent Sessions C

The New Mexico Creative Industries Division and Museums

2:45 pm – 4:00 pm | Fiesta A & B

The 2023 Legislature passed House Bill 8 to establish a division to focus on growing Creative Industries in New Mexico. The measure was signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 5, 2023 and initiated operation with $2 million non-recurring funds as a Division in the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Representative Reena Szczepanski, (Dist. 47) a main sponsor for House Bill 8, will provide information about the purpose of the new Division and talk about the legislation and current status of the Division as we move into the 2024 Legislative session. The New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD) recently announced that 18 projects in 15 communities and 3 pueblos, each in the amount of $100,000 across New Mexico are recipients of the inaugural Creative Industries Grant Awards. Two of the recipients, the City of Albuquerque and the UNM Art Museum received awards and will talk about the process, projects and anticipated outcomes of the funding received.
Speakers: Reena Szczepanski, New Mexico District 47 State Representative & Majority Whip; Dr. Shelle Sanchez, Director, CABQ Arts & Culture Department;
Arif Khan, Director of the University of New Mexico Art Museum;
Devin E. Geraci, Associate Director of Operations, UNM Art Museum

It’s over...isn’t it? Rick Dillingham’s AIDS Series: A figurative self-portrait at the end of the world.

2:45 pm – 4:00 pm | Lobo A

This paper explores the end-of-life work of New Mexico ceramist and Indigenous pottery scholar Rick Dillingham. The body of work that will be interpreted is a series of four pots titled AIDS Series. Having been exhibited only once at the Linda Durham Gallery in 1993 before being sold into separate private collections, the AIDS Series marks a moment of time in Queer history in the United States through its symbology in form, color, and surface treatment. The paper applies gay activist Eric Rofes’ 1998 assertion of a “post-AIDS’ discourse, and the 2000 argument against such thinking by David Román to the work and interrogates the cultural significance of continuing the conversation about AIDS in 2023 and asserts the need to prioritize the conversation about AIDS and LGBTQ+ discrimination. The permanence and dispersed nature of Dillingham’s ceramics act as a direct metaphor: That these issues – while much like an artifact -- are not leaving contemporary culture anytime soon, and that continued display of works from this period in Art History are essential to both collective memory and progress. The paper calls to the role of museums as necessary conduits for continuing conversation about these major events after they have passed -- through stewardship both to object and to story.
Presenter: Katie Doyle, Assistant Curator, New Mexico Museum of Art

Evening Social

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm | Bow & Arrow Brewing Co. Upstairs Loft - 608 McKnight Ave NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102

Join colleagues for a casual, no-host social gathering at Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., the first Native-woman-owned brewery in the country. Appetizers will be provided, compliments of NMAM. Transportation is on your own and carpooling is encouraged!