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Concurrent Sessions
Access to Memory for Museums (Red Cedar A)
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Celebrating Local Artists and Encouraging Youth to share their Creativity (Red Cedar B)
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Connections – Museums and the Tourism Industry (Michigamme)
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Graphics for the Museum Environment (Big Ten B)
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Reimagining Collaboration: Building Community through Unconventional Partnerships (Big Ten C)
Access to Memory for Museums
- Rachel Stock, Sloan Museum of Discovery
Access to Memory (AtOM) is an open-source application that is used to make archival collections available online. It is free and highly customizable, which makes it ideal for small and large museums alike. But what is using it actually like? This session seeks to demystify the application by providing a live demonstration where we will upload a finding aid and a digital collection. When you leave, you will better understand Access to Memory and how to leverage this resource to share your content with your community. We’ll be sure to budget time for Q&A.
Location: Red Cedar A
Celebrating Local Artists and Encouraging Youth to share their Creativity
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Joanna Anderson, Cranbrook Art Museum
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Crystal Palmer, Cranbrook Art Museum
This session offers museums a model for engaging youth by celebrating local creatives and their impact on the community. The Cranbrook Art Museum will present their program model that includes interactive tours, workshops, and resources aimed at inspiring students to design and share their own community building ideas broadly. Let’s openly discuss how other museums successfully teach based on the work of local changemakers. Together we will also create new call to action prompts and workshops to inspire youth to uplift their community in creative ways.
Location: Red Cedar B
Connections – Museums and the Tourism Industry
A panel discussion to help understand the tourism industry and build connections locally and with tourism stakeholders. Michigan museums contribute to the overall tourism experience in Michigan and the more than $50 billion tourism brings to the state's economy every year. Furthermore, museums contribute to Michigan's quality of life and attract businesses and talent, ultimately supporting the state's overall prosperity. Learn the tourism industry jargon and how to become engaged with the tourism industry on both a local and state level.
Location: Michigamme
Graphics for the Museum Environment
- Keeney Swearer, Mackinac State Historic Parks
Museums produce a wide variety of graphics materials, whether they are donor pamphlets, marketing banners, or object labels they all contribute to the on-site visitor experience. During this session we will cover various ways to design materials and then bring those digital designs into the real world by printing in-house or creating specifications to share with a graphic design company. We will cover a variety of areas but focus on the creation of signage for both indoors and out.
Location: Big Ten B
Reimagining Collaboration: Building Community Through Unconventional Partnerships
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Cory Nummer, Ilitch Holdings
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Emily Kearns, Ilitch Holdings
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Brad Hinken, The Henry Ford
If you and your organization could partner with any for-profit company, who would it be—and why? As federal funding declines, creative and strategic partnerships between nonprofits and for-profits are becoming increasingly vital. In this interactive session, we’ll use the collaboration between Ilitch Companies and The Henry Ford during the HOCKEY: Faster Than Ever exhibition as a launching point for a broader discussion on how museums can build sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships with the private sector.
Rather than simply sharing our story, we’ll guide a collaborative conversation aimed at helping you envision and build your own partnership strategy. We’ll offer a flexible framework based on our experience—highlighting key elements like inclusive storytelling, community-centered goals, and strategic alignment—so you can adapt it to suit your organization’s unique mission and needs. Together, we’ll explore how forging these connections can strengthen your institution’s relevance, reach, and resilience in an ever-changing world.
Location: Big Ten C
2025 Conference Partners
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The Michigan Museums Association is supported in part by an award from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council.
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