Welcome to Rockford! - Illinois Association of Museums

Downtown Rockford
Anderson Japanese Gardens
Coronado Theatre
Welcome to Rockford!
Join IAM at Rockford’s Riverfront Museum Park to network with
colleagues, learn from the Illinois museum community, and share
ideas and challenges. Networking events, vendor hall, tours, awards
dinner, sessions, workshops, roundtables, and Ninety Second
Musings all await you in Rockford!
Nicholas Conservatory
Klehm Arboretum
Ethnic Heritage Museum
Conference Information
Conference Location
Riverfront Museum Park (711 N Main St. #7, Rockford, IL 61103) is
home to the Burpee Museum of Natural History, the Discovery
Center Museum, and the Rockford Art Museum. The museums
will be open each day during the conference from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
(Discovery Center Museum will close at 4 p.m. on Friday).
Riverfront Museum Park
Getting There
CITY
DISTANCE
TIME
DIRECTIONS
Bloomington-Normal
131 miles
2 – 2.5 hours
North on I-39
Champaign-Urbana
190 miles
3 – 3.5 hours
Northwest on I-74 to Bloomington-Normal, then North on I-39
Chicago
90 miles
1.5 – 2 hours
West on I-90*
Peoria
135 miles
2.5 hours
West on US Highway 24 to El Paso, then North on I-39
Quad Cities
125 miles
2 hours
East on I-88 to Rochelle, then North on I-39
Springfield
207 miles
3 – 3.5 hours
North on I-55 to Bloomington-Normal, then North on I-39
Carbondale
366 miles
5.5 – 6 hours
West on I-64 to IL Rte 4 to I-55N, then North on I-39
*Alternative route if you wish to avoid construction on I-90, take I-88 West to I-39 North. For more information, visit www.illinoistollway.com.
The Host Hotel and the alternate hotel are both located directly off of I-90 at the East State Street exit. Directions from the hotel to the Riverfront
Museum Park will be available at your hotel’s front desk. Shuttles will also be provided between the Host Hotel, the Riverfront Museum Park, and
event venues throughout the conference. Additional information will be provided regarding shuttles prior to the conference, and will also be available
at your hotel’s front desk throughout your stay.
Accommodations
Host Hotel:
The Holiday Inn of Rockford (7550 E State St., Rockford, IL 61108)
boasts modern accommodations, prime location, and a full service
restaurant and bar on site. This property is pet friendly (fees apply), so
feel free to bring Fido along for the ride! A block of rooms is held under the
“Illinois Association of Museums” until September 21 at the Holiday Inn of
Rockford for $92.95 per night. Call 815.398.2200 to reserve your room.
Additional rooms reserved at:
Courtyard by Marriott Rockford (7676 E State St., Rockford, IL 61108)
is a newly renovated hotel that is sure to impress. Visit Courtyard’s
signature Eat. Drink. Connect Bistro featuring delicious menu options
as well as Starbucks coffee! A block of rooms is held under the “Illinois
Association of Museums” until October 3 at the Courtyard Marriott of
Rockford for $115 per night. Call 815.397.6222 to reserve your room.
Holiday Inn Rockford
Conference Registration
For more information or to register for the conference, visit our website
at www.illinoisassociationofmuseums.org. For paper registrations,
please call 217.524.6977.
Major Sponsors
Courtyard by Marriott Rockford
2 | IAM Conference 2014
Wednesday, October 22
NOTE: All conference events and programs are subject to change. A final agenda will be posted on the website prior to the conference and a conference booklet will be provided at registration.
Workshops
Day 1 Overview
(9:30 a.m. – Noon)
Registration: Noon – 6 p.m.
Vendor Hall: 1 – 6 p.m.
Exhibit Design: Creating Models to Build Teams
Chair: Rich Faron, Museum Explorer, Inc.
This workshop covers an introduction to exhibition design, a designbuild challenge, development and design while working in teams,
building foam-core exhibits or cart, and a review and critique where
groups present their final design as finished ‘Models’ and are critiqued
by the other members of the workshop.
Workshops: 9:30 a.m. – Noon
Bus Tours: 1 – 3 p.m.
Opening Reception & Networking: 4 – 6 p.m.
Awards Dinner: 6 – 9 p.m.
Evaluation 101: Start Small
Chair: Lorrie J. Beaumont Ed.D., Evergreene Research and Evaluation, LLC
Evaluation can be pretty intimidating to most people. It’s scary enough
to be evaluated, but how does someone with very little background
knowledge or experience go about conducting evaluation? In this
workshop, participants will learn that evaluation isn’t really that difficult,
it’s about answering three simple questions: 1) What? 2) So what?
3) Now what?
Bus Tours
Tinker Swiss Cottage
(1 – 3 p.m.)
Option 1: Tinker Swiss Cottage and Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens
1) The Tinker family left this Swiss-style home to the Rockford Park District after 75 years of residence so it could be utilized as a museum and
display all of the original furnishings and belongings.
2) Situated along the banks of the Rock River, Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens is the third largest conservatory in Illinois, with 11,000 sq ft of
plant exhibition areas, water features, seating areas, and sculptures.
Option 2: Ethnic Heritage Museum and Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden
1) The Ethnic Heritage Museum houses six fascinating galleries devoted to the primary immigrant groups that first settled in southwest Rockford.
2) Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden is a 155-acre living museum filled with spectacular gardens and rare trees.
Option 3: Laurent House and Anderson Japanese Gardens
1) Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House is the only building ever designed by the famed architect for a person with a disability.
2) The 12 acres of Anderson Japanese Gardens has been named the Finest Japanese Garden in North America by the Journal of Japanese Gardening.
Opening Reception
(4 – 6 p.m.)
Happy 20th Anniversary IAM!
Enjoy cocktails and light refreshments as we kick off the annual meeting
in Rockford. Visit the vendor hall and network with museum colleagues
before the evening Awards Dinner.
Awards Dinner
(6 – 9 p.m.)
Held at the Rockford Art Museum, guests will be able to network with
colleagues and be inspired with the music, the museum, and the best
practices of museums all over Illinois.
DAY 1
Rockford Art Museum
Please register online at IllinoisAssociationOfMuseums.org | 3
Thursday, October 23
Sessions
Day 2 Overview
(8:30 – 9:45 a.m.)
Chair: Bill Lear, Curator, Illinois State Military Museum
Registration: 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Vendor Hall: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
A Texas museum recently mounted a social media campaign to demand
that the Illinois Military Museum give Santa Anna’s artificial leg to
Texas. In this seminar, learn how to respond when another museum or
individual claims ownership or rights to an artifact in your collection. The
seminar will also discuss the legal and ethical questions when accepting
artifacts, the reasons on both sides of the Texas deaccession request
and media relations techniques.
Sessions: 8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.; 10 – 11:15 a.m.
Roundtables: 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Keynote Luncheon: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Sessions: 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Ninety Second Musings: 4 – 5 p.m.
Afternoon Walking Tours: 4 – 5 p.m.
Evening Event at Midway Village: 6 – 9 p.m.
Trophies of War and the Battle over Ownership
Museum Studies Programs Transform Communities
Chair: Patricia Miller, Visiting Lecturer, Eastern Illinois University
Museum study programs strengthen communities through internship
placement in local museums, and offer opportunities for museum staff to
further professional training. In this session, three faculty members from
universities in Illinois will describe how their programs train graduate
students and help museums meet professional standards.
Making History Hands-On for Schools
Chair: Katie Kelly, Educator, Midway Village Museum
This session provides an overview of unique programs provided by
Midway Village Museum and others that seek to engage students in
hands-on learning through narrative, demonstrations, reproduction
artifacts, and other devices.
Sessions
Discovery Center Museum
(10 – 11:15 a.m.)
Backing the Brand: Museums Embrace Communities
Chair: Sharon Bradham, Executive Director, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts
The purpose of the panel will be to share how museums and communities can work together to increase awareness of the arts and improve the
quality of life for residents, thereby showing how the arts and museums are relevant to a community.
Transforming a Volunteer Program
Chair: Beth Shea, Director of Education, Illinois State Museum
To transform is to change, usually in a good way. In this session you will hear about two museum volunteer programs that have recently transformed due
to societal and institutional changes. Best practices for transforming a volunteer program tools, “lessons learned,” and techniques for active volunteering
will also be shared.
Big Ideas and Big Impact: Historic Houses as Community Anchors
Chair: Caroline Goldthorpe, University of Oklahoma, Northwestern University
Learn about ways historic houses engage their communities from sustainable measures at the Dawes House in Evanston, to the community
tree program at the McCormick Museum, to big ideas and big impact from several other historic house museums, including Richard H. Driehaus
Museum, and how they attracted new audiences while building communities of support.
Roundtables
(11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.)
Advocacy in Action: Training Session
DAY 2
Chair: IAM Governmental Relations Committee
Do you need to get your museum more recognition from public policy makers (of course you do!)
but the word “advocacy” sounds slimy to you? The IAM Governmental Relations Committee will
offer easy ways that you can advocate for your museum.
Pests at the Museum: When You Should Start Worrying
Chair: Marty Germann, Owner, First Illinois Systems
A pest control expert provides information about the types of bugs typically found in historic sites
and museums in Illinois and what to do about them.
4 | IAM Conference 2014
Laurent House
Roundtables
(11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. continued)
Steps
Chair: Pat Miller, Illinois Heritage Association
AASLH’s StEPs is a self-paced assessment and planning program that helps small and mid-sized history organizations manage their collections,
facilities, programs and services according to national museum standards. Many, if not all, museums and historic sites taking part in StEPs share
common issues and concerns.
Leaders and the Next Generation of Museum Professionals
Chair: Rachel Smith, Tour Guide, Robert R. McCormick Museum
Senior museum leaders can support this next generation by encouraging leadership abilities and professional development. Participate in a
discussion of how to support and utilize early career museum professionals that work in your organization.
Museums and Maker Spaces
Chair: Bethany Thomas, Children’s Discovery Museum
“Maker” is a buzz word that every museum should know. Learn what maker spaces are and how museums of all types can incorporate these
engaging spaces into their sites.
Keynote Luncheon
(12:30 – 1:30 p.m.)
The luncheon is hosted by the Burpee Museum of Natural History
and features Sagar A. Patel, President, Aircraft Turbine Systems
at Woodward. Mr. Patel will be speaking on behalf of “Transform
Rockford,” a regional long-term planning effort to dramatically improve
the social and economic condition of the Rockford Region.
Sessions
Burpee Museum of Natural History
(2 – 3:15 p.m.)
KDRMA Presents New Technologies Trends and Tips
Chair: Sara Buttita, Board Member, Kane-DuPage Regional Museum Association
How are your colleagues using new technologies to enhance their exhibits and programs? Join staff from different organizations to discuss their use
of various new media. From History Pin to mobile tours, technology is transforming the way we reach, communicate and interact with our visitors.
Come learn how to enhance your collections, exhibits and programming with these new tools.
Cemeteries: The Single Most Underutilized Historic Site in Your Community
Chair: Rita Schneider, President, Lombard Historical Commission
If you are a community history museum or historical society, chances are you have another “museum” you have not tapped into. Using creative
programming and historic preservation, your local cemetery can be a space of community transformation.
Museums as Centers for Volunteerism and Civic Engagement
Chair: Luis Melendez, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum hosts the Chicago Volunteer Expo — a gathering of over 100 nonprofit organizations that recruit volunteers for
many causes and promote a culture of service in the city. Learn how we can use this model to benefit museums and communities across the state.
Ninety Second Musings
(4 – 5 p.m.)
Chair: Donna Sack, Executive Director, Association of Midwest Museums
Pecha Kucha (lightning talks) session: Every willing participant can have 90 seconds to talk about their museum to the group. Ask for advice,
share successes or failures, promote a program, or challenge the group — it’s your 90 seconds. The theme is based on the Nine Muses of Greek
mythology who ruled over the arts and sciences and offered inspiration in those subjects.
Afternoon Walking Tours
(4 – 5 p.m.)
Stretch your legs on a walking tour of the historic Coronado Theatre and Veterans Memorial Hall
in downtown Rockford.
Evening Event at Midway Village Museum
(6 – 9 p.m.)
Midway Village Museum has spent thirteen years planning, developing, and installing a new permanent
exhibit on Rockford’s ethnic diversity and the immigrant experience. The exhibit, which opened in July,
features the immersive environments of a train depot, immigrant home, factory and street of stores, all
of which highlight immigrant experiences uncovered through research and an extensive oral history
project. Enjoy a multi-ethnic dinner and an evening of exploration at the museum.
Midway Village Museum
Please register online at IllinoisAssociationOfMuseums.org | 5
Friday, October 24
Sessions
Day 3 Overview
(8:30 – 9:45 a.m.)
That Belongs in a Museum! Promoting Viewer Engagement
Through Personal Collecting
Chair: Serena Washington, That Belongs in a Museum!
The three cofounders of “That Belongs in a Museum,” a Chicago-based
storytelling-with-objects event series, will discuss viewer engagement
based on their experience creating and implementing this innovative
series outside their home institutions, and how similar initiatives can help
viewers engage more directly with the artifacts and exhibition narratives
presented at museums.
Registration: 7 – 11 a.m.
Sessions: 8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.; 10 – 11:15 a.m.
Advocacy in Action: 11:30 a.m. – Noon
Afternoon Workshop: 1 – 3 p.m.
Preparing for the Audit
Chair: David R. Schroepfer, Partner, Wipfli LLP
What is an audit? Why do I have to have one? If I prepare all the
workpapers, what does my auditor really do? Learn the secrets from
a real-life auditor and become informed about the practices auditors
do not usually reveal to their clients while performing an audit as
well as learn common mistakes clients make in audits and financial
management.
Managing the Medicine at the Museum
Chair: Kristin Vogt, Manager of Education and Events, International Museum of
Surgical Sciences
As the only medical museum in Illinois, the IMSS faces unique
challenges through education and exhibits that help explain both the
science and the story behind the medicine. This session will show how
IMSS uses a niche collection to provoke visitor conversations.
Building Education Synergy: The Emiquon Partnership and
Dickson
Midway Village Museum
Chair: Christa Christensen, Curator of Education, Illinois State Museum,
Dickson Mounds
The Emiquon Partnership is comprised of several entities all of whom
have a role in a large-scale flood plan restoration called Emiquon. These
organizations have extraordinary expertise ranging from anthropology
to zoology, which represents a unique educational resource. With a little
help from their friends, Dickson Mounds has drawn on this resource to
develop a series of innovative programs that engage audiences of all
ages from surrounding communities.
Sessions
(10 – 11:15 a.m.)
The PSAP, or How I Stopped Worrying About Collections and
Learned to Love the Preservation Assessment
Chair: Ryan Edge, Visiting IMLS Project Manager, University of Illinois Library
A new web based tool can help museums evaluate their photographs,
audiovisual media, and paper documents and, in the process, prioritize
need for preservation. The Preservation Self-Assessment Program
(PSAP) assists in identifying what museums have and what can be done
to care for the many photos, media, and papers in their collections.
DAY 3
6 | IAM Conference 2014
Discovery Center Museum
Sessions
(10 – 11:15 a.m. continued)
Bringing a Jewel of a Collection Back to Life: Freeport Art Museum
Chair: Chai Lee, VP of Marketing and Communications, The Conservation Center
In the Spring of 2012, the Freeport Art Museum’s two dimensional art storage facility had sustained substantial water damage — which resulted in an
effort to saving and preserving the collection. Working together with The Conservation Center and Roberta Kramer & Associates, Freeport’s affected
artworks were properly appraised and conserved in the span of two years. Through this process, the museum installed new methods to protect its
artworks for future generations, and discovered some hidden treasures along the way.
Exhibit Design for the Non-Designer
Chair: Jacqueline G. Abreo, CAD Designer, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Ever wonder how designers translate ideas into physical forms and spaces? Want to learn more about how to create imaginative exhibits with
memorable experiences? This session will illustrate the design process while highlighting significant points to consider throughout the development
of an exhibit.
Advocacy
(11:30 – Noon)
IAM will provide current legislative alerts and you can provide feedback
at this town-hall style meeting. IAM members have a chance to provide
valuable input about their public policy needs.
Afternoon Workshop
(1 – 3 p.m.)
Are You Grant Ready?
Chair: Jeanne Schultz Angel, Executive Director IAM
This workshop will provide an introduction to grant applications
including: making sure your organization has what it needs, where to
search for public and private grant sources, and what grant makers want
to hear about a project.
Rockford Art Museum
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Daniel J. Wykes
Tour Sites
Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum
Ethnic Heritage Museum
Anderson Japanese Gardens
Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden
Host Museums
Laurent House
Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens
Veterans Memorial Hall
Coronado Theatre
Discovery Center Museum
Rockford Art Museum
Burpee Museum of Natural History
Midway Village Museum
Please register online at IllinoisAssociationOfMuseums.org | 7
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Springfield, IL
Permit #791
Illinois Association of Museums
1 Old State Capitol Plaza
Springfield, IL 62701
www.illinoismuseums.org
[email protected]
[email protected]
Pick up IAM swag like mugs, t-shirts, mousepads,
magnets, and more at our Cafe Press site!
www.cafepress.com/IAMuseums