Save the Date!
2023 Conference & Annual Meeting
April 17-18, 2023
Columbus, Nebraska
NMA is excited to announce the 2023 Conference and Annual Meeting will be April 17-18 in Columbus, Nebraska. Hosted by the Platte County Museum and Historical Society.
Coming Soon! Recordings and conference session resources will be available in May 2022.
Hosted by the Nebraska Prairie Museum
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Keynote Speaker
Nebraska Museum Association is proud to welcome Robert “Bob” Workman as our 2022 Keynote Speaker.
Returning to the central United States from his home in Arkansas, Keynote Speaker Bob Workman reflects on the current state of the museum profession from his vantage of four decades of wide-ranging museum experiences. His career uniquely combines first-hand knowledge of the curatorial processes of art museums including extensive international exhibition development. He has managed both large and small staffs, and overseen the planning and implementation of two complete museum construction projects, Amon Carter Museum of American Art and Flint Hills Discovery Center, and the conceptualization and development of an entirely new museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Workman began his museum career in his home town at Wichita’s Ulrich Museum of Art while attending Wichita State University, earning an undergraduate degree in Art History. He also holds a Master’s degree in Art History with a diploma in Museum Studies from Boston University. His appointments range from those in academic museums to major regional ones, from a museum service organization to a science and history learning center in locations spanning the Midwest, East Coast, and South. Looking to the future of museums, Workman’s distinguished career positions him to offer relevant insights.
Half-Day Inquiry-Based Facilitation Workshop
with Erin Wederbook Yuskaitis
Traveling from her home in New England, Erin presents the kick-off event for the Nebraska Museums Association 2022 Annual Conference. This year’s workshop focuses on Inquiry-Based Facilitation, including examination of facilitation basics (including Visual Thinking Strategies), the benefit of question-based facilitated tours, how to insert meaningful questions into visitor interactions, improvisation practice, and small-group work.
Erin (she/her), Principal for Yellow Room Consulting, is an experienced museum educator and advanced Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) facilitator specializing in adult learning, innovative program development, and cross-discipline meaning-making. She spent 15 years in the art and museum worlds, working for cultural institutions in both Alabama and Massachusetts. Now collaborating with corporate, healthcare, and nonprofit clients, her personal mission is to foster connections through visual art and material culture so that people operate from a place of curiosity, observation, and consideration with themselves and each other. Erin received her BA degree from the University of Virginia in art history and archaeology, her MA from the University of Alabama in American studies, and her Certificate in Museum Studies/Education from Tufts University. She serves as the Education Professional Affinity Group Co-Chair for the New England Museum Association and the regional representative for the American Alliance of Museums Education Committee. With two young children, her limited spare time is spent doing yoga, walking, and listening to podcasts.
Conference Schedule
Monday, April 4
Location: Nebraska Prairie Museum
8:30 Registration
9:00 Half-day Inquiry-Based Facilitation Workshop with Erin Wederbook Yuskaitis
12:00 Lunch on own (a guide will be provided)
1:00 Local Tour with Holdrege Head Librarian & Genealogist Sandra Slater and Patty Simpson, PCHS Board Member. Tour bus leaves from Nebraska Prairie Museum.
6:00 Reception and Dinner at Lost Way Brewery. Taco Bar including 1 free drink ticket
Tuesday, April 5
Location: Nebraska Prairie Museum
8:00 Registration
9:00 Keynote: Bob Workman, “The Roar of the Twenties: Opportunities and Obstacles“
10:30 Concurrent sessions
A: Museums and Their Values to Communities. Presenters: Ron Tillery, Phelps County Economic Development; Melissa DeLaet, Greater Grand Island Community Foundation; Roger Jasnoch, Kearney Visitors Bureau
B: Found!: What to Do With Undocumented Objects. Presenter: Karen Keehr, History Nebraska
11:45 Lunch & NMA Annual Meeting
Barbeque Buffet. Sponsored by the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation
1:15 Concurrent sessions
A: Improving Collection Care with CAP. Presenters: Jerry Berggren, Architect and Tiffani Emig, American Institute for Conservation
B: One Museum’s Journey To Improve Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access. Presenter: Matt Orand, Omaha Children’s Museum
2:30 Concurrent sessions
A: Here to Help!: Partnerships with UNK Public History. Presenter: Will Stoutamire, Ph.D, UNK History Faculty
B: Let’s Get Physical: Transforming a Museum. Presenters: Megan Sharp, Merrick County Historical Museum and David Wolf, Legacy of the Plains Museum
3:45 Roundtable Discussions
A: Informal Exchange of Non-Collection Items. Roundtable leader: Margo Prentiss, Cass County Historical Museum
B: The Ins and Outs of Grants. Roundtable leader: Mary Yager, Humanities Nebraska
Recordings of the 2021 Virtual Conference are available on the NMA YouTube Channel.
* Photograph Preservation Workshop
* 7 Sessions About Hot Topics in the NE Museum Field
* Question & Answer
* Keynote Speaker
* Connections!
Resources and Highlights from 2019 NMA Conference (Nebraska City, NE)
Resources and Highlights from 2018 NMA Conference (North Platte, NE)
Resources and Highlights from 2017 NMA Conference (Lincoln, NE)