Located in the shadow of the Black Hills, Rapid City is the perfect setting for our conference theme, “Monumental Visions: Carving the Future for Museums.” Playing off Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Crazy Horse Memorial—two must-see Black Hills destinations—conference participants will share their monumental visions and help shape the future for museums.
In addition to having an outstanding program, we plan to have fun. The opening conference tours—each one named after the presidents on Mount Rushmore—will provide four unique excursions through the Black Hills. The tours will converge at Mount Rushmore for a special lighting ceremony of the National Memorial. Our “museum crawl” will take us to an air/space museum, history museums, and an art center. Our closing events will feature a pow wow, a variety of specialty tours, and an old-fashioned take on the famous Sturgis motorcycle rally. Don your leather and crank up your Harley; you have got to see the other Jay in his full leathers! We know you’ll want to come early and stay late.
The keynote speaker lineup brings together national leaders. Senator George S. McGovern represented South Dakota in Congress for 22 years, ran for president, and now is a nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize. As our first keynote speaker, Senator McGovern will offer a lifetime of achievement and historical perspective to this year’s attendees. Paleontology will frame the message from our second keynote speaker Dr. Kirk Johnson, Chief Curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. His specialty recently netted him a place on the “Dream Team” of paleontologists from around the world who made clear the reason for the extinction of dinosaurs. Our final keynote speaker is Gerard Baker, former Mt. Rushmore Superintendent and now Assistant Director of Native American Relations for the National Park Service. He will talk about current studies and issues involving Mt. Rushmore and will be joined by Ruth Ziolkowski, wife of Crazy Horse sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. We are also pleased to have with us the president of the American Association of Museums, Dr. Ford Bell, who will discuss changes in our national museum community.
Although Rapid City, the City of Presidents, is headquarters for the 2010 MPMA Conference, the Black Hills is home to many legendary communities, including Deadwood, Belle Fourche, Hot Springs, Keystone, Lead (pronounced LEED), Spearfish, Sturgis, and others. Dinosaurs and geology, American Indian culture and western heritage, and carved mountains will all contribute to a memorable—albeit jam-packed— conference.
More than two million people visit the Black Hills every year, where they are inspired by the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, also known as the Shrine of Democracy, and Crazy Horse Memorial. Join us in Rapid City for a monumental conference. The two Jays look forward to seeing you in Rapid City!