Shake it Up: Museums Activate and Innovate

Join your colleagues in Oakland, California, on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay and bordering the infamous town of Berkeley. The area is renowned for social activism and newsworthy events - it's a place never lacking for attention from the rest of the nation. Communities here are known for alternative perspectives, quirkiness of character, and a laid-back mellowness sometimes mistaken for social detachment - in 1937 Gertrude Stein claimed of Oakland  that "there is no there there." But when challenged, residents here speak up, act up and fire up with serious purpose to address issues and find solutions. The area has historically been in the vanguard of social movements like free speech, black power, and gay pride; lifestyle trends like organic foods, green living, and websurfing; and local innovations like the Segway, the Popsicle, the martini, the fortune cookie, and blue jeans. There is certainly a “there” here, and we want you to experience it.

In fact “here” in Oakland is the ideal venue for us to convene and rally our own innovative and activist sides. In addition to sessions that teach the nuts and bolts and basics of our profession, presenters at this meeting will explore the challenging questions: How resistant are we to change? Do we advocate for our professional role in our museums and assert ethical practices? Is our museum socially responsible, and how far can we or should we push agendas and personal views? Do we stick to traditional practices, tried and true or do we explore the newest innovation and techniques? What can we say about censorship - not to mention self-censorship - when threatened by funders, media, or politicians? Are our human resource policies humane and serving our employees well? How do we make choices between social responsibility and responsible business practices? 

We are also pleased to present a full day of extraordinary speakers and break out sessions on Disaster and Emergency Preparedness. During emergencies we are all tasked with the protection of artifacts and human life—the WMA wants to make sure all our members are knowledgeable and prepared.

Oakland is located a short distance across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. In the fall, the Bay Area natural environment is at its most spectacular, with sunny days, bright skies, and green hillsides. World renowned museums serve their dynamic and diverse communities on both sides of the bay. Some we’ll visit include, in Oakland, the Oakland Museum of California, and in San Francisco, the M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of the African Diaspora, the Mexican Museum, Yerba Buena Center, California Historical Society, and GLBT Historical Society. Delegates may wish to extend their stay to visit others like the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archives, Chabot Space and Science Center, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Judah L. Magnes Museum, African American Museum & Library of Oakland, the Pardee Home Museum, Lawrence Hall of Science, the USS Potomac, the Exploratorium, the Asian Art Museum...the museum community in the Bay Area is extensive.

So join us as we speak up, act up and fire up our inner radicals in Oakland and experience the there there.

Host Chairs
Joe Brennan, Director of Facilities, San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art Lori Fogarty, Executive Director, Oakland Museum of California

Program Co-Chairs                 
Greta Brunschwyler, Director, Nevada State Museum              
Yvonne Sharpe, Deputy Director, Craigdarroch Castle