What We're Afraid Of: Challenges, Changes, and the Courage to Face Them
​Museums and cultural organizations are navigating a moment of real uncertainty and rapid change. Financial pressures, staffing shortages, deferred maintenance, shifting audiences, political headwinds, and evolving expectations of our work and the pressures to stay relevant are shaping daily decision-making across the field.

What We’re Afraid Of: Challenges, Changes, and the Courage to Face Them invites museum professionals to engage these realities directly — not to dwell on fear, but to name what feels uncertain and share how we are responding. This theme creates space for honest reflection, practical problem-solving, and meaningful exchange about how our institutions and roles continue to evolve.