Virginia's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts

Get ready to vote for the the Virginia's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts program. Voting opens January 13 and runs through January 22, 2020. This program provides collections care support for Virginia's museums. Vote for your favorite artifact here starting on the 13th to be part of the Top 10 public voting competition!

2020 Virginia Museum Advocacy Day

Save the date for Virginia Museum Advocacy Day 2020! February 5 ^th we will go to the General Assembly and share the message of how essential museums are in our communities. If you would like to regist er now, click here!

Read our first Legislative Update of the 2020 General Assembly session, where we review the basics of the Governor's proposed budget.

VAM 2020 Conference

Join nearly 500 museum professionals from around Virginia and DC for one of the largest state museum association conferences in the country. On March 7-10, 2020, VAM's 2020 Annual Conference takes place in Chantilly, Virginia at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles.

Registration has opened for this year's conference! Click here for more information and to register. We look forward to seeing all of you in Chantilly!

If you would like to donate something for the silent auction, please contact Dan Goldstein at [email protected].

Each year we recognize colleagues at the conference who have made significant contributions to the museum field. Nominations are now open for the two main awards for Conference 2020. Please consider nominating someone! The deadline for both is January 27 ^th .

Ann Brownson Award—link to more info  https://www.vamuseums.org/ann-brownson-award

Museum Educator Award—link to more info https://www.vamuseums.org/museum-educator-award

Workshop - Understanding Unconscious Bias:

Fostering Diversity and Inclusion at Your Museum

As the demographics in our workplaces and in our communities grow increasingly diverse, it becomes more and more important that museums become inclusive spaces for everyone. That begins with you and your fellow staff members. Join us at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture on February 10, 2020 for this relevant topic! Register here.

VAM Advanced Leadership Institute -

Building a More Diverse & Inclusive Board



Join this year-long (February 2020-January 2021) leadership cohort to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to transform your organization to become a more inclusive community. Through in-person and online meetings, you'll gain resources and insights to create an action plan specific to your institution while building supportive partnerships among your colleagues in the field. Join us for the first session of this year long program February 21, 2020 at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Register here.

 

The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News has received a $10 million endowment — the largest individual gift in the museum’s almost 90-year history. The museum announced the gift in a news release Thursday, saying the endowment will support the museum’s $1 admission initiative and ensure that admission price stays the same long-term. Read about this fantastic news here .

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center has been a busy place recently. As the flagship museum on the National Mall is renovated a lot of the aircraft are being sent for restoration at the Hazy Center. Read about the restoration efforts here.

Does your museum have any abandoned property?

One of the things most of Virginia’s museums have in common is that they have “found in collection” items that were acquired decades ago, with no paperwork or provenance. Some of these items need to be deaccessioned, others added to a museum’s official collection—but neither of those things can happen until you assume legal title to the item. Read the white paper here about how your museum can make use of the law.

VAM's Channel on VAMONDE

Vamonde story of the Month!

Title: 400 Years of Northern Virginia History Link:  https://www.vamonde.com/adventure/400-years-of-northern-virginia-history/824/

Want to create a story on VAM’s Virginia Museums App Channel? Learn how! And link to: https://www.vamuseums.org/vam-powered-by-vamonde

Farewell to Phil Emerson, Executive Director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation after 33 years! We wish him well in his retirement. He will be missed!

Congratulations to Christy Coleman on being named Executive Director at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Christy is the former Executive Director of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond. She will replace Phil Emerson and start her new position in January.

Congratulations to Dr. Kelsey Hayden for being named the Lead Veterinarian at the Virginia Living Museum. Dr. Hayden is a graduate of Sweet Briar College, where she received her B.S. in Biology and St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine where she earned the title, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for the  Native American Library Services Basic grants  program through April 1, 2020. Information on applying can be found here .

Cultural Heritage.org is accepting applications for the 2020 Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program. The CAP program provides small and mid-size museums with support for a general conservation assessment. Applications are available through February 1, 2020. 

The National Endowment for the Humanities has a nnounced $29 Million for 215 Humanities Projects Nationwide. Learn more here .  

Hidden crypts, tunnel unearthed at Norfolk church could be part of the Underground Railroad

Read here about he recent archaeological discovery at a Norfolk church! 

The new International African American Museum is to be built in Charleston, SC. Read about it here.

Search VAM's Career Center for information on the only museum management certificate offered by a museum association plus resume help and job listings.

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