Midwest Update: Scenario Planning, Oscar Howe, Grants 101 Webinar, and "Custom Car Culture"!

Midwest Update: Programs & Resources

Member Spotlight

BUILT: American Custom Car Culture | Exhibition Tour with Everley Davis

Join the Peoria Riverfront Museum's assistant curator Everley Davis in a guided exhibition tour of "BUILT: American Custom Car Culture."

Member Services

Your Membership Account

Log into your account at members.midwestmuseums.org to access invoices, search the member directory, and post/reply to topics in a Community Forum!

Disaster Response & Recovery

This online resource center offers first steps in disaster response and resources for disaster planning.

AMM Job Board

Search open positions in the Midwest and beyond. Members can publish unlimited listings at no charge using the online form linked here.

Midwest Marketplace

Search a list of consultants and service providers in the AMM network, with expertise ranging from architecture and engineering to strategic planning.

Traveling Exhibitions for Rent

View available traveling exhibitions from providers in the AMM network. Members are invited to list their exhibitions using our online form.

Midwest Museums Connect Biweekly Meetups

Connect with your peers and discuss current events, issues, and trends. The next meetup is this Friday at 10:30am CT (11:30am ET). Click here to sign up. The topic: Scenario Planning

Museum Learning Hub

Explore FREE, self-paced online training sessions and resource toolkits on the Museum Learning Hub, a cross-regional resource for small museums.

Articles and Announcements

Museums Advocacy Day is next week!

AMM is heading to Museums Advocacy Day on February 25 to speak with representatives and their staff about key issues facing museums. If you have not done so already, please let us know how the recent funding freezes and/or Executive Orders have affected your museums - plus anything else you'd like us to be aware of - by completing our short survey.

Click here to take our short survey.

Programs, Webinars, and Resources

Midwest Museums Connect Meetups

Connect with your peers and discuss current events or industry-wide issues and trends. Our next meetup is this Friday at 10:30am CT (11:30am ET). Click here to sign up.

Topic: Scenario Planning - Recent Executive Orders and Presidential Actions have begun to have an impact on museums, and we are seeing ripples in state governments across the region. We'll use our time together to do what Ben Garcia from the American LGBTQ+ Museum advised in our last meetup: consider the possibilities and form a plan. Please bring any insights you have to the conversation.

Museum Learning Hub FREE Webinars and Toolkits

Explore FREE, self-paced online training sessions and resource toolkits on the Museum Learning Hub! Topics include:

Digital Accessibility & Inclusion
Managing Digitization Projects
Managing Website Projects
Social Media
Live Streaming
Virtual Exhibitions

Resources were created by the six regional museum associations with support from IMLS.

Mark your calendars for AMM 2025 in the Quad Cities (IL & IA)

Virtual July 23 | In-Person July 30-August 2

Our 97th conference will take place in the Quad Cities in summer 2025! With 30+ museums of all shapes and sizes proudly working together to boost this 400,000-person bistate metro region along the Mississippi River, the Quad Cities are giving big creative energy with small town vibes. AMM 2025 sessions and events are sure to delight and inspire!

Click here to learn more.

IMLS National Museum Survey

Deadline: March 7

The National Museum Survey (NMS) is the first-ever national survey dedicated to understanding the scope and scale of museums’ presence and reach within the United States. This survey will help inform the museum field, policymakers, the public, and the media about the social, cultural, educational, and economic role that the nation’s museums play in American society.

Click here to learn more and apply to participate in the survey.

Iowa Museum Association (IMA) 2025 Conference

April 27-29 / Register by April 14

Join IMA in Cedar Rapids to redefine the museum experience, focusing on the true value of what we offer: transformative experiences that enrich the lives of our visitors and our communities.

Featuring Dr. John H. Falk, internationally recognized leading expert on free-choice learning, who will deliver a dynamic keynote presentation and hands-on workshop, as well as be there to answer all your questions and sign his newest book, Leaning into Value: Becoming a User-Focused Museum.

Click here to learn more and apply.

Association of Indiana Museums (AIM) Grants 101 Webinar

February 26, 12:30pm ET

Grants as a whole can feel very daunting, especially if you have never applied before. How do you search for them? What are grant institutions looking for in applications? Join us as we sit down with Tamara Hemmerlein, Director of Local History Services at the Indiana Historical Society; George Hanlin, Director of Grants at Indiana Humanities; and Jeannette Rooney, Assistant Director of Local History Services at the Indiana Historical Society to answer these questions and to discuss the resources that both Indiana Humanities and Indiana Historical Society provide.

Click here to learn more and register.

University of South Dakota Art Galleries Seek Works by Native American Artist Oscar Howe

The University of South Dakota is the proud home of the Oscar Howe Archives and Oscar Howe Gallery, and the University Art Galleries are currently working to update the database of works by Oscar Howe. This work is being conducted in partnership with Inge Dawn Howe Maresh (the only child of Oscar and Heidi Howe) and her family.

Does your museum have works by Oscar Howe?

Click here to learn more and participate.

MuseumExpert.Org Survey

MuseumExpert.Org is surveying museum professionals to find out what they are feeling about their work in 2025. Results will be shared publicly following analysis.

Deadline: March 16

Click here to take the survey.