The Incluseum is supporting lots of events at #AAM2017! Aletheia (@AletheiaJane) will also be acting as an AAM Social Media Journalist. You can read more about Social Media Journalists here.  You can engage with their reporting by following each Social Media Journalist on twitter and the hashtag #AAMSMJ! We rounded up listings for many of the events The Incluseum is involved in, attending or supporting this year (below) but the list is by no means exhaustive. What are you most excited about this year?

DivCom Professional Network Events

The Big Schmooze: Culture, Colleagues, and Connections! (Multi-PN Meet-Up)
Date: Sunday May 7 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Location: Grand Center Arts District

Experience a variety of museums and cultural attractions while meeting new people, greeting old friends, and enjoying an evening of networking in the Grand Center Arts and Culture District! COMPT, CurCom, DivCom, Historic House and Sites Network, Indigenous Peoples Museum Network, Latino Network, Leadership and Management Network, LGBTQ Alliance, PIC Green, and SMAC have joined together for this evening of mingling, sharing, and learning more about what AAM’s Professional Networks do throughout the year. Meet-Up is open to all attendees.

Marketplace of Ideas with DivCom
Date: Monday, May 8, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Location: MuseumExpo

Meet DivCom representatives and learn about ways to get involved in this AAM Professional Network! DivCom will have tables set up to host three generative dialogues on diversity and inclusion in the museum field:

• Museum Graduate Program Recruiting: How do we recruit a more diverse pool of scholars/practitioners and cultivate the talent all around us?
• Familiar Conversations, New Ideas: Museum leaders & activists have been working for decades to advance museum inclusion. What new approaches/concepts give you hope for the work ahead?
• Accountable Leadership: How can the field support conversations about inclusion happening at the uppermost levels of museum management?

Open Forum on Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
Date: Tuesday, May 9 9:00-11:00 a.m.
Location: St. Louis America’s Center

Join social justice and equity advocates as well as AAM staff, board members, and Professional Network leaders for a participatory conversation around diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in the museum field. If you attending the Open Forum event in 2016, this will be a great opportunity to see the continuation of that conversation and hear from AAM about the progress and action taken in response to feedback gathered at the previous Open Forum event!

Field Trip: A Gateway to Inclusion Through the Stories and Artistry of Saint Louis
Date: Wednesday, May 10 1:00-5:00 p.m.
Location: George B. Vashon African American Museum + St. Louis Regional Arts Commission (transportation provided)
Ticketed Event: $25.00

Join DivCom to explore and connect with diversity and inclusion minded colleagues at two Saint Louis institutions. At the George B. Vashon Museum, experience the stories of African Americans who persevered in the region’s segregated communities. In a visit to the Gallery at the Regional Arts Commission of Saint Louis (RAC), multiculturalism and identity are highlighted in the works of local artists and in the “Estamos Aqui” exhibition. Engaging group dialogue follows the site visits.

DivCom Happy Hour with MASS Action (Museums as a Site for Social Action)
Location: Palomino Lounge – 5876 Delmar Blvd.
(Directions for those coming from the DivCom field trip end point St. Louis Regional Arts Council: walk 4.5 blocks East on Delmar Blvd. and the destination in on your right.)
Date: Wednesday, May 10 5:00-7:00pm

All are welcome! You need not have joined the DivCom field trip to attend our Happy Hour get-together. This will be a conference last hurrah where we will get to reflect on #AAM2017 AND look forward to upcoming opportunities such as MASS Action! MASS Action is a nation-wide collaborative project, based at The Minneapolis Institute of Art, to create a platform for public dialogue and actionable practices for greater equity and inclusion in our institutions. MASS Action advisors and collaborators will be attending and sharing about the progress of MASS Action and upcoming ways to get involved, including a MASS Action convening in October 2017!

And check out these DivCom recommended conference sessions (see Annual Meeting Schedule for details):

• Transcending Boundaries: The New “Identity Museum”
• Getting Started on Your Museum’s Diversity Plan
• Making BlackLivesMatter in Museums
• How Do You Spark Conversations About Race at Your Museum
• Hip Hop and Spoken Word Pedagogy in Museums
• Empathy as Disruptive Innovation
• Peace in the Streets: Violence Prevention Through the Arts
• Civic and Museum Engagement with Millennials
• Enacting Equity and Inclusion: Allyship as Lived Practice
• One November Morning: Native American Exhibit Case Study
• Interpreting Oppression: An Uncomfortable Opportunity
• Decolonizing Protocols and Practices in Museum Settings
• Listos Para el Museo: Nurturing a New Generation of Visitors
• Centering Social Justice in Museum Studies Graduate Programs
• Radical Equity and Inclusion
• Featured Speaker Series: Bryan Stevenson

Spotlight on #MuseumBoss Monica O. Montgomery

We asked Monica O. Montgomery what she’s doing, where she’s presenting and what she has planned during this AAM 2017 conference! Here is what she told us:

• Wednesday May 10th catch Monica at these sessions:
  Do Museums Reflect Our Society? 
  How to Suspend Disbelief: Lessons Learned Through Pop-Ups 
• Connect with audience engagement professionals for year 2 of Museum Map, a gathering hosted by Adam Rozan and Scott Stulen.
• Monica is a member of the AAM Diversity Equity, Access and Inclusion Working Committee. Learn about the work they are doing during their DEAI committee interim report and discussion May 9th 2017 from 4:00-5:30pm America’s Center Room #230-232.
• Monica was happy to be published in the Museums in Motion 3rd edition textbook recently. Please come and meet Juilee Decker and the contributors to Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums, Third Edition Tuesday, May 9 from 4:00 – 4:30 pm – AAM Bookstore, Booth #1337.
• Share and be inspired at #MUSEUMSandRACE at #AAM2017!
  • Check out the Museums and Race Community Center & Transformational Lounge in the Expo Hall on Monday May 8 & Tuesday May 9.
  • Catch the “The Justice Fleet” pop up exhibition curated by Amber Johnson. For more information please visit the website, www.thejusticefleet.com, and follow us on social media @thejusticefleet on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
  • In the Resource Center there will be tables set up for people to bring information about Museums and Race or Diversity – Equity – Accessibility – Inclusion
  • The Museums and Race Open Mic will be live from 12pm -1:30pm, Monday & Tuesday. Sign up and bring your lunch and listen to folks give 3-5 minute presentations on how museums deal with systems of oppression, institutional legacies, intersectionality and privilege. *No hate speech will be tolerated!
  • The #MUSEUMSAndRACE Grand Finale – Lightning Talks on Tuesday May 9 from 3pm-5pm. Hear from thought leaders concerning issues of race in museum practice: at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
  • And be sure to follow @MuseumsandRace on twitter.

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See you in St. Louis!