Celebrating the Association of Science and Technology Centers’ 50th year at the annual ASTC conference, held this year in Charlotte, North Carolina, October 7 – 10. The conference is one of the premier annual events for science-engagement professionals and leaders in science and technology centers and museums around the world. Don’t miss our sessions!

Western Museums Association Annual Meeting, October 5-8 in Pasadena, California. It’s a fantastic opportunity for those who work in the museum industry to exchange ideas and best practices, network with colleagues, and learn from each other. Kathleen Brown, Vice President, Lord Cultural Resources, will be one of the event’s hosts. Join us  on Thursday, October 5th, 4:00 PM–5:00 PM

Employees in the sector increasingly find their jobs exhausting and unfulfilling—but how can they avoid burnout at work? A recent article in The Art Newspaper quoted Lord US Director Holly Shen speaking about the rise of burnout amongst museum and art workers. It's an issue being explored and addressed by Museums Moving Forward, an organization founded by veteran curator and arts administrator Mia Locks that's dedicated to creating a more just museum sector by 2030.

Developers have been selected to revamp the Family Court Building into a hotel. An adjacent lot will hold the African American Museum in Philadelphia and the Free Library’s new Children and Family Center.

During Wednesday’s news conference, Mayor Jim Kenney said the parkway location is exactly where the African American Museum should be, not across the street from a prison, where the current facility is located.

Visitors to the Muskoka region can now explore the area’s Indigenous presence through Misko-Aki: Confluence of Cultures, a new permanent exhibition created for the Muskoka Discovery Centre in Gravenhurst, Ontario.

In 2021, federal Members of Parliament voted unanimously to make August 1st Emancipation Day. It marks the actual day in 1834 that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into effect across the British Empire.

On July 1st, the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver, B.C. will open to the public. The museum serves as a testament to Chinese Canadian experiences, contributions and heritage while elevating and engaging with voices and communities across the country. The opening date is a significant one, as it is the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the racist legislation that effectively stopped immigration from China for 24 years in Canada.

We’re so proud of Yvonne Tang, Director of Visitor Experience, who has joined the Professional Advisory Committee of Sheridan College’s new Experiential Design program. It’s the first offering of its kind in Canada for designers to learn how to create multi-sensory environments that speak to audiences. Integrated design is a vital part of experiential experiences, and this honours bachelor degree centres upon holistic approaches to wayfinding, public installation, placemaking, exhibition design, themed environments and event design.

Arts and culture play a tremendous part in Smart Growth America’s mission. Joy’s keynote discusses what practitioners have been taught on the role of arts and culture in cities and explores the following questions: Who is involved? Who is this for? Who gets to decide? How do we as practitioners/how have we democratized these processes in a certain way? 

Museums, like all organizations, are grappling with the need to be more inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible. Because museums are caretakers of cultural history and among society’s most trusted institutions, the moral imperative to live IDEA values is even more urgent. Read this document to learn the key takeaways from a panel discussion on IDEA at the 2022 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, moderated by Eve Moros Ortega, Director, Lord Cultural Resources.