Baltimore will welcome the largest museum conference in the world when the American Alliance of Museums holds its 2024 AAM Annual Meeting and Museum Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center this week from May 16 to May 19.
This year’s theme highlights the intersection of museums and health and well-being. Renee Fleming graces the keynote panel, as does Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson (NEA Chair), Susan Magsamen (Johns Hopkins Arts & Mind Lab founder), and Terri Lee Freeman (president of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.)
On Saturday, the program will include four “Big Ideas” sessions with Chris Wilson; Jeremy Nobel; Monica Yunus with Camille Zamora; and Tasha Golden with Chris Appleton.
Wilson is a Baltimore-based artist who founded the Chris Wilson Foundation. He served 16 years in prison and established the Chris Wilson Foundation to support others impacted by the justice system. His art has been collected and displayed around the world. His foundation’s goal includes mitigating the failures in the prison system through “programming, advocacy and art that centers personal relationships, resilience, development and agency.”
Nobel will “unpack and demystify loneliness as an urgent public health crisis,” according to the press release,” using his recent book, “Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection,” as a springboard for discussion. The session aims to provide insight and strategies to help museums foster meaningful connections among their patrons, visitors, and communities.
Yunus and Zamora are co-founders of Sing for Hope, a nonprofit aiming to use creativity to build bridges, spark joy, and strengthen communities. The organization forges “creative hotspots” in cities, like placing colorfully painted pianos in random public spots for anyone to sit down and play. They’ve placed pianos in places from Bronx to Beirut for anyone and everyone to enjoy. Yunus and Zamora will speak on redefining the role of museums as “catalysts for social change, champions of inclusivity and belonging, and beacons of hope in an increasingly complex world,” according to the press release.
Golden is Director of Research, International Arts + Mind Lab, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine whose mission involves solving health problems, improving well-being and learning through the arts. Appleton is Founder and CEO of Art Pharmacy, which is based on the premise that creativity improves clinical outcomes. Golden and Appleton will lead a session on “social prescribing,” a movement gaining momentum in the United States. They will discuss research supporting this approach and explore healthcare intervention programs that prescribe museum visits for health. Art Pharmacy “works with healthcare providers to integrate arts & culture engagements with protective and therapeutic benefits to well-being,” according to their website.
In addition to the conference programming and sessions, over 350 exhibitors will be at the Convention Center showcasing museum exhibitions and innovations in the MuseumExpo.
The 2024 AAM Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo takes place Thursday, May 16 through Sunday, May 19, 2024. To see the full program, please click this link.
To register for the conference, click this link.
If you’re unable to attend, but you’d like to watch the General Session and Keynote, you can see a livestream by clicking this link.
