SEMC Annual Report 2022

SOUTHEASTERN MUSEUMS CONFERENCE

Susan B. Anthony Museum & House

From the President

Greetings SEMC Members:

It is truly an honor to address you all as your president.  SEMC is one of the most dynamic, inclusive, and engaged professional organizations in our field, and it is through your support that we are able to accomplish all that we do.  We have accomplished a great deal over the last year.   This has included the first in-person Leadership Institute, active, thoughtful planning for the return of the Jekyll Island Management Institute, and a successful annual meeting in Northwest Arkansas.   Additionally, numerous virtual programs, meetups, and collaborations have taken place to meet the moment and needs of our membership in facing both challenges and opportunities in the field today.

Looking ahead, your SEMC council will begin work this year on our next strategic plan that will continue to engage in strategies to support our membership in new and inclusive ways. We also look forward to welcoming our members to Louisville, Kentucky for our annual meeting this fall from November 13-15, 2023.  Additionally, members will continue to have the opportunity to participate in monthly virtual programming, and social engagements, and applications will soon be accepted for our next Leadership Institute.  We look forward to your participation in these programs over the next year.

SEMC is working diligently to fulfill our mission to support museum professionals across the southeast.   I would like to thank each of our donors, industry partners, and sponsors for their financial support of SEMC and its programs.

Thanks as well to our Executive Director, Zinnia Willits and her team for all of their work to support our members.  Finally, I would like to thank our council members, conference and program committees, and each of our various volunteers for all of their work to support SEMC and its programs.

The future is certainly bright for our organization and I look forward to engaging with each of you as we all work to improve ourselves and our field.

Sincerely,

Matthew S. Davis SEMC President Director of Historic Museums Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA

Our History

1951: SEMC was established at a meeting in Norfolk, Virginia. It was agreed that the organization should include the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. SEMC’s first task was to appoint a committee to get the Southeast included in a Congressional bill to appropriate money to provide places of safekeeping for museum objects in case of war.

1956: Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia petitioned to join SEMC. The Council suggested they form their own organization, today known as the MidAtlantic Association of Museums.

1959: First five-year plan and added Arkansas to the SEMC.

1960: Hosted two professional development workshops in North Carolina on museum training and historic house restoration.

1960s: Hired first SEMC staff with $25,000 foundation grant to carry out further training workshops; SEMC urged the American Alliance (formerly Association) of Museums to formulate a museum accreditation program.

1969: SEMC established a three-day annual meeting.

1970s: Local arrangements and program committees were established for the

annual meeting; SEMC published a directory of educational resources.

1977: SEMC was officially incorporated; and exhibitors were added to the annual meeting.

1982: Moved the central offices of SEMC to Memphis.

1986: Moved SEMC offices to Baton Rouge.

1992: A full-time Executive Director and a Director of Office and Memberships services had been hired. Shortly after that, SEMC’s endowment was established to promote financial stability.

1996: The JumpStart Program began. This program flourished during the first decade of the 21st century and is now known as the Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI), offering an eight-day intensive museum training to museum professionals with two years’ experience or more.

2003: Moved the central offices of SEMC to Atlanta.

2005: SEMC established a Hurricane Katrina grant fund and awarded over $500,000 to museums and museum employees affected by the storm in Mississippi and Louisiana.

2010: SEMC established a partnership with Atlanta History Center where the SEMC office relocated.

2013: SEMC, the five other regional museum associations, and the American Alliance of Museums completed the first National Museum Salary Survey, the only comprehensive study of its kind for our diverse field.

2017: SEMC, the five other regional museum associations, five state museum associations, including Florida and Virginia, and the American Alliance of Museums completed the 2017 National Museum Salary Survey.

2019: With Association of African American Museums and National Association for Interpretation, SEMC co-sponsored NMAAHC’s Interpretation of African American History and Culture Workshop, presented in partnership with the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission.

2020: Throughout a year that included a global pandemic, leadership changes and postponement of the 2020 Annual Meeting due to health and safety concerns, SEMC persevered and continued to offer its members connection, communication, and consistency in a new virtual world. 2020 saw the launch of a virtual Leadership Institute: Leading for Today’s Challenges, as well as a successful virtual Program Series that offered over 600 attendees from across the county ongoing professional development in the face of great challenges.

2021: In 2021 SEMC continued to be nimble and pivot to meet the needs of its members during an ongoing pandemic. For the first time in its history, SEMC offered year-round virtual programs and a hybrid 2021 Annual Meeting which provided opportunities for the membership to attend professional training sessions either in-person or via a

virtual conference platform (PheedLoop). 2021 also began a year-long evaluation of the Jekyll Island Management Institute which will be offered in 2023 and saw the launch of the Digital Empowerment Project for Small Museums,  a nationwide initiative organized by the six U.S. regional museum associations and dedicated to providing free, self-paced training resources for small museums.

2022: 2022 was a transformational year for SEMC – a blending of past, present, and future in terms of operational adjustment and forward movement. In April 2022 SEMC was able to safely offer the Leadership Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. This in-person launch included stellar faculty guiding a dynamic cohort of 16 individuals committed to peer-to-peer learning focused on empathetic, inclusive leadership in today’s changing world. The summer months of 2022 brought exciting new faces and initiatives to SEMC including the addition of Heather Nowak to the SEMC staff as the organization’s first Program Administrator. SEMC also received an exciting donation to create the Handumy Jean Tahan Internship Fund, which will be a resource to fund paid internships at small museums for years to come. A busy fall included the completion of a multi-year evaluation of the Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI) with an open call for instructors and applicants in preparation for the 2023 relaunch of the program. The 2022 Annual Meeting in Northwest Arkansas brought over 400 SEMC members together to network and learn how museums in the southeast are “Exhibiting Change.”

Now: In the coming year, SEMC will continue to produce monthly virtual programs that offer professional development on topics

ranging from mitigating controversy to lowcost preservation tips to adding wellness and mindfulness into the workplace. We are excited to continue to strengthen existing partnerships and form new ones, including an ongoing collaboration with the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries geared toward our student populations and emerging museum

professionals. Other initiatives on the 2023 agenda include the relaunch of the Jekyll Island Management Institute, opening applications for the Handumy Jean Tahan Internship Fund and the 2024 Leadership Institute, and of course SEMC2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. The SEMC staff and Council will also begin work on the organization’s next three-year Strategic Plan.

Impact Plan

In January 2020, SEMC launched its 2020–2022 Impact Plan which lays out our shared vision and operational road map for the next three years. Building on a solid foundation, this Plan, which was created through working sessions with SEMC Council stakeholders and strategic planning facilitators, has offered continued thoughtful direction and responsible foresight for our immediate future. The historic global pandemic of 2020-2022 challenged SEMC leadership to adjust many of the strategies outlined in the plan to meet the overall goals. The SEMC Council will begin work on the next strategic plan in 2023 and look forward to sharing an evolved impact, and action plan that will guide our organization through 2024–2027.

Impact: SEMC members at all stages of their career find professional support and camaraderie from peer-to-peer networking and learning opportunities that provide meaningful connection, a means to deepen their knowledge of museums

and strengthen their practice and skills and a platform to promote and support equity and diversity and lift fellow SEMC members.

Organizational Focus: Advance and encourage a diverse membership of individuals, museums, and Council leaders.

Action Plan Focus:

Our Past Year Highlights

So much changed for SEMC between March 2020 and December 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic including the way we operate, the way we provide programming and connection, and the way we communicate with our membership, as well as transitions in SEMC leadership, staff, and Council members. What has NOT changed is our organizational mission and vision:

SEMC Mission

The Southeastern Museums Conference is a networking organization that serves to foster professionalism, mutual support, and communication. A non-profit membership association, SEMC strives to increase educational and professional development opportunities and improve the interchange of ideas, information, and cooperation.

SEMC Vision

The vision of SEMC is to be essential to its members and the broader museum community.

During this past year, SEMC staff worked hard to keep the SEMC mission and vision primary as we continue to make necessary adjustments, engage the membership through updated methods of digital communication, and produce quality professional development opportunities and programs in ways that meet the moment and acknowledge the ongoing challenges and successes museums are experiencing across our region.

The Southeastern Museums Conference continued to navigate organizational and operational

adjustments in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines provided the world with essential protection against the ever-changing virus, and SEMC remained nimble in its approach to member engagement, professional programming, networking (both virtual and in-person), and communication methods that spanned many digital platforms. 2022 was another transformational year for the Southeastern Museums Conference. The pace was fast and the ongoing uncertainties of a post-pandemic world continued to necessitate new ways of operating, communicating, and gathering. We persevered.

The following pages contain reflection on all SEMC accomplished as a professional organization in 2022. The staff, leadership, members, member museums, and industry partners have been strong, creative, and agile, and continue to show resilience, empathy, and determination to enact necessary changes to keep the field relevant, connected, and supportive of the communities museums serve.

Programs

At the outset of 2022, despite the troubling spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, vaccines continued to provide hope for a return to in-person gatherings later in the year. While we looked forward, pandemic adjustments from 2020/2021 continued to inspire SEMC staff and leadership to provide professional development

opportunities throughout the year in the form of virtual programs and gatherings. Staying connected and engaged during the early days of pandemic isolation was important, and SEMC resolved to continue monthly virtual programs (now part of our operational model) to bring the southeast museum community together and offer professional learning opportunities from the comfort and safety of home or office. Year-round virtual programs further encourage the peer-to-peer learning and camaraderie that is a hallmark of SEMC.

While accessible online training opportunities have become essential to SEMC’s mission, producing quality virtual offerings involves considerable time and expense essential to program production and costs related to technology, accessibility, marketing, and virtual event management services. Operating support from SEMC industry partners was critical to the continued success and smooth execution of virtual programming.

In 2022 SEMC produced 10 virtual programs in collaboration with museum professionals from

across the region that to date have almost 500 views of the recordings.

SEMC created The Launchpad series in partnership with the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries which included a resume matching/review component and two virtual programs (Landing the Job and Taking Off) geared toward career development for emerging museum professionals and advancement in the museum field. SEMC/ AAMG will continue this collaboration in 2023 for additional programming and opportunities.

Our teams designed and produced a 2022 Annual Meeting that provided:

• Sixty professional sessions held at the Rogers Convention Center in Northwest Arkansas. In addition, the 2022 Keynote Address by Quantia Mills Fletcher, Director of The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock Arkansas, and the SEMC Awards Roundtable were live streamed on

Quantia Mills Fletcher, keynote speaker at the 2022 annual meeting.

Facebook. Recordings are posted on the SEMC YouTube Channel and website.

• The 2022 Annual Meeting offered a preconference listening session, The Other Slavery: A Series of Conversations Addressing the History of Indigenous Slavery in the US. This session, organized and hosted by the pan-Smithsonian initiative Our Shared Future: Reckoning Within Our Racial Past, highlighted ongoing work of the National Museum of American Indian (NMAI) in collaboration with the Smithsonian Latino Center (SLC) and the National Museum of the African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). The Other Slavery examined this topic from the perspective of addressing regional historical practices of enslaving Indigenous people –from the Southwest to the West to the Southeast and North. Twenty-five attendees participated in this session.

• While COVID protocols were lessened this year, several larger session rooms provided space for social distancing, a spacious Expo Hall with wide aisles felt full but never crowded, and colored bracelets were once again offered for attendees to indicate their comfort level with social interaction.

• The PheedLoop platform was accessible to all SEMC2022 attendees to gather, post, network, and find the most up-to-date information on session locations, presenters, and times. PheedLoop email blasts noted any schedule changes and communicated announcements about transportation, food offerings, and the 2022 Expo Hall. Additionally, the new PheedLoop Go! app provided attendees access to up-to-date conference information from their phones.

• Forty-four companies that provide services to museums were represented in the 2022 Expo Hall in addition to tables highlighting the SEMC2022 publication contest winners, the Arkansas Museums Association, Visit Rogers,

Arkansas Tourism, Student Work in Museums poster projects, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

• Attendees enjoyed evening events at Northwest Arkansas museums and sites including the Daisy Airgun Museum, Arkansas Public Theatre, Rogers Historical Museum, the Amazeum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Additionally, sites including the Museum of Native American History, Hunt Family Ozark Nature Center, Pea Ridge National Military Park, Tyson Foods Art Collection, and the Walmart Museum welcomed SEMC attendees for special excursions both pre- and post-conference. There were also walking tours of downtown Rogers and Compton Gardens, offsite workshops on accessibility and interpretation and an opportunity for a volunteer group to participate in a Hands-on-Help collections project at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.

• The SEMC Equity and Inclusion Action Team met at the Convention Center and created a comprehensive webpage for SEMC2022 attendees seeking diverse experiences and histories in Northwest Arkansas.

• SEMC emerging museum professionals and mid-careers gathered to network and plan in Rogers. Attendees Facebooked, Tweeted, and took photographs to memorialize the year. SEMC now hosts a crowd-sourced FLICKR page of Annual Meeting images which we will continue to add to. Michael Lachowski from the Georgia Museum of Art also volunteered his time as the official SEMC2022 photographer and created an album of SEMC2022 memories accessible to all.

• For the first time, SEMC offered an opportunity for all Annual Meeting attendees to have professional headshots taken as part of their conference registration from local

photographer, Brandon Watts. 110 attendees took advantage of this service.

• Sessions were divided into tracks including Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Education, Collections, Curatorial, Fundraising/ Development, Leadership/Administration, Technology, Exhibits, Emerging Museum Professionals, and Career Development.

• The 2022 Annual Meeting featured 225 + speakers representing all types and sizes of museums, facets of the field, and career levels.

• The SEMC Council came together to consider community partnerships with a panel of Northwest Arkansas organizational leaders facilitated by Inclusion Specialist, Monica Kumar.

• SEMC2022 saw the introduction of a dynamic roundtable discussion with 2022 Leadership Award recipients as well as Table Talk, a

memorable evening session with direct conversation between a diverse group of participants that was important, necessary, and hopeful in terms of how our attendees interact as a SEMC community.

• Attendees filled out an evaluation form for each session via a QR code linked to a Google Doc, thereby allowing SEMC2022 to be an almost paperless event. A post-conference evaluation was sent to all attendees to inform future sessions and 2023 Annual Meeting planning.

• SEMC awarded 10 Travel Scholarships to cover the costs of registration and travel expenses to the Annual Meeting and offered fourteen reduced-rate registrations to those who volunteered at least three hours during the conference.

• The SEMC2022 Annual Meeting had a total of 446 registrants.

Table Talk at the 2022 annual meeting.

SEMC Leadership Institute

• In 2022 SEMC successfully launched the Leadership Institute in-person at the Duke Mansion in Charlotte, NC April 24-29, 2022.

• This program was developed in partnership with the Association of African American Museums with support from the National Museum of African American History CultureOffice of Strategic Partnerships.

• The 2022 Institute hosted a cohort of sixteen individuals at the mid-career level.

• The Leadership Institute will run again in April 2024.

Leadership Institute cohort and faculty, 2022.

Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI)

• In late spring 2022, in collaboration with Council leadership, SEMC staff advertised an open call for 2023 JIMI instructors. Using a transparent rubric system, a JIMI Instructor Selection Committee narrowed the large pool of applicants to seventeen instructors and a facilitator.

• Incorporating feedback from the 2021 JIMI Evaluation, the program curriculum was updated to incorporate concepts of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion as well as current technologies into each session; SEMC staff rebuilt the webpage, created a PheedLoop site, updated the program schedule, and reestablished relationships with partners on Jekyll Island.

• Collaborating with Council leadership, in early fall 2022, SEMC staff opened the call for applications for the 2023 Jekyll Island Management Institute. Using a transparent rubric system, a JIMI Selection Committee narrowed a pool of forty applicants to a diverse cohort of sixteen individuals interested in filling knowledge gaps in museum management.

• SEMC was able to provide four tuition scholarships from the Peter S. LaPaglia Fund to support 2023 Jekyll Island Management Institute attendees.

• The 2023 JIMI program has generous support from the Jekyll Island Authority, National Museum of African American History and Culture-Office of Strategic Partnerships, Smithsonian Our Shared Future: Reckoning with our Racial past, and individual donors.

• Several state museum associations, including the Arkansas Museum Association, Mississippi Museum Association, and the North Carolina Museums Council, offered scholarships to

attendees from those states to assist with tuition and travel fees.

• JIMI2023 ran January 17–24, 2023, and utilized the PheedLoop platform for sharing Institute materials and schedules. The Jekyll Island Authority donated session space for JIMI2023.

2022 saw the completion of production of over 35 virtual programs (between April 2021 and January 2022) focused on technology for small museums. Titled the Museum Learning Hub/Digital Empowerment Program for Small Museums, this was a collaborative project between the six regional museum associations. Four SEMC members/museums were featured in this national programming.

In 2022 SEMC staff facilitated hybrid (due to the ongoing pandemic) Council and Program Committee mid-year meetings. At the mid-year meeting in Northwest Arkansas, the Council participated in a half-day session with Inclusion Specialist, Monica Kumar, to discuss diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion as related to the SEMC and Council leadership.

Many SEMC members (and SEMC staff) participated in 2022 Museum Advocacy Day with representation from most southeastern states.

In 2022 SEMC continued to offer monthly virtual happy hours for members to drop in, relax and laugh with friends (old and new) from across the region.

Fundraising

SEMC was the recipient of generous funding from the following partners to support programming (Virtual, JIMI, Leadership Institute, Annual Meeting) and general operations:

• Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation

• National Museum of African American History and Culture – Office of Strategic Partnerships

• Smithsonian Our Shared Future, Reckoning with our Racial Past

• Association of African American Museums

Twenty-seven organizations and industry partners provided over $50,000 in support for the 2022 Annual Meeting.

SEMC was the recipient of a $20,000 gift to create the Handumy Jean Tahan Internship Fund to offer financial assistance to small museums (beginning in 2023) to support paid internships.

In 2022 SEMC was the recipient of monetary gifts (ranging from $25 to $1,000) toward various programs, endowments, and operations from 25+ individuals generating almost $6,000 in individual support.

SEMC Staff and Leadership

This year, under the guidance of the SEMC Council, a SEMC Program Administrator position was created using similar positions and a comparative salary study to ensure this position was compensated fairly. Heather Nowak was selected as the SEMC Program Administrator (a remote position) and joined the staff on August 1, 2022.

In 2022 SEMC offered two paid internship opportunities (sponsored by SEMC industry partners) to engage a student from Spelman College in the inner workings of running a professional organization. Paid internship opportunities will continue in 2023 with students from Spelman College and Georgia College.

Throughout the year SEMC staff engaged more than twenty-five volunteers across the region in projects from creating virtual programming to assisting with registration preparation and on-site work at the 2022 Annual Meeting.

At the end of 2022 SEMC transitioned to new officers and added three new Council members with a wealth of experience that will continue to strengthen and diversify SEMC leadership.

The entire SEMC Council, participated in the second SEMC Council Demographic SelfStudy. The data captured in this internal selfstudy assisted the Nomination Committee in the ongoing development of a Council that reflects diverse viewpoints, backgrounds, skills, experiences, and expertise. By completing this survey, Council members affirmed commitment to equity, transparency, and creating a representative leadership base.

Communications

In 2022, SEMC staff produced a 2021 Annual Report, three editions (Winter/Spring, Summer, and Fall) of Inside SEMC, a monthly E-Newsletter, targeted emails to the membership, monthly acknowledgments of member birthdays and multiple special E-News communications to launch and promote various programs. In addition, SEMC staff maintain consistent social media postings and engagement across all platforms.

Working with both Goosepen Studio and Press and Banks Creative, we continued to enhance SEMC’s branding with professionally designed marketing materials and branded graphics to ensure that SEMC offerings are easily recognizable.

This year we highlighted the terrific work of 17 emerging and mid-career museum professionals in the SEMC Ones to Watch program.

Upcoming for 2023

As we move away from the pandemic, the coming years will continue to bring new challenges to SEMC with regard to capacity, revenue generation, diversification, and sustainability. Through purposeful strategic planning and member engagement, SEMC will navigate

the challenges and remain nimble and ready to meet the moment and assist the southeast museum community in finding opportunities for positive change and forward movement. It is essential for museums to continue to adapt to the current realities and think ahead to building a fundamentally different future. As recent years have taught us, change can come quickly and powerfully. SEMC will be a resource as members continue to evolve, build a different, more equitable future for the field, and recognize this unique period in our shared history as a time that calls us to bring our best.

Spelman College students and SEMC directors and staff at the 2022 annual meeting.

After several years of virtual and hybrid meetings and a cautious foray back to annual gatherings, in 2023 (November 13-15) the SEMC membership will convene at The Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky for a robust, in-person 2023 Annual Meeting. While it may take a few years to realize 600-800 attendees again at an Annual Meeting, SEMC2022 conference evaluations were overall positive about the return to in-person gatherings.

At the 2023 Annual Meeting, we will once again offer all SEMC members live stream access to the 2023 Keynote Address and Award Recipient Roundtable as well as an opening plenary session featuring Louisville artists, musicians and other cultural leaders engaged in activism. The plenary will engage panelists in a moderated discussion related to the 2023 conference theme, Truth Builds Community. Purposefully developed by the Louisville local arrangements team, the theme addresses the social unrest that Louisville experienced in recent years and how local institutions have taken an active role in creating programs and exhibits that lift up underserved and underrepresented peoples, and create space for community engagement for healing and open dialogue. We are excited for attendees to continue to engage in direct dialogue, networking, and professional growth and development next fall in Louisville.

In 2023, SEMC will continue to provide year-round virtual offerings for members. Online sessions will remain free for SEMC members with the help of industry partner sponsorships and support.

In addition to the relaunch of the Jekyll Island Management Institute, other exciting projects for 2023 include a strategic planning preparation session for the SEMC Council with Robert Bull of

the Compass Group at the March 2023 Mid-Year Meeting and the call for applications for the 2024 Leadership Institute. This summer, SEMC will also open applications for the Handumy Jean Tahan Internship Fund.

Onward

SEMC has gained considerable experience in planning for and navigating the adjustments needed to manage events, professional networking, learning and engagement during times of disruption. We are looking forward to a productive, strategic, engaged year. Generous funding from many SEMC partners including Smithsonian Reckoning With our Racial Past program, National Museum of African American History and Culture – Office of Strategic Partnerships, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the Association of African American Museums helped SEMC through a transitional 2022, providing critical support for SEMC programs and events, helping to move the organization toward a sustainable future. SEMC is grateful for these partnerships and will continue to work hard to strategize and enact action steps that will benefit all SEMC members and support the mission and vision by strengthening museums and museum professionals in the southeast to build a more equitable future through education and creative collaborations that connect organizations to diverse communities and spark positive, inclusive change.

Respectfully,

Zinnia Willits SEMC Executive Director

Thank You to Our 2022 Annual Meeting Sponsors and Supporters

SEMC 2022 ANNUAL MEETING SPONSORS

Platinum Sponsors

Arkansas Tourism (Event Management)

Visit Rogers (Event Management)

Smithsonian: Reckoning with our Racial Past (Event Management)

Gold Sponsors

Christie’s (Lead Sponsor Director/Trustee Luncheon/ Reception)

Risk Strategies (Director/Trustee Luncheon/ Reception)

Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (Event Management)

National Museum of African American History & Culture– Office of Strategic Partnerships, Smithsonian Institute (Event Management)

Visit Bentonville (Evening Events)

Silver Sponsors

Atelier 4 (Evening Events)

CatalogIt (Awards Luncheon)

Charityproud (Tote Bags)

Collector Systems (Lanyards)

Conserv (Resource Expo Bars, SERA Luncheon)

Haizlip Studio (Evening Events)

Riggs Ward Design (Conference Wi-Fi)

Solid Light, Inc. (Keynote Address)

Bronze Sponsors

Art Display Essentials, a 10-31 Company (Resource Expo Receptions)

Bonsai Fine Arts, Inc. (Volunteer T-shirts)

ERCO Lighting (Resource Expo Receptions)

Exhibit Concepts, Inc. (Resource Expo Receptions)

HealyKohler Design (Resource Expo Receptions)

Monadnock (CurCom Luncheon)

Odyssey by History IT (Resource Expo Receptions)

Our Fundraising Search (Resource Expo Receptions)

Truist (Registration Table)

US Art Company (SERA Luncheon)

Annual Meeting Supporters

Museum Trustee Association (Leadership Luncheon)

National Association for Museum Exhibition (Expo Hall Networking and Refreshment Breaks)

SEMC 2022 ANNUAL MEETING HOSTS

Northwest Arkansas Evening Event Host Museums and Sites

Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers, AR

Daisy Airgun Museum, Rogers, AR Arkansas

Public Theatre, Rogers, AR

The Momentary, Bentonville, AR

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR

Scott Family Amazeum, Bentonville, AR

Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, AR

Northwest Arkansas Off-Site Tour Program/Workshop Host Museums and Sites

J B and Johnelle Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center, Springdale, AR

Museum of Native American History, Bentonville, AR

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR

Historic Cane Hill, Cane Hill, AR

Compton Gardens and Arboretum, Bentonville, AR

Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers AR

Pea Ridge National Military Park, Garfield, AR

The Walmart Museum, Bentonville, AR

Tyson Foods Corporate Collection, Springdale, AR

SEMC 2022 EXPO HALL INDUSTRY PARTNERS

1220 Exhibits

Art Display Essentials, a 10-31 Company

ARtGlass

Available Light

Boston Productions, Inc.

Brunk Auctions

Charityproud

Cinebar Productions

Collector Systems

Conserv

Delta Designs

Displays Fine Art Services

dmdg2

ERCO Lighting

Evolv Technology

Exhibit Concepts

ExhibitsUSA

Explus

Gaylord

Goosepen Studio & Press

Haizlip Studio

Healy Kohler Design

Lucidea

MBA Design and Display Products

Museum Exchange

Nabholz Construction

Northeast Document Conservation Center

Odyssey by History IT

Patterson Pope

Riggs Ward Design

Risk Strategies

Solid Light, Inc.

Southern Custom Exhibits of Alabama, Inc.

StoryFile

Studio Art Quilt Associates

The Design Minds, Inc.

TourMate Systems

Transformit

Universal Fiber Optic Lighting

Upland Exhibits

US Art Company

Zone Display Cases

SPECIAL PROJECT SUPPORTERS

The Design Minds (SEMC Internship Stipend)

Hutchinson Design Group (SEMC Internship Stiped)

Bonsai Fine Art (SEMC2022 #Exhibiting Change T-shirts)

Thank You to Our Donors

Annual Meeting

10-31 Inc.

Atelier 4

Bonsai Fine Art

CatalogIt

Charity Proud

Collector Systems

Conserv

Displays Fine Art Services

Erco Lighting

Exhibit Concepts

Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation

Healy Kohler

Haizlip Studios

Monadnock Media

Nabholz Construction

National Museum of African American History and Culture – Office of Strategic Partnerships

Smithsonian, Reckoning with our Racial Past

Solid Light

Our Fundraising Search

Odyssey by History IT

Risk Strategies

Riggs Ward Design

Arkansas Tourism

Visit Bentonville

Visit Rogers

Christie’s

US Art

Annual Meeting Scholarships

Scott Warren

Heather Marie Wells

Endowment

Charles (Tom) Butler

David Butler

Nathan Moehlmann

Elise LeCompte

Graig Shaak

Doug Noble

Michael Hudson

Robert and Sullivan

Kristen Miller Zohn

Zinnia Willits

General Operating

Matthew Davis

Lauren Pacheco

Patrick Daly

Patrick Martin

Nick Gray

Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation

Michael Scott

Marianne Richter

2023 Jekyll

Island Management Institute

Mary Miller

Heather Nowak

Claire Gwaltney

Smithsonian, Reckoning With Our Racial Past

National Museum of African American History and Culture – Office of Strategic Partnerships

Handumy Jean Tahan

Internship Fund

Joy Tahan Ruddell

Joshua Whitfield

Rebecca Bush

Rachel Smith

La Paglia Fund

Carolyn Reams Leadership Institute

Robin Reed

Michael Scott Warren

Association of African American Museums

National Museum of African American History and Culture – Office of Strategic Partnerships

Thank You to Our Members

Institutions

21c Museum Hotel Louisville

A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery

Adsmore Museum

African American Military History Museum

Aiken County Historical Museum

Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium

Alabama Department of Archives and History

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

Albany Museum of Art

Aldie Mill & Mt. Zion Historic Parks

Alexandria Museum of Art

Altama Museum

Amelia Island Museum of History

Anderson County Museum

Andrew Low House Museum

Anniston Museum of Natural History

Apopka Historical Society

Appalachian State University Turchin Center for the Visual Arts

Appleton Museum of Art

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

Arkansas National Guard Museum

Arkansas State Parks

Arlington Historic Houses

Art Bridges

Art Center Sarasota

Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM)

Artis--Naples, The Baker Museum

Asheville Art Museum

Atlanta Contemporary

Atlanta History Center

Augusta Museum of History

Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia

Bartow History Museum

Beaches Museum

Beauregard-Keyes House

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery

Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum

Bessie Smith Cultural Center

Biblical History Center

Birmingham Museum of Art

Birthplace of Country Music Museum

Blowing Rock Art & History Museum

Blue Ridge Institute & Museum

Booth Western Art Museum

Burritt on the Mountain

C.Williams Rush Museum of African-American Arts & Culture

Caldwell Heritage Museum

Calhoun County Museum

Calico Rock Community Foundation

Cameron Art Museum

Cape Fear Museum of History and Science

Carnegie Center for Art and History

Carter-Coile Country Doctors Museum

Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum

Catawba Science Center

Center for Puppetry Arts

Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor

Heritage Center

Charlotte Museum of History

Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art

Cherokee County Historical Society

Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Home

Children’s Hands on Museum

City of Raleigh - Historic Resources and Museum Program

Clemson University

Clemson University’s Bob Campbell Geology Museum

Coastal Georgia Historical Society

Columbia Museum of Art

Computer Museum of America

Cook Museum of Natural Science

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Creative Discovery Museum

Creative Liberties Artist Studios & Galleries

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Culture & Heritage Museums

Curtiss Mansion, Inc.

Customs House Museum and Cultural Center

Dade Heritage Trust

Daura Gallery - University of Lynchburg

David J. Sencer CDC Museum

DeKalb History Center

Department of Historic Museums, Georgia College

Discovery Park of America, Inc.

Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, NCDCR

Drayton Hall

Drexel University

Dunedin Fine Art Center

Earl Scruggs Center

East Tennessee Historical Society

Edisto Island Open Land Trust

Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University

Flagler Museum

Florence County Museum

Florida CraftArt

Florida Museum of Natural History

Florida Museum of Photographic Arts

Folk Pottery Museums of NE GA, Sautee Nacoochee

Cultural Center

Fort Smith Regional Art Museum

Fort Wayne Museum of Art

Friends of Cassidy Park Museums

Frist Art Museum

FSU Museum of Fine Arts

Funk Heritage Center of Reinhardt University

Gadsden Arts Center & Museum

Gaston County Museum of Art & History

Georgia Southern University Museum

Gibbes Museum of Art

Greenville County Museum of Art

Gregg Museum of Art & Design, NC State University

Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art

Hampton University Museum

Henry B. Plant Museum

Hermann-Grima & Gallier Historic Houses

Hickory Museum of Art

Hidden River Cave & the American Cave Museum

High Museum of Art

High Point Museum

Hilliard Art Museum University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Hills & Dales Estate

Historic Arkansas Museum

Historic Augusta, Inc.

Historic Cane Hill, Inc.

Historic Clayborn Temple

Historic Columbia Foundation

Historic Dumfries Virginia & The Weems-Botts Museum

Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park

Historic Natchez Foundation

Historic New Orleans Collection

Historic Oakland Foundation

Historic Paris-Bourbon County/Hopewell Museum

Historic Rosedale Plantation

Historical Society of Martin County

Historic Tuscaloosa

Historical Society of Western Virginia

History Fort Lauderdale

History Miami

History Museum of Mobile

Horry County Museum

Hunter Museum of American Art

Huntington Museum of Art

Huntsville Museum of Art

International African American Museum

International Arts Center

International Civil Rights Center & Museum

International Museum of the Horse

International Towing & Recovery Museum

Iredell Museums

Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum

Kennesaw State University - Museums, Archives & Rare Books

Kentucky Department of Parks

Kentucky Derby Museum

Kentucky Historical Society

Kentucky Native American Heritage Museum, Inc

KMAC Museum

Knox Heritage & Historic Westwood

Knoxville Museum of Art

LaGrange Art Museum

Lake Wales History Museum

Lam Museum of Anthropology, Wake Forest University

Lauren Rogers Museum of Art

Liberty County Historical Society

Liberty Hall Historic Site

Lodge Cast Iron

Longue Vue House and Gardens

Longwood Center for the Visual Arts

Louisiana Art & Science Museum

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol

Louisiana State Museum

Louisiana State University Museum of Art

Louisiana State University Textile & Costume Museum

Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami

Magnolia Mound Plantation

Maier Museum of Art, Randolph College

Mandarin Museum & Historical Society

Marietta Museum of History

Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art

Marine Corps Museum Parris Island

Matheson History Museum

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture

McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina

Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana

Memorial Hall Museum

Mennello Museum of American Art

Metal Museum

Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University

Middle Tennessee State University

Middleton Place Foundation

Mint Museum

Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum

Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, Inc.

Mississippi Museum of Art

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

Mobile Museum of Art

MOCA Jacksonville

Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage

Morris Museum of Art

Morse Museum of American Art

Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum

MoSH (Museum of Science and History) - Pink Palace

Muscarelle Museum of Art

Museo de Arte de Ponce - Puerto Rico

Museum Center at 5ive Points

Museum of Art - DeLand

Museum of Arts & Sciences

Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami

Museum of Design Atlanta

Museum of Durham History

Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind

Museum of the Cherokee Indian

“Re-connecting with colleagues and friends I have not seen in person since COVID was one of the best aspects of the SEMC2022 Annual Meeting. SEMC members are kind and welcoming and are an engaged audience during presentations!”

Museum of the Mississippi Delta

Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

Museum of the Southeast American Indian

Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience

National Center for Civil and Human Rights

National Civil Rights Museum

National Museum of the Marine Corps

National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force

National Sporting Library & Museum

North Carolina African American Heritage Commission

New Orleans Museum of Art

North Carolina Museum of Art

North Carolina Museum of History

Northeast Georgia History Center

Oak Alley Foundation

Office of Historic Alexandria

Oglethorpe University Museum of Art (OUMA)

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art

Old State House Museum

Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center

Orange County Regional History Center

Orlando Museum of Art, Inc.

Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum

Paul W. Bryant Museum

PIHMS

Pinellas County Historical Society/Heritage Village

Polk Museum of Art

Portsmouth Museums

President James K Polk Home & Museum

President James K. Polk State Historic Site/NC

Dept of Natural & Cultural Resources

Reuel B. Pritchett Museum Collection

Reynolda House Museum of American Art

River Discovery Center

Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking

Rogers Historical Museum

Salem Museum & Historical Society

Sarasota Art Museum

Savannah River Site Museum

SC Confederate Relic Room & Museum

SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

Schiele Museum

Scott Family Amazeum

Sculpture Fields at Montague Park

Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center

South Boston - Halifax County Museum of Fine

Arts and History

South Carolina State Museum

South Union Shaker Village

Southern Poverty Law Center

Spalding County Our Legacy Museum

Spelman College

Spartanburg Art Museum

Spotsylvania County Museum

Sumter County Museum

Swannanoa Valley Museum

Swope Art Museum

Tampa Baseball Museum at the Al Lopez House

Tampa Bay History Center

Tampa Museum of Art Inc

Taubman Museum of Art

Telfair Museums

Tellus Science Museum

Tennessee State Museum

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

Texas Historical Commission

The Museum

The Anna Lamar Switzer Center for the Visual Arts, Pensacola State College

The Bass Museum of Art

The Charleston Museum

The Chrysler Museum of Art

The Columbus Museum

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens

The Dixon Gallery & Gardens

The Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture

The Florida Holocaust Museum

The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia

The Guntersville Museum

The Mitford Museum

The Parthenon

The Ralph Foster Museum

The Speed Art Museum

The Wolfsonian - FIU

Thomas County Historical Society

Thronateeska Heritage Foundation, Inc

Torggler Fine Arts Center

Tryon Palace

Tubman Museum

Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society

Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site (National Park Service)

Union County Heritage Museum

University of Alabama Museums

University of Mississippi Museum & Historic Houses

University of Richmond Museums

University of South Alabama Archaeology Museum

University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum

University of West Georgia

Upcountry History Museum- Furman University

Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery

Vero Beach Museum of Art

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of Transportation

Vulcan Park and Museum

Walter Anderson Museum of Art

Washington and Lee University

Waterworks Visual Arts Center

Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc.

West Baton Rouge Museum

West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History

Western Carolina University

Wetzel County Museum

Whalehead in Historic Corolla

William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum

Windgate Museum of Art at Hendrix College

Wiregrass Museum of Art

Yeiser Art Center

Corporate Members

Business Associates

Able Eyes

Arts InCommunity (division of InCommunity)

Atelier 4

Backlog

Banks Creative

Blair, Inc

Creative Arts Unlimited

CSR-Consulting, Solutions, Results

Crystalizations Systems Inc

DaVinci Development Collaborative, LLC

Friesens Corporation

Haizlip Studio

Helms Briscoe

Hutchinson Design Group

ISeeChange

Leaf Spring Consulting

NMBL Strategies

William G. Pomeroy Foundation

Willis Towers Watson - Fine Art, Jewelry & Specie

Your Heritage Matters

Zone Display Cases

Corporate Friends

10-31-MuseumRails

1220 Exhibits, Inc.

Alexander Haas

Association of African American Museums (AAAM)

Available Light

Bonsai Fine Arts Inc

Boston Productions, Inc (BPI)

Brunk Auctions

Carolina Conservation

Case Antiques, Inc. Auctions & Appraisals

CatalogIt

Charityproud

Christie’s

Cinebar Productions, Inc.

Collector Systems, LLC.

Conserv Cultural Heritage Partners PLLC

DeWitt Stern

Displays Fine Art Services

dmdg2

Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc.

ERCO Lighting, Inc.

Exhibit Concepts, Inc.

Explus, Inc.

Frina Design

Goosepen Studio & Press

Haizlip Studio

HealyKohler Design

Interactive Knowledge

Lucidea

MBA Design & Display Products

Monadnock Media, Inc.

Museum Exchange

Nabholz Construction Corporation

Odyssey by HistoryIT

OTJ Architects

Our Fundraising Search

Patterson Pope, Inc.

Riggs Ward Design

Risk Strategies

SAQA Global Exhibitions

Solid Light, Inc

StoryFile, Inc.

Studio Art Quilt Associates

The Design Minds, Inc

Time Looper

Tour-Mate Systems

Transport Consultants International

Universal Fiber Optic Lighting USA, LLC.

Upland Exhibits

USART

Corporate Partners

Division of Arkansas Tourism

Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation

National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution/Reckoning with Our Racial Past

Zone Display Cases

SEMC Council

Matthew S. Davis President matt.davis@gcsu.edu

Director of Historic Museums, Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA

Dr. Calinda Lee Vice President sources.lee@gmail.com

Principal, Sources Cultural Resources Management, LLC, Atlanta, GA

Deitrah J. Taylor Secretary dtaylorhistorian@gmail.com

Public Historian, Milledgeville, GA

Scott Alvey Treasurer scott.alvey@ky.gov

Director, Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY

Heather Marie Wells Past President heathermarie.wells@crystalbridges.org

Digital Media Project Manager, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR

Darcie MacMahon Past President dmacmahon@flmnh.ufl.edu

Director of Exhibits & Public Programs, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL

(Term ended October 2022)

Robin Reed Treasurer rereed10@gmail.com

Museum Administrator (retired), Fort Monroe, VA

(Term ended October 2022)

Glenna Barlow gbarlow@columbiamuseum.org

Curator of Education, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC

Dr. Alexander Benitez beniteza@portsmouthva.gov

Director of Museums and Tourism, City of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, VA

Tafeni English tafeni.english@splcenter.org

Director, Alabama State Office Southern Poverty Law Center Montgomery, AL

Katie Ericson kericso@emory.edu

Director of Education, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta, GA

Nancy Fields Nancy.fields@uncp.edu

Director and Curator, The Museum of the Southeast American Indian, Pembroke, NC

Brigette Janea Jones brigettejones60@yahoo.com

Director of Equitable Partnerships, Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery, Nashville, TN

Pamela D. C. Junior pjunior@mdah.ms.gov

Director, Two Mississippi Museums, Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Jackson, MS

Rosalind Martin rmartin@knoxart.org

Director of Education, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN

Michelle Schulte mschulte@lsu.edu

Senior Curator and Director of Public Programs, LSU Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA

Michael Scott mscott@solidlight-inc.com

Project Manager, Solid Light, Louisville, KY

Ahmad Ward award@exploremitchelville.org

Executive Director, Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, Hilton Head Island, SC

Lance Wheeler lwheeler@civilandhumanrights.org

Director of Exhibitions, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, GA

Katy Menne katy.menne@ncdcr.gov

Curator of Education, NC Maritime Museum at Southport, Southport, NC

(Term ended October 2022)

SEMC Staff

Zinnia Willits zwillits@semcdirect.net SEMC Executive Director

Carla Phillips cphillilps@semcdirect.net SEMC Manager of Communications and Member Services

Heather Nowak hnowak@semcdirect SEMC Program Administrator

A Snapshot of SEMC’s Reach

Category 1

Category 2

Category 3

Category 4

Category 5

Category 6

“The Leadership institute is truly transformative. It provides you with tangible skills that you can take back to your institution while also introducing you to a range of museum professionals who can provide quality insights. There are opportunities to learn, grow, and network that are invaluable. This is truly one of the best professional developments

I’ve been a part of.”

Statement of Financial Position

SEMC Endowment at end of FY22: $568,079

SEMC received $118,915 in contributions and grants in FY22 FY22 FY21

*Note FY22 is July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022

You can support SEMC through contributions toward SEMC General Operations; SEMC Endowment; SEMC Leadership Institute; Martha Battle Jackson Fund (supports sustainability of the Jekyll Island Management Institute/JIMI); Peter S. LaPaglia Scholarship Fund (supports JIMI tuition scholarships); Handumy Jean Tahan Internship Fund; and Legacy Society (Planned Giving) or other activities by donating online at www.SEMCdirect.net. SEMC created the Legacy Society to recognize the generosity of individuals who have included the Southeastern Museums Conference in their wills or estate plans. A planned gift will make a difference in the services of SEMC and the future development of the museum profession. For more information on planned giving please contact Zinnia Willits, SEMC Executive Director at zwillits@semcdirect.net.