Hello SMA Community,

Out of an abundance of caution and an awareness that small museums need resources and want to share their experiences with others sooner than February, we have decided that rather than hold our beloved SMA Conference in person this year, we will be hosting a series of mini conferences in the form of interactive webinars. These will be about an hour long with time for questions, but if the discussion is lively, we can keep it going!

The theme for this year comes as no surprise: we want to talk about how small museum have or can respond to crisis with particular focus on the current health situation and on Black Lives Matter. However, a crisis may also be a flooded collections room, massive data loss, etc. We may even look to what museums have done in crises during decades past for inspiration or have a creative conversation about future crises and how to best to prepare. And how have museums preserved the memory of crises in the past? Whose narratives are presented and what objects are preserved? How should museums be recording this moment in history?

We want to hear from you! Please use the Google Form to submit a proposal by Wednesday, August 5, 2020.