Open Forum

FREE virtual workshop series sponsored by the California Association of Museums! You do not need to be a CAM member to attend.

Sustaining Yourself and Your Work in Museums: a Personal and Professional Retreat
Museum work can be incredibly rewarding; it has the power to educate, inspire, and strengthen our communities. It also asks a great deal of the people who do it. Amid shifting priorities, limited resources, systemic inequities, and the emotional labor of caring for others, it can be difficult to find space to reflect, reconnect with what matters most, and sustain ourselves over time.

This four-part series offers dedicated opportunities to pause, reflect, and move forward with intention. Through guided reflection, practical exercises, and conversation with peers, participants will explore different aspects of sustaining themselves and their work. Rather than focusing solely on individual resilience, we'll also consider how the realities of museum work shape our ability to thrive, and how sustaining ourselves and one another strengthens our capacity to build museums where both people and communities can thrive.

All workshops are on Mondays from 11am-12pm PT on these dates: August 10 and 31, September 14 and 28.

Participants are welcome to attend one workshop or all four. Registration is now open. More information and register here to secure your spot: https://calmuseums.org/centering-equity/.

More on each workshop in the series:

Reflecting on the Past Year
August 10, 2026 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (PDT)
Before we can decide where we're going, it helps to understand where we've been.
This session invites participants to step back from the pace of museum work and reflect on the past year through guided journaling and conversation. Together, we'll explore accomplishments, challenges, strengths, and lessons learned, identifying what we want to carry forward and what we're ready to leave behind. By making meaning of our experiences, we create a stronger foundation for whatever comes next.

Identifying Your Core Values
August 31, 2026 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (PDT)
Our values are more than beliefs. They're our compass.
In this session, participants will identify the values that guide their decisions, relationships, and leadership, and explore how those values show up in their work. We'll consider where our work feels aligned with what matters most, where tensions exist, and how reconnecting with our values can help us navigate complexity, make intentional choices, and sustain ourselves over the long term.

Mapping Your Energy and Priorities
September 14, 2026 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (PDT)
Time is limited. Energy is precious.
This session invites participants to take an honest look at where their time, attention, and energy are currently going. Together, we'll explore what restores us, what depletes us, and how expectations, competing priorities, and invisible labor influence our daily experience-at home and at work. Participants will identify opportunities to better align their energy with their values and the things that matters to them most.

Setting Intentions and Next Steps
September 28, 2026 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (PDT)
Reflection becomes meaningful when it shapes how we move forward.
This session focuses on turning reflection into intentional action. Through guided planning and conversation, participants will identify realistic goals, meaningful next steps, and practices that can support them in the months ahead. Participants will leave with a personalized plan for tending both themselves and the work they hope to sustain.