Open Forum

Join us on November 14, 11:30am EST for the 2024 Virtual Convening Plenary Discussion: 

Navigating Finances: Empowering Strategies for Academic Museums and Galleries

To register: aamg-us.org/vc24reg/

Find speaker details here: aamg-us.org/vc24plenary/

Shaking things up for this year's Virtual Convening, AAMG brings you a Plenary Discussion at the start of our day together. Focused on academic museum and gallery finances. we will hear from two members: Dr. Lori Birrell, Associate University Librarian of Special Collections and Director of Museums at the University of Delaware, and Kurt Neugebauer, Associate Director of Administration and Exhibitions at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) at the University of Oregon. Together, Lori and Kurt will discuss methodologies and practices that keep their own institutional finances clear as well as open the conversation up for questions from the attendees for tips and tricks to aid you in your own positions. We know that many of us have varying levels of authority and access to our own budgets and we hope this conversation becomes a starting block to finding some commonalities and support from one another within our varying institutions. 

You'll hear from Lori about:

Managing part of a museum's budget is not something most museum professionals are taught. Instead, they must develop these skills once they assume management roles. In this plenary presentation, Birrell will share key components of how to implement a set of budget management principles within different organizational contexts. These principles empower managers to take an active role in the budgeting process. Even those without a formal role or responsibilities for a budget, should have a foundational understanding of the who, what, when, where, why, and how associated with such a process to then be able to leverage that knowledge and secure support for their initiatives.

You'll hear from Kurt about:

Within our arts management and professional roles, we have a shared passion that the arts are essential for individual well-being and human enrichment. Unfortunately, this is not always substantially supported in our current culture, workplace, or with upper administration at our respective college or university. 

Financial resources are necessary for our programs and work. I welcome the opportunity to share what I have learned and perhaps help empower and offer tools that may aid my fellow colleagues to be strategic with proactive fiscal management--identifying and soliciting funding, creating budget plans and proposals, expenditure oversight and monitoring and more. I believe it's up to us within our work to promote, develop, support and foster a sound financial operating plan for success.