We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Last week, the staff here at the museum had the great opportunity to attend the Museum Associations of Montana’s annual conference in Lewistown. Museum Associations of Montana is a non-profit, professional organization whose goal is to strengthen all of Montana's Museums. MAM connects your organizations with others throughout the state, offering them a support network. They hosts an annual conference where museums get a chance to not only strengthen their support network, but to learn valuable information and skills from peer lead presentations and workshops.
The conference started on Wednesday with educational workshops and a progressive welcoming reception. This gave attendees the opportunity to meet fellow museum professionals and learn what they do at their institutions. After the meet and greet, it was back to the hotel to get ready for Thursday. Thursday was when the bulk of the conference took place. The day was filled with several presentations and roundtables. Each session offered three different talks to attend, and we were able to choose which one benefited us most. Austin and Sam hosted a roundtable on Thursday with Melissa Rost, director of O’Fallon Historical Museum (Baker), about solutions for keeping museums and historic sites with small or volunteer-led staffs relevant and sustainable. I attended many sessions, including a session about FBI investigated art crimes, DEI at museums, proper care of historic quilts, and Montana History Portal’s Lego history program.
Each of us here benefited greatly from this conference. We left with new information, new skills, new friends, and most importantly, just how valued museums are here in Montana. - Olivia Finley, Collections Assistant
Director’s Note: the museum’s spring exhibit “Briskly Venture, Briskly Roam” about Yellowstone Kelly is now on display through June. The museum is open 10am-6pm Monday through Friday as usual, but please note our Fort Belknap history exhibit is closed and under construction for our new exhibit about Gilbert Horn Sr. Stay tuned! - Sam
