Press Releases & Statements

Association of Art Museum Directors to Meet in Mexico City

New York, NY
January 23, 2015

The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) will hold its mid-winter meeting in Mexico City from Saturday, January 24 through Tuesday, January 27, 2015. AAMD last met in Mexico City ten years ago and in the intervening decade has increased the number of members located in Mexico from two to eight, and strengthened its ties with art museums in that country and across North America.

The mid-winter meeting will feature a series of panel discussions, presentations by outside speakers, committee and task force meetings, visits to cultural institutions, and informal sessions providing opportunities for members to discuss current issues and share information on a range of different topics.

The opening keynote address will be given by Rafael Tovar, President of CONACULTA. An additional keynote address will be presented by Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation. Also presenting will be Beth Harris, Steven Zucker, and Sal Khan, talking about the creation of Smarthistory.org—an award winning site dedicated to making art and its history widely accessible—and its joining forces with the Khan Academy, as well as a partnership with the Google Art Project.

AAMD’s Professional Issues Committee will present “A Conversation on the Public Trust” moderated by Lisa Phillips, Director, New Museum, with panelists: Glenn Lowry, Director, Museum of Modern Art; and Jacob Weisberg, Chairman, The Slate Group. The discussion will provide a larger philosophical, legal, and cultural framework for considering the idea of ‘public trust’ and its twin, 'public good.' A program entitled “Culture Track: Director’s Cut” looking at essential lessons from the nation’s largest ongoing research study of cultural consumers will be presented by Arthur Cohen, CEO and co-founder of LaPlaca Cohen. A full meeting program follows below.

The Association was invited to hold its meeting in Mexico City by the directors of its seven member institutions in that city as an opportunity for colleagues to visit the museums that have become members over the last ten years. Hosting the meeting are: Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo; Museo Dolores Olmedo; Museo Nacional de Arte; Museo Palacio de Bellas Artes; Museo Nacional de San Carlos; Museo Franz Mayer; Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso; Museo Tamayo; Museo de Arte Moderno; Museo Nacional de Antropología; Museo Anahuacalli; Museo Jumex; Museo Soumaya; Museo Templo Mayor; and Casa del Lago.

The Association of Art Museum Directors—representing 236 art museum directors in the US, Canada, and Mexico—promotes the vital role of art museums throughout North America and advances the profession by cultivating leadership and communicating standards of excellence in museum practice. Further information about AAMD’s professional practice guidelines and position papers is available at www.aamd.org.

A full schedule is available here.

Contact

Christine Anagnos / Alison Wade
Association of Art Museum Directors
212-754-8084

Sascha Freudenheim / Elizabeth Chapman
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
212-671-5172 / 212-671-5159