Press Releases & Statements

New York, NY—January 9, 2012—The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) will be holding its mid-winter meeting in San Francisco, beginning Sunday, January 15th, which will include a series of panel discussions and presentations by outside speakers, as well as information sharing sessions, committee, and task force meetings for members. On Wednesday, January 18th, AAMD members will also attend a memorial service for John Buchanan, the recently deceased director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.  Among the program highlights for the meeting are: •Margy Waller, from ArtsWave in Cincinnati, will present that organization’s research on public engagement with the arts and culture •Beth Tuttle and Martha Tilyard of METstrategies will provide an overview of ways organizations can foster and sustain creative and innovative workplaces •A presentation on global macro-economic forecasting by Aaron Gurwitz, Global Chief Investments Officer for Barclays Wealth •A series of reports from AAMD task forces addressing a range of different topics of interest to the art museum field   Other activities include the presentation of AAMD’s new graphic identity, designed by Pentagram's Paula Scher, and an update on AAMD’s ongoing planning for the redesign and relaunch of its website. While meeting programs are planned several months in advance, the schedule is structured to allow for discussion of current topics and issues of relevance to the field.  AAMD selected San Francisco as the meeting site at the invitation of the five members in the area: Neal Benezra (SFMOMA), Lori Fogarty (Oakland Museum of California), Larry Rinder (UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive), Jay Xu (Asian Art Museum), and the late John Buchanan (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco).  Events are being hosted by all five institutions over the course of the meeting. The Association of Art Museum Directors, representing 205 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 atwww.aamd.org.