2008 SESSIONS

THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2008
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
CWAM Helping Hands: Making a Difference in Your Community
A Pre-Conference Learning Experience
Spend a day helping the volunteer-run Bozeman Trail Museum identify and store their historic clothing collection. Participants will learn how to write condition reports and descriptions for Past Perfect, properly store and display the items, and create exhibit labels and padded hangers. Materials donated by Gaylord! No experience needed! Come to learn, share your knowledge or just meet new people! Lunch is provided.

Coordinators: David Ryan, Registrar, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, Colorado Springs, CO
Teresa Sherwood, Curator & Public Historian, Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site, Laramie, WY
Dana Prater, Director/Curator, Sheridan County Museum, Sheridan, WY
Sharie Mooney, Assistant Superintendent/Curator, Trail End State Historic Site, Sheridan, WY

12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Blazing a Trail to IMLS Success: De-mystifying the Museums For America Grant Process
Have you ever tried to navigate the IMLS Grant application process only to hit discouraging roadblocks? This workshop will provide hands-on interactive opportunities allowing you to understand the process from beginning to end. Topics will include how to register with www.grants.gov, examining key components of a solid strategic plan, breaking down the application requirements, and a glimpse of the process through the eyes of a grant reviewer.
Note: Participants of this workshop will be asked to read pre-assigned materials.

Presenters: Laura Douglas, Education a la Carte, Denver, CO
Betsy Martinson, Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, Golden, CO

FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008
CONCURRENT SESSIONS

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm Concurrent Sessions

Making a Difference in Your Exhibit
Using the Longmont Museum’s new community-based history exhibit, Front Range Rising, as an example, this session is a beginning to end case study in creative exhibit construction techniques. Find out what new materials and new technologies are available to help museums on any budget, and see how commonplace materials like tile grout, cardboard, and paint can be used in new ways to enhance your exhibits.

Moderator: Erik Mason, Curator of Research, Longmont Museum & Cultural Center, Longmont, CO

Speakers: Jared Thompson, Curator of Exhibits, Longmont Museum & Cultural Center, Longmont, CO
Svein Edland, Curator of Exhibits, Longmont Museum & Cultural Center, Longmont, CO
Melanie Irvine, Exhibit Designer, Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave, Golden, CO

Historic Walking Tours
Using Sheridan’s Historic Main Street District as an example, learn how to make walking tours successful – not just on the street, but in the classroom as well. Find out how a visit to town (or any neighborhood, for that matter) can help teachers and museums meet state education standards. Enjoy a walk down the street with a stop halfway through to examine some ideas for classroom-based projects. The group will leave from the lobby of the Best Western Sheridan Center.

Presenters: Cynde Georgen, Historic Program Manager, Trail End State Historic Site, Sheridan, WY
Nathan Doerr, Curator of Museum Education, Sheridan County Museum, Sheridan, WY

Community Service: A Tradition of Teaching and Tourism at the Avery House Historic District
Like many historic house museums, the Avery House National Historic District is a volunteer-run organization that is only open to the public for only a short time each week. Despite these challenges, the school tour program hosts approximately 1,200 second grade students as they study Fort Collins history each year. In addition, the Avery House often hosts tours and classes for students of Colorado State University, in interior design, historic preservation, architecture, and history. Learn how their volunteer commitment has led them to contribute significantly to educating and preserving their community’s history, while being open only 4 hours a week!

Moderator: Jenny Hankinson, Data Entry Technician, Littleton Historical Museum, Littleton, CO

Speakers: Evelyn Reuter, School and Special Tours Coordinator, Avery House Historic District, Fort Collins, CO
Joann Thomas, Volunteer Coordinator, Avery House Historic District, Fort Collins, CO

3:30 pm – 4:45 pm Concurrent Sessions

Working with Digital Images – In-house and On the Web
Join us for a session on creating and using digital images of your photographic and archival document collections. Panelists will discuss how to prepare the images for in-house use by staff and researchers and how to get them ready for the Web. Learn the ins and outs of presenting and protecting your images once they are on the web.

Moderator: Erin Easter, Private Consultant, Saratoga, WY

Speakers: Peggy Schaller, Collections Research for Museums, Denver, CO
Laura Wheeler, President, Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc., Medicine Bow, WY

Laura Wheeler's Session Paper (PDF)

Christmas Decorations
Who needs guilt at Christmas? Gone (hopefully) are the days of real Christmas trees, garlands of popcorn, candles, and fruit in the historic house museum. But what can be done as replacements? A number of CWAM museums have developed great community projects where people make traditional Christmas ornaments that use paper, Christmas cards, stockings, etc. that are conservation sound. There are realistic artificial trees, candles, and food items available today that can be recycled each year.

Moderator: Erin B. Rose, Curator of Education, Fort Caspar Museum, Casper, WY

Speakers: Carl Patterson, Director of Conservation, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Meghan McGinnes, Museum Program Coordinator, Hiwan Homestead Museum, Evergreen, CO
Betsy Martinson, Education/Events Coordinator, Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, Golden, CO

It’s Easy Being Green: A Guide to Help Make Your Museum More Earth-Friendly
From big to small changes, this session will help you discover a variety of ways to make your museum more Earth-friendly. Even the smallest changes in day-to-day operations can help improve the environment in our global community.

Moderator: Jennifer Cousino, Curator of History, Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, CO

Speakers: Terri Schindel, Conservator and Founder, Museum Training Network, Boulder, CO
Deb Kleinman, Executive Director, US Green Building Council, Colorado Chapter, Denver, CO
Jennifer Cousino, Curator of History, Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, CO

Jennifer Cousino's Session Paper (PDF)

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008
CONCURRENT SESSIONS

9:10 am – 10:25 am Concurrent Sessions

CWAM Benefits: Cooperative Purchasing, EMKs & CWAM Excellence Grants
The Purchasing Cooperative and Grants Program have helped many CWAM members over the years. Learn how Cooperative Purchasing works, and how your participation in it can allow you to get in on deep discounts for your collections supplies. EMKs, or Environmental Monitoring Kits, are a great way to stay on top of your exhibits and collections environments. Learn how to use our new kits, then sign up to borrow it for a month! The CWAM Grants Program offers $500 to four member organizations a year, for projects including, but not limited to, Publications, Exhibits, Events or Programs, and Conservation Projects. Learn how being a CWAM member can help you keep your collections safe! After this session, stay to learn how the Denver Art Museum used its CWAM Grant to implement an emergency preparedness plan and kit!

Moderator: Jenny Hankinson, Data Entry Technician, Littleton Historical Museum, Littleton, CO

Speakers: David Ryan, Registrar, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, Colorado Springs, CO
Sarah Gadd, Assistant Curator, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY
Jenny Hankinson, Data Entry Technician, Littleton Historical Museum, Littleton, CO

Training Your Staff, Board and Volunteers: Addressing the Needs of Your Museum’s Community
Are you training your staff on a “Needs to Know” basis? Is information compartmentalized by job title and office location? This session will facilitate a lively discussion that will help museums understand how their staff, volunteers and board members interact with each other, as well as the public, and explore options for training/information sharing that will put all of the appropriate resources into the hands of the people who really DO “need to know.”

Speaker: Betsy Martinson, Education/Events Coordinator, Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, Golden, CO

Managing the Big Project
Providing outstanding facilities and excellent interpretive exhibits to engage your community in its history is a huge challenge for small museums with limited resources. Often, we can barely keep our existing operations going, let alone channel resources into a building expansion or new permanent exhibit. How can small museums manage to implement their vision, while keeping their current operations going? Where does the extra money come from, how do you get community buy-in for your project, and how do you utilize the resources you have to their fullest? Our speakers have both overseen a "big project" in the last several years.

Moderator: Erin Easter, Private Consultant, Saratoga, WY

Speakers: Rick Young, Director, Fort Caspar Museum, Casper, WY
Martha Clevenger, Director, Longmont Museum & Cultural Center, Longmont, CO

Rick Young's Session Paper (PDF)

10:45 am – 12:00 pm Concurrent Sessions

Implementing Emergency Preparedness: A CWAM Excellence Grant Case Study
Every year CWAM awards grants based on projects that exemplify a museum striving for best practices in the field. One such grant will fund projects related to emergency preparedness. Collections Services staff from the Denver Art Museum will present their recently-drafted and tested emergency preparedness plan and will provide resources and basic supply lists to help attending professionals get a jump on their own emergency plan. What could you do with a $500 emergency preparedness grant?

Moderator: Jenny Hankinson, Data Entry Technician, Littleton Historical Museum, Littleton, CO

Speakers: Christie Kirsch, Collections Manager, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Jessica Fletcher, Senior Conservator, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Christie Kirsch's Session Paper (PDF)

Local Museums, Local Stories: Telling the Story of Your Community
This session will explore unique ways to tell the story of your community using your museum collection for historic research. Discover ways to involve community members in the telling of their own stories through the use of oral histories and community collections.

Moderator: Jennifer Cousino, Curator of History, Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, CO

Speakers: Erin B. Rose, Curator of Education, Fort Caspar Museum, Casper, WY
Jeff & Cindy Feneis, Historians and Authors of Exploring Loveland’s Hidden Past, Loveland, CO

Erin B. Rose's Session Paper (PDF)

Things that go BOOM! in the night: Explosive Collections
Many conservators in the Western region of the United States have noticed while undertaking Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) surveys that small museums and historic houses often have guns, ammunition, carbon tetrachloride fire extinguishers, hand grenades, collections preserved in solvents and pharmaceutical items on exhibit and/or in storage. Just how safe are these collections? What actions can we take to protect our staff and visitors and other collections while not harming the objects themselves? Contacting agencies such as the local police, fire department or military institutions may not be the best answer and could result in forced de-accessioning, confiscation and/or the destruction of the material. Institutions housing potentially dangerous collections must also consider liability and legality issues. This presentation will broadly discuss issues, procedures and feasible solutions and is aimed towards small museums and historic houses.

Moderator: David Ryan, Registrar, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, Colorado Springs, CO

Speakers: Carl Patterson, Director of Conservation, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Gina Laurin, Assistant Conservator, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

1:30 pm – 2:45 pm Concurrent Sessions

Waymarking: Using GPS and Internet “Games” to Broaden Your Community Audience
Can Waymarking be the missing link needed to connect our Museums with the technological tourist? This session will introduce participants to the GPS/Internet game of Waymarking, and illustrate several ways in which your community or institution can use this preexisting, FREE activity to enhance historical research and motivate cultural tourism.

Speaker: Betsy Martinson, Education/Events Coordinator, Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, Golden, CO

Archival Storage Mount-Making and Techniques
Part 1: Introduction
Archival Storage Mount-making and Techniques offers methods for creating safe and effective mounts for the long term storage of sensitive materials. The introduction will cover basic materials, storage issues, sensitive objects, and basic archival mounts. This will include simple custom mounts for three dimensional objects, box making, rolling methods for textiles, and flat storage options. Archival materials will be reviewed and examined and the different merits of each material will be discussed. Handouts will provide information on the different materials, including possible suppliers. A PowerPoint presentation and demonstrations as well as some hands on practice will be the focus of this session.

There will also be discussion on the improvement of current storage solutions, as well as discussions on budget constraints and making the most out of available materials.

Moderator: Win Ferrill, Historic Preservation and Lead Curator, Lakewood’s Heritage Center, Lakewood, CO

Speaker: Juhl Wojahn, Assistant Collections Manager, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Session Paper (PDF)

Community Based Publishing: Establishing a Museum Press
The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum Press was established in 2004 to provide a broad range of quality historical publications about the Powder River Country of Wyoming. Thus far we have published five books, six booklets, and a quarterly historical magazine, The Sentry. This session will focus on establishing a museum press and attendees will learn from our successes and our mistakes.

Moderator: Maria Sanchez-Kennedy, Museum Manager, InfoZone News Museum, Pueblo, CO

Speakers: Bob Edwards, Assistant Director/Educator, Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum, Buffalo, WY
Gil Bollinger, Volunteer and Past Board Member, Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum, Buffalo, WY

3:15 pm – 4:30 pm Concurrent Sessions

Courageous Conversations: Diversity & Inclusiveness for Museums and Their Communities
Our communities are changing rapidly, and museums and non-profits need to examine their role in meeting the needs of our neighbors. By building diverse and inclusive organizations on a multitude of levels (staff, board, volunteer, donor and community), we can draw from a greater pool of people and experiences, making for a richer community experience. This roundtable session will present topics for discussion as well as tools and resources for setting your organization on the road to a better relationship with your community.

Moderator: Jenny Hankinson, Data Entry Technician, Littleton Historical Museum, Littleton, CO

Building Communities with Building History: Historic Preservation, Museums, and Archives
Historic preservation can be a wonderful vehicle for educating our communities about their cultural resources and building support for museums and archives. With an informal and interactive format, this panel discussion will educate museum professionals interested in broadening their constituencies and learning about how historic preservation can connect them to the patrons that they serve in new ways. Using Laramie, Wyoming, as an example, we will explore together how museums and archives can partner with preservation professionals to cultivate appreciation of the past and guide future community development.

Moderator: Teresa Sherwood, Curator & Public Historian, Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site,
Laramie, WY

Speakers: Sarah Gadd, Assistant Curator, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY
Kara Hahn, National Register Program Coordinator, State Historic Preservation Office, Cheyenne, WY
Leslie Waggener, Photo Archivist, University of Wyoming-American Heritage Center, Laramie, WY

Archival Storage Mount-Making and Techniques
Part 2: Advanced Mount-Making
Archival Storage Mount-making and Techniques offers methods for creating safe and effective mounts for the long term storage of sensitive materials. The advanced section will cover more complex mounts, storage issues due to movable or compact storage, and safe mount-making for heavy or unwieldy objects.

Difficult objects and intricate mounts will be discussed as well as the methods for safely creating mounts for friable objects. Further discussion into the merits of various archival materials will also be included. Handouts will provide information on the different materials, including possible suppliers. A PowerPoint presentation and demonstrations as well as further hands-on practice will be included in this session.

Moderator: Win Ferrill, Historic Preservation and Lead Curator, Lakewood’s Heritage Center, Lakewood, CO

Speaker: Juhl Wojahn, Assistant Collections Manager, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

Session Paper (PowerPoint Presentation)