SEMC 2021 Annual Meeting Scholarship Program

SEMC 2021 ANNUAL MEETING SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Congratulations to all our 2021 scholarship winners! Scholarship recipients were recognized at the Annual Awards Luncheon in Chattanooga. The ten SEMC Travel Scholarships are supported by the SEMC Alderson Endowment, individual donations and proceeds from SEMC’s 2019 walking tours. Kali Mason was the 2021 SEMC Scholarship Committee Chair. SEMC thanks the following individuals and organizations for additional 2021 Scholarship Support: Corinne D. Midgett, Scott Warren, and anonymous supporter.

African American Museum Professional

Chase Quinn, Curator of Education and Programs, Gibbes

Museum of Art, Charleston, SC Lance Wheeler, Director of Exhibitions, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, GA

Emerging Museum Professional

Shivkumar Desai, Membership and Grants Coordinator,

Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA Shannon Roudebush, Membership Associate, High

Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA Sarah Dutton, Marketing Coordinator, Walter Anderson

Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, MS

Students

Manasar Alharethi, University of Alabama,

Tuscaloosa, AL Riva Cullinan, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL Bailey Lawrence, Western Carolina University,

Cullowhee, NC

Seasoned Museum Professional

Adriane Tafoya, McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

General Museum Professional

Austin Bell, Curator of Collections, Marco Island Historical

Society, Marco Island, FL

Adriane Tafoya, Senior Collections Manager McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Recipient of a Seasoned Professional Scholarship

Thank you SEMC Scholarship Committee for granting me a travel award to attend this year’s conference in beautiful Chattanooga! This was the first professional gathering I attended since the pandemic lockdown and honestly, I was skeptical and hesitant to attend in person. With this year’s hybrid approach, I could have chosen to remain behind a virtual curtain. But I had to be confident in the science of the vaccine as well as have confidence in SEMC keeping safety for all attendees at the forefront. I very much appreciated that I could choose to attend in person or virtual sessions.

We all know that the biggest benefit to attending in person is connecting with our colleagues and making new friends. The special events were truly the highlight for me like, the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and the Hunter Museum of American Art. Chattanooga truly delighted me with so many artful, cultural, and adventurous experiences and SEMC did a great job offering a dynamic list to choose from. I stayed an extra day to take in more sites. It was a wonderful conference experience. I look forward to Arkansas!

Shivkumar Desai, Membership and Grants Coordinator, Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA Recepient of an Emerging Museum Professional Scholarship

I attended my first Annual Meeting for the Southeastern Museums Conference this past October, in Chattanooga, TN. I spoke with some people who also described this as a ‘first’ SEMC meeting for them, even though they had attended in years past, since this was the first hybrid conference for this region’s museum network. With a total attendance of approximately 435 individuals, roughly 65% in-person, the meeting covered a wide range of topics, like communicating history with the general public and building the capacity to engage visitors on climate change; creating and maintaining a donor pipeline for major gifts success; and improving collections storage and collections management. There were 40 on-site sessions and 24 virtual sessions, and four additional live streamed sessions, with many speakers and attendees “Zoom-ing” in from all over the Southeast— a truly hybrid annual meeting. “Amplify, Connect, Transform” aptly composed the theme of the SEMC 2021 Annual Meeting. COVID-19 brought new challenges to an often-intransigent museum field, forcing many organizations to pivot, be flexible, and form collaborations, something that may not have been done in their organization’s history. This annual meeting provided a timely environment for peers and colleagues to share what they learned in the past 20 months and offered a chance for ideas to flow about what we can and should do in the next 20 months and beyond. The Exhibitor Hall offered a spacious area for attendees to discuss post-session ideas, to enjoy a few beverages and snacks, socialize, and learn about some of the 28 exhibitors present at the meeting. A personal highlight for me, as small as it may be, were the green-, yellow-, and redcolored wristbands that outwardly signaled someone’s personal comfort level for social interactions. The meeting spaces accommodated those who preferred to keep their distance, and mask-wearing added a layer of safety that made all feel safe and welcome. Off-site tours and receptions not only offered a chance for us to see our peers’ workplaces but allowed us to explore some of the host city’s cultural heritage. The Annual Meeting offered eight off-site tours and receptions, a walking tour, and a bike tour. Attendees caught up with old friends and colleagues and made new connections all while sharing skills, brainstorming ideas, and taking advice for future projects. The energy at the Annual Meeting made this first-timer excited not only for future conferences but for the future of SEMC. I received one of ten available scholarships and, as an emerging museum professional (EMP), I am grateful for the backing that allows SEMC to support new-to-the-field workers as they find their path towards a career of success in this industry. I was also pleased to see programming specifically for emerging museum professionals and look forward to seeing more EMP representation at future annual meetings. None of this would have been possible without the hard work and advanced planning done by SEMC leadership, staff, and volunteers. Zinnia and her team rose to the challenge and created a truly-hybrid Annual Meeting, a first for this region and something that we can all learn from regardless of our area of work in museums. I look forward to seeing more great things from SEMC and the stellar museum workers in this region, and hope we all find new ways to amplify, connect, and transform the museum field at large.