SEMC Annual Report 2020 by Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC)

SEMC Annual Report 2020

SOUTHEASTERN MUSEUMS CONFERENCE

From the President Even though 2020 was not the year we expected, I believe that SEMC leadership and membership pulled together to make it a remarkable year and one that we should take pride in. Some Things Remained Constant We again co-sponsored the Interpretation of African American History and Culture Workshop continuing the vital work of making training for ethical interpretation accessible. This year over half the participants were SEMC members. We launched a new impact plan and welcomed new board members, Nancy Strickland Fields and Brenda Tindal. We celebrated JIMI’s 20th Anniversary! With this year’s class of 16 museum professionals that brings the total number of JIMI graduates to almost 300 and a new fund, the Martha Battle Jackson Fund, was established to ensure the sustainability of the program. As always, we celebrated our professionals by bestowing SEMC Leadership Awards with this year’s recipients being Katy Menne, Brenda Tindal, Susan Perry, and Marilyn Laufer. We also celebrated our institutions and students through our annual competition programs.

14 institutions distinguished themselves for 16 exhibition awards 19 institutions distinguished themselves for 32 publication awards 13 institutions distinguished themselves for 20 technology awards 6 students were recognized in the SWIM competition This year, like so many years past, we had a truly inspirational keynote speaker Christy Coleman, Executive Director of the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation. We continued our communications through Inside SEMC, our weekly E-News, and our social media channels. But Change is Inevitable Change was happening for SEMC even without COVID. We gave our sincere congratulations and best wishes to some wonderful leaders in Susan Perry, Martha Battle Jackson, and John Lancaster as they stepped down from their roles but we also celebrated their accomplishments and contributions to the field. We welcomed Zinnia Willits as our new Executive Director, Carla Phillips, as our new Manager of Communications and Member Services, and Edith Courtney as our 2020 intern thanks to the sponsorship of Riggs Ward Design. We boldly stepped into the realm of online programming. Free professional development was created in the form of virtual happy hours, affinity group meetups, and timely informational sessions. For four months SEMC offered the unforgettable series Museums Cannot be Silent to provide continued support in developing best practices in Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access. The entire Annual Meeting conference was changed into a multi-week, multi-day professional development extravaganza with over 150 students and over 600 attendees from 29 states, DC, Israel, and Scotland! We are forever grateful for the support from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the National Museum of African American History and Culture-Office of Strategic Partnerships in helping make this happen.

We successfully launched the SEMC Leadership Institute: Leading for Today’s Challenges via a virtual platform. Yes, that was not the original plan, but again, we banded together with our partners, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture – Office of Strategic Partnerships and the Association of African American Museums as well as generous support from L. Carole Wharton, Robert and Nancy Sullivan, and SEMC Council and contributing members. The full impact of this accomplishment will be felt for years to come as the eleven graduates continue their journey in the museum profession. SEMC is also playing a role in the Digital Empowerment – Technology and Digital Media Training for Small Museums funded by IMLS. The project will be producing hands-on, peer-to-peer training to help small museums build capacity in the realms of technology and digital media. I hope you enjoy taking a moment to look back through what we managed to accomplish this year because of your continued support via membership and personal giving to the Endowment. These pages are filled with achievements that we made because we united together with determination, resilience, and passion. Bravo! Heather Marie Wells, SEMC President and Digital Media Project Manager, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR

Our History 1951:

1956:

1959:

SEMC was established at a meeting in Norfolk, Virginia. It was agreed that the organization should include the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. SEMC’s first task was to appoint a committee to get the Southeast included in a Congressional bill to appropriate money to provide places of safekeeping for museum objects in case of war. Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia petitioned to join SEMC. The Council suggested they form their own organization, today known as the MidAtlantic Association of Museums. First five-year plan and added Arkansas to the SEMC.

of Museums to formulate a museum accreditation program. 1969:

SEMC established a three-day annual meeting.

1970 s :

Local arrangements and program committees were established for the annual meeting; SEMC published a directory of educational resources.

1977:

SEMC was officially incorporated; and exhibitors were added to the annual meeting.

1982:

Moved the central offices of SEMC to Memphis.

1986:

Moved SEMC offices to Baton Rouge.

1992: A

full-time Executive Director and a Director of Office and Memberships services had been hired. Shortly after that, SEMC’s endowment was established to promote financial stability.

1960: Hosted

two professional development workshops in North Carolina on museum training and historic house restoration.

1960 s :

Hired first SEMC staff with $25,000 foundation grant to carry out further training workshops; SEMC urged the American Alliance (formerly Association)

1996:

The JumpStart Program began. This program flourished during the first decade of the 21st century and is now known as

American History and Culture Workshop, presented in partnership with the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission.

the Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI), offering an eight-day intensive museum training to museum professionals with two years’ experience or more. 2020: 2003:

Moved the central offices of SEMC to Atlanta.

2005:

SEMC established a Hurricane Katrina grant fund and awarded over $500,000 to museums and museum employees affected by the storm in Mississippi and Louisiana.

2010:

SEMC established a partnership with Atlanta History Center where the SEMC office relocated.

2013:

SEMC, the five other regional museum associations, and the American Alliance of Museums completed the first National Museum Salary Survey, the only comprehensive study of its kind for our diverse field.

2017:

SEMC, the five other regional museum associations, five state museum associations, including Florida and Virginia, and the American Alliance of Museums completed the 2017 National Museum Salary Survey. Association of African American Museums and National Association for Interpretation, SEMC co-sponsored NMAAHC’s Interpretation of African

N ow :

Throughout a year that included a global pandemic, leadership changes and postponement of the 2020 Annual Meeting due to health and safety concerns, SEMC persevered and continued to offer its members connection, communication, and consistency in a new virtual world. 2020 saw the launch of a virtual Leadership Institute: Leading for Today’s Challenges, as well as a successful virtual Program Series that offered over 600 attendees from across the county on-going professional development in the face of great challenges.

In the coming year SEMC will continue to be nimble and pivot as needed to meet the needs of its members during the ongoing pandemic. We can look forward to yearround virtual programs, a hybrid 2021 Annual Meeting which will allow opportunities to attend professional training sessions either in-person or via a virtual conference platform, and an in-depth evaluation of the Jekyll Island Management Institute.

2019: With

Impact Plan In January 2020, SEMC launched its 2020–2022 Impact Plan which lays out our shared vision and operational road map for the next three years. Building on a solid foundation, this Plan, which was created through many working sessions with SEMC Council and strategic planning facilitators, offers thoughtful direction and responsible foresight for our immediate future. The historic global pandemic of 2020 challenged SEMC leadership to adjust many of the strategies outlined in the plan to meet the overall goals. Impact: SEMC members, at all stages of their career, find professional support and camaraderie from the SEMC leadership and members as they

deepen their knowledge of museums, strengthen their practice and skills, promote diversity, and serve SEMC fellow members in need. Organizational Focus: Advance racial/ethnic diversity of its membership, including individuals, museums, and the council. Action Plan Focus: • Membership Services/Technology • Fundraising Strategy • INCLUSION • Professional Development • SEMC Leadership

Our Past Year Highlights In the 2019 Annual report, when reflecting on her decade as SEMC Executive Director, Susan Perry wrote, “in the past ten years, I have seen the growth and development of SEMC as an impactful

resource for professional development opportunities, dynamic exchange of ideas and powerful networks. SEMC has progressed from an inward focus on stability and sustainability to an outward focus on

our impact on Southeast museums and service to museum professionals.” Susan’s words reflect the solid foundation she worked so hard to secure for SEMC during her tenure, a foundation that has provided stability over this past year as the winds of change and uncertainty endeavored to blow our house down. But SEMC’s “house” is strong. It is constructed of diverse museum professionals, resilience, support, camaraderie, community, connection, responsible fiscal oversight, equity, and empathy. While events of 2020 challenged our collective humanity and included some very dark days, there were also successes, celebrations and silver linings that broke through, including our ability to keep families, loved ones and friends safe and bring comfort to those who needed it in our professional community. While I wrote a lot about 2020 as we navigated it in the moment, here are a few final reflections to close out this year…my first as SEMC Executive Director. So much changed for SEMC in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic including the way we operate, the way we provide programing and connection, and the way we communicate with our membership, not to mention a transition in SEMC leadership, SEMC staff and Council members. What has NOT changed is our organizational mission and vision. To remind us all:

SEMC Mission: The Southeastern Museums Conference is a networking organization that serves to foster professionalism, mutual support, and communication. A non-profit membership association, SEMC strives to increase educational and professional development opportunities and improve the interchange of ideas, information, and cooperation.

SEMC Vision: The vision of SEMC is to be essential to its members and the broader museum community. During my first months as Executive Director, I worked to keep the SEMC mission and vision primary as we made necessary adjustments, engaged the membership through various methods of digital communication and produced quality professional development opportunities and programs in ways that met the moment and acknowledged the challenges museums faced across our region in 2020. With the help of Carla Phillips, SEMC’s new ( June 2020) Manager of Communications and Member Services, the SEMC Council and countless volunteers, industry partners and supporters, SEMC made it through a very difficult year which contained highs, lows, and amazing progress. Here are a few highlights:

2020 Interpretation Workshop

To begin the year (in the “before times), in January 2020 SEMC co-sponsored the Interpretation of African American History and Culture Workshop, which was held January 26 – February 1 in Charleston, South Carolina. Organized by the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in partnership with Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission (CCPRC), this program provided training in the ethical interpretation of history and offered certification as interpretive guides through the National Association for Interpretation (NAI). The program additionally addressed the need for greater diversity in the field of interpretation. Eight of 13 cohorts were SEMC members, including two participants who received SEMC scholarships to participate.

JIMI 2020, the 20th Anniversary Also in January 2020, the Jekyll Island Management Institute ( JIMI) celebrated its 20th year of offering museum management training. The 2020 JIMI

program with a cohort of 16 museum professionals from a diverse group of museums and historic sites across the southeast, demonstrated the impact of museum professionals sharing their expertise with the next generation of museum professionals. Scholarships were provided by Gaylord Archival and John and Cynthia Lancaster. The Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship was awarded to Stephen Drury, and the South Carolina Military Museum provided a scholarship in memory of Col. Ewell “Buddy” Sturgis ( JIMI Class of 2010). Five of the region’s state associations also provided JIMI support for their members. The Arkansas Museums Association and the South Carolina Federation of Museums provided a full tuition scholarship as well as a travel stipend. The Alabama Museums Association, Mississippi Museums Association, and the North Carolina Museums Council provided a tuition scholarship. At the JIMI 2020 banquet, SEMC Executive Director, Susan Perry, announced the Martha Battle Jackson Fund in honor of Martha’s legacy as founder and administrator of the Jekyll Island Management Institute for the past 20 years. Over 90 JIMI alumni and faculty contributed almost $11,000 to establish the Martha Battle Jackson Fund which will contribute to the future growth and development of the JIMI program. The Jekyll Island Management Institute will undergo a formal evaluation in 2021 and SEMC looks forward to offering it again to begin its next twenty years.

The JIMI Class of 2020

2020 COVID Impact At the close of 2020, SEMC finds itself a changed organization. By summer of 2020, it was evident that the COVID-19 pandemic would not end in a matter of weeks or even months. As cases continued to rise globally without a vaccine, the world grappled with new realities and associated changes and adjustments. Museums across the globe closed their doors. Visitation and in-person programs and events ceased. Layoffs, salary reductions, closures, and unemployment permeated all industries. Some museums were able to reopen with personal protection measures and social distancing guidelines; those that could reopen reported visitation at approximately 30% of normal for summer months. Lost revenue was significant. The late spring/summer months of 2020 also brought continued egregious police brutality against African Americans, setting off an international call for racial justice that also revealed inequities and systemic racism intrinsic in many traditional museum operating models. The summer months of 2020 saw a global health pandemic, international financial crisis and various forms of protest in support of the BlackLivesMatter Movement.

The Southeastern Museums Conference felt the impact of all these events. For the first time in 50 years, SEMC cancelled its 2020 Annual Meeting, a gathering that had anticipated 700-800 attendees, resulting in a significant loss of operating revenue. The 2021 Jekyll Island Management Institute, another longstanding SEMC program focused on museum management training, was also cancelled for January 2021 due to COVID uncertainties. As a regional organization, SEMC heard from many of its members that were hurting in the face of continued uncertainties and felt deeply the collective disappointment in postponing the 2020 Annual Meeting. We had many conversations with members who were hopefully positive that fall might be different and conversations with corporate members and sponsors wondering how the postponement would impact their business. SEMC received notes from those who were to present sessions wondering if their efforts to pull together panels and speakers would go out the window, and we had gut-wrenching discussion with the amazing leadership in Louisville, Kentucky who spent two years planning every detail of what would have been a terrific SEMC2020 about the necessary need to postpone. Through it all, there was support and understanding. Many decisions SEMC had to make in 2020 were difficult and unprecedented but in the best interest of the health, safety, and well-being of our membership.

Museums Cannot Be Silent 2020 saw a toxic mix of racist violence in addition to a pandemic that threatened the very survival of our African American colleagues and friends and had a profound impact. Protests against police violence in support of Black Lives Matter forced a realization that when museums finally reopened their doors, it could not be a return to business as usual and changes were necessary, not only to the physical spaces in response to COVID-19 but also to museum policies and practices to ensure a culture of inclusion and racial equality. Museums need to do the work, act, and move beyond statements to address long-standing disparities of power in the field, and systemic racism within our walls and programs. Over the summer of 2020 SEMC offered virtual opportunities for members to meet and use the energy of a distinctively disruptive time to engage our museum communities in discussion and creation of action plans toward emergent solutions for museum spaces, programs, and staffs. SEMC offered the Museums Cannot be Silent discussion series from June through September to amplify anti-racist actions and keep our region connected and focused on evolving best practices in Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion. As we move into a new year, SEMC in partnership with our dynamic

affinity group, the SEMC Equity and Inclusion Action Team, is committed to continuing to provide a platform for conversation and reflection that invites staff from museums who are taking positive actions to share their ideas about how we change our future by changing how museums operate today. Ending inequality is a shared struggle and we will continue to work together with our members to remove obstacles and create opportunities for all.

Virtual Happy Hours, Affinity Group MeetUps, and Enhanced Communication Throughout 2020, SEMC members answered the call to lead, time and again. Not only were our museum professionals doing amazing things in this new virtual world for their own

worked, or what role they played in a museum. We came together as a community time and again for virtual happy hours and affinity group meet ups to discuss challenges particular to each sector of the museum field and share innovative projects and creative ways museums were navigating operations in the time of COVID. Zoom cameras were ON and the Southeastern Museums Conference was out in force to provide support and inspiration to each other.

SEMC Council.

museums, but they also answered SEMC’s requests for speakers, for articles, for ideas about how to execute virtual programming. Our members joined SEMC committees hastily created to respond to current events and generously gave of their time to SEMC and to each other, editing Zoom videos, sending ideas for sessions and speakers, and providing a lifeline of community for all to grab hold of, lifting each other up, regardless of where one

Over this past year of pandemic and forced isolation, SEMC was resolved to continue to deliver constant and even more frequent communication to our members through vehicles such as the Inside SEMC quarterly publication, a weekly E-News communication and expanded engagement on all social media channels. We were fortunate to continue to work with the talented Nathan Moehlmann at Goosepen Studio & Press, to design the three digital editions of Inside SEMC published in 2020 via the platform Issuu, which offers interactive advertising and engagement through evolving technology. We also added new features to the weekly E-News communication that provide further opportunities to highlight positive events and inspirational leaders across our region including Some Good News, Ones to Watch, Institutional and Corporate Member spotlights and a focus on creative social media posts that stop our scrolling each week to read and learn.

Fall Virtual Program Series SEMC made a quick pivot to a Virtual Program Series when the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the postponement of the 2020 Annual Meeting. Although we could not gather in Louisville, Kentucky, SEMC staff and leadership were determined to provide our membership with the consistent, quality professional development opportunities they have come to expect. Staying connected and engaged during pandemic, isolation and rapid change has been so important and we were pleased to provide a virtual platform to bring southeast museum professionals together and continue the peer-to-peer learning and camaraderie that has become a hallmark of SEMC. While virtual programming provides an accessible alternative and reduces attendee expenses related to travel, it is not without cost, and support from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the National Museum of African American History and Culture-Office of Strategic Partnerships was crucial to the success and smooth execution of our virtual offerings. In addition, we were able to keep registration costs very low and offer scholarship assistance to anyone who faced a barrier allowing us to reach our members in ways that met the moment. Financial support helped SEMC offset costs related to technology upgrade to Zoom Webinar, closed

captioning and virtual event management and we are pleased to share the following “virtual dashboard” from the fall 2020 series: •

• • • •

30 professional sessions offered over two months in addition to SEMC affinity group meetups and social hours. Sessions were divided into tracks including Education, Diversity/Equity, Accessibility/Inclusion, Career Management, Leadership/Operations and Collections/ Curatorial/Exhibitions Over 35 hours of professional development 100 + speakers representing all types and sizes of museums, facets of the field and career levels. 150 students registered for the Series (student registration was FREE) We had total of 642 register for the Fall Virtual Program Series (a breakdown by state is provided) from 29 states, the District of Columbia, Israel, and Scotland.

2020 Annual Business Meeting In October 2020 SEMC members gathered for our organization's first-ever Virtual Business Meeting. Over the course of two hours on Zoom, we elected new Council members, reviewed the many pivots made in 2020, presented Katy Menne, Brenda Tindal, Susan Perry, and Marilyn Laufer with SEMC Leadership Awards and listened to a wonderful keynote address from Christy Coleman, Executive Director of the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation and an advocate for the power of museums, narrative correction, diversity, and inclusiveness as well as a dynamic historian and inspirational leader in our field.

SEMC 2020 Intern In fall 2020 SEMC staff were thrilled to welcome Edith Courtney as our 2020 intern. A junior at Spelman College majoring in International Studies with a concentration in Cultural Studies and minor in Curatorial Studies, Edith worked with SEMC for six weeks on projects related to the Virtual Program Series, membership cultivation and

development and social media campaigns and did a fabulous job. SEMC's was pleased to offer Edith an internship stipend through the generosity of our 2020 Intern sponsor and long-time industry partner, Riggs Ward Design.

Virtual Leadership Institute Pilot Program Planning for the SEMC Leadership Institute: Leading for Today’s Challenges began several years ago to design a program focused on leadership training with a goal to equip a new generation of museum leaders with outward-looking skills and stratagems that increase their effectiveness as leaders and ability to create inclusive environments within a museum and among a museum’s board. Significant funding, time and expertise went into the development of the Institute model which was scheduled to launch as an in-person program April 19–24, 2020 at the Duke Mansion in Charlotte, North Carolina. Program supporters and partners included the National Museum of African American History and Culture – Office of Strategic Partnerships and the Association of African American Museums as well as generous

support from L. Carole Wharton, Robert and Nancy Sullivan, and SEMC Council and members whose contributions helped make an idea reality. A cohort of 13 mid-career museum professionals were selected for the pilot through a rigorous application and review process. Ms. Susan Perry, SEMC Executive Director, was to act as the program administrator and work closely with the three confirmed Institute faculty, Mr. Robert Bull, Ms. Marsha Semmel and Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts. Ms. Alison Leithner, an instructional designer at Smithsonian Enterprises, facilitated the Institute curriculum design and Jeff Hayward of People, Places and Design Research was contracted to conduct an evaluation of the 2020 Institute pilot.

Unfortunately, the April 2020 Leadership Institute was postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. In mid-March Ms. Perry, with the support of SEMC Council, Institute faculty and planning committee members cancelled the April pilot and rescheduled the program to November 2020. As the months passed it became clear that SEMC would not and should not offer in-person programs in 2020. Once on board as the new Executive Director, Ms. Zinnia Willits met with the Institute instructors to create a strategy for forward movement — or further postponement and it was during the summer months of 2020 that the idea of launching the Leadership Institute as the virtual program was first discussed. Dr. Roberts, Mr. Bull and Ms. Semmel were unified in their feeling that it was essential to run the Institute, a program focused on leadership training from the inside out, in 2020 to meet the moment and provide a cohort of future leaders’ tools to manage the rapidly changing landscapes. Ms. Willits spent the next weeks polling SEMC Council, Leadership Institute partners and supporters and the original 2020 cohort for feedback on various courses of action; the general feeling for a Virtual Leadership Institute in late fall 2020 was positive. 11 of 13 cohort members indicated they would participate in a Virtual Institute. At the end of July, SEMC Council approved the Virtual Leadership Institute offering. Planning for a November 2020 program began immediately. The Virtual Leadership Institute launched on Sunday November 8, 2020 with an opening session and ran over the next two weeks concluding on Friday,

Leadership Institute 2020 Cohort.

November 20, 2020. The 2020 Leadership Cohort met daily (M–F) from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm via Zoom and each instructor taught two to three sessions. Course materials were accessible on a platform called EdXedge and each three-hour session contained topical instruction, breakout activities, breaks, reflection time, and opportunities to share and engage. The 2020 Virtual Leadership Institute was a great success due to years of purposeful, organized planning, talented and dynamic faculty, generous and encouraging supporters and partners and an amazing and diverse cohort. The Leadership Institute is off to a solid start and will continue to gain momentum; SEMC hopes to launch the in-person Institute experience in 2022. The 2020 Virtual Institute will always be memorable.

Onward…. I hope we can now look forward and resolve to consign the bad of 2020 to the trash heap of history, while remembering the good, including recognition of our need for connection, the healing power of art and culture (whatever the format), the joy of Zooming with people across the world, cleaner air from less traffic, unanticipated time at home with our families, and a reminder that resilience in the face of unpredictability is within us all. Stay strong SEMC. 2020 has changed our course. We have made the adjustment. Now we move forward. Together. Zinnia Willits, SEMC Executive Director

Thank You, Susan Perry! As SEMC moved into 2020 with enthusiasm and optimism for a great year with exciting new initiatives, we also began the year on a reflective note, as after almost ten years, Susan Perry announced she would retire on April 30, 2020 as SEMC Executive Director. Under Susan’s capable leadership, SEMC flourished and enjoyed unprecedented

Susan Perry and Mike Perry at SEMC Charleston, 2019. opposite: Susan Perry at SEMC New Orleans, 2017.

growth and development as an impactful resource for professional opportunities, dynamic exchange of ideas, and powerful networks. Susan guided SEMC through many changes and left it inwardly stable and with renewed outward focus on SEMC's impact on Southeast museums. The SEMC 2019 Annual Meeting had the highest contributions and attendance since 1997, the Endowment now exceeds half a million dollars and a robust Reserve Fund is in place to provide funds for new initiatives, and unforeseen dark days such as those of this past COVID year. In Susan's own words, “In 2020, Southeast museums will engage communities and have global impact in ways beyond our imagination with new audiences, exciting programs, dynamic exhibitions, and innovative technology.” To this end, Susan worked diligently with SEMC leadership to craft the currentStrategic Impact Plan with thoughtful direction and responsible foresight that has guided us through these uncertain times. SEMC will miss Susan dearly, her leadership, enthusiasm for all things SEMC, unique and effective methods of engaging the support of exhibitors and museum service providers, excitement, and optimism for every SEMC program and committee, forward-thinking ideas, and genuine desire to make SEMC an inclusive, welcoming organization for all members. Susan's leadership legacy will be evident in every aspect of SEMC for many years to come.

Thank You, Martha Battle Jackson! Upon the culmination of the Jekyll Island Management Institute’s ( JIMI) 20th year in 2020, Martha Battle Jackson, JIMI founder and administrator, announced that “it is time for me to step back and let the next generation take the reins.” Martha’s dedication, commitment, and passion have made it possible for JIMI to be the most affordable, successful professional development program in the nation. In the 20 years of JIMI’s existence, approximately 30 different faculty from around the country have shared their expertise with 339 museum professionals from 31 states, representing all regional associations, and the District of Columbia. Many have gained the confidence to assume directorships of museums, conduct capital campaigns, build new facilities or expand current ones, improve collections management practices, create new educational programs, write disaster preparedness and response manuals, obtain AAM accreditation, and take leadership roles in national, regional, and state museum associations. It truly has taken a village of people to build this program

Mary Hauser and Martha Battle Jackson at SEMC Charleston, 2019. opposite: Martha Battle Jackson and Kyle Bryner at SEMC Charlotte, 2016.

to be a national success story, so I feel confident that new JIMI leadership can build on the firm foundation we have established. — Martha Battle Jackson SEMC has been honored to work with Martha on JIMI these many years and will work diligently to ensure the JIMI program continues to embody her vision and leadership.

Thank You, John Lancaster! After working as Facilitator with Martha Battle Jackson for over a decade, John Lancaster also retired from his role with the Jekyll Island Management Institute in 2020. It is my hope that JIMI will prosper and continue to provide an opportunity for museum professionals to further develop their management skills and improve the overall museum experience for those that work at and visit museums in this country. — John Lancaster SEMC is grateful for John’s many years of service and support of this important program.

John Lancaster, at JIMI luncheon, SEMC Charleston, 2019. opposite: John Lancaster at SEMC Charleston, 2019.

Thank You to Our Donors Annual Meeting Rebecca Hiester Corinne Midgett Mary Miller Todd Read Michael Scott Warren Lance Wheeler Zinnia Willits John Woods

Endowment Matthew Davis Elise LeCompte Darcie MacMahon William Paul, Jr. Robert Sullivan

General Operating Scott Alvey Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation

Riggs Ward Design (SEMC 2020 Intern) John Seibold Victoria & James Weise Donna Whitfield

Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI) David Brashear William Eiland Walter Hill Martha Battle Jackson Steven Jeffcoat John Lancaster Karen Mahoney Melissa Parris Amanda Rose Michael Scott Warren JoAnn Zeise

Martha Battle Jackson JIMI Fund Holly Akkerman Angie Albright Laura Anderson Sarah Aubrey Amy Beisel Alexander Benitez Sharon Bennett Aaron Berger RoAnn Bishop Samuel Black Elizabeth Chambers Megan Cook Kim Coryat Jamie Credle Mary Durusau Abbie Edens Christian Edwards Mark Farnsworth James Gardner Pody Gay Anna Gospodinovich Stefanie Green Richard Harker

Julie Harris Mary Hauser Ellen Hawkins Josh Heuman Toni Hiley Marian Inabinett Emily Jones Michelle Lanier Elise LeCompte Lisa Littlefield Ellen Lofaro Julie Lohnes Catherine Lloyd Jason Luker Catherine Luplow Karen Mahoney Denny Mecham Pam Meister Corinne Midgett Anne Miller Nathan Moehlmann Lisa Nicoletti Dale Pennington Susan Perry Alexandrea Pizza Anne Pratt Carolyn Reams Angel Rohnke Steve Rucker Michael Scott Graig Shaak Ann Shackelford Catherine Shteynberg

Jennifer Thomas Julie Thomas Beth Thompson Sarah Tignor Karen Utz Michael Warren Lisa Wheeler Catherine Wright

La Paglia Fund Carolyn Reams

Leadership Institute Association of African American Museums Matthew Davis Rebecca Hiester Veronica Gallardo Darcie MacMahon Rosalind Martin National Museum of African American History and Culture Catherine Pears Susan Perry Liberty Wharton Zinnia Willits

Virtual Program Series Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation Corinne Midgett Mary Miller Monadnock Media National Museum of African American History and Culture TimeLooper Solid Light Michael Scott Warren

JIMI 2020 Sponsors Alabama Museums Association Arkansas Museums Association Gaylord Archival Goosepen Studio & Press Jekyll Island Museum & Historic Preservation John and Cynthia Lancaster Mississippi Museums Association Muscarelle Museum of Art North Carolina State Historic Sites North Carolina Museums Council Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Satilla Computer Solutions South Carolina Military Museum South Carolina Federation of Museums

Thank You to Our Members Institutions 21C Museum Hotel Louisville A. E. Backus Museum & Gallery African American Military History Museum Aiken County Historical Museum Alabama Department of Archives and History Aldie Mill & Mt. Zion Historic Parks Alexandria Museum of Art Altama Museum Amelia Island Museum of History Andrew Low House Museum Angola Museum Anniston Museum of Natural History Appleton Museum of Art Arkansas Arts Center Arkansas National Guard Museum Arkansas State Parks Arlington Historic Houses Art Bridges Art Center Sarasota Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM) Asheville Art Museum Atlanta History Center Augusta Museum of History

Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia Barrington Hall/City of Roswell Georgia Bartow History Museum Beaches Museum Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum Beauregard-Keyes House Beaufort History Museum Bechtler Museum of Modern Art Birmingham Museum of Art Birthplace of Country Music Museum Blowing Rock Art & History Museum Blue Ridge Institute & Museum Bob Campbell Geology Museum Booth Western Art Museum Bradbury Art Museum Burritt on the Mountain C. Williams Rush Museum of African-American Arts & Culture Caldwell Heritage Museum Calhoun County Museum Cameron Art Museum Cape Fear Museum of History and Science Carnegie Center for Art and History Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum Casemate Museum, Fort Monroe Authority Catawba Science Center

Center for Puppetry Arts C. H. Nash Museum Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center Chatty History Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art Cherokee County Historical Society Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Home Children’s Hands on Museum City of Birmingham Sloss Furnaces City of Harlem, GA City of Raleigh - Historic Resources and Museum Program Clark Atlanta University Art Museum Clemson University Clinton House Museum Coastal Georgia Historical Society Coastal Heritage Society Collier County Museums Columbia Museum of Art Computer Museum of America Cook Museum of Natural Science Cookeville Museums Coral Gables Museum Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Culture & Heritage Museums Curtiss Mansion, Inc. Customs House Museum and Cultural Center Dade Heritage Trust Daura Gallery - University of Lynchburg David J. Sencer CDC Museum

Dep’t of Historic Museums, Georgia College DeSoto County Museum Discovery Park of America, Inc. Dorchester County Archives & History Center Downing Museum at Baker Arboretum Drayton Hall Drexel University Dunedin Fine Art Center Earl Scruggs Center East Tennessee Historical Society Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University Elliott Museum and The House of Refuge at Gilbert’s Bar Flagler Museum Florida CraftArt Florida Museum of Natural History Florida Museum of Photographic Arts Florence County Museum Folk Pottery Museums of NE GA, Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center Fort Smith Regional Art Museum Friends of Cassidy Park Museums Frist Art Museum Gaston County Museum of Art & History Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia Georgia Writers Museum Gibbes Museum of Art Greenville County Museum of Art Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art Hampton University Museum Hermann-Grima & Gallier Historic Houses Hickory Museum of Art

High Museum of Art High Point Museum Hills & Dales Estate Hilliard Art Museum University of Louisiana at Lafayette Historic Arkansas Museum Historic Augusta, Inc. Historic Natchez Foundation Historic New Orleans Collection Historic Oakland Foundation Historic Paris-Bourbon County/Hopewell Museum History Fort Lauderdale History Miami History Museum of Mobile Horry County Museum Hunter Museum of American Art Huntington Museum of Art Huntsville Museum of Art Indian Rocks Historical Society Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami International Civil Rights Center & Museum International Museum of the Horse International Towing & Recovery Museum Iredell Museums Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve Jekyll Island Museum Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum Kennesaw State University - Museums, Archives & Rare Books KMAC Museum

Kentucky Department of Parks Kentucky Derby Museum Kentucky Historical Society Knoxville Museum of Art Kentucky Native American Heritage Museum, Inc LaGrange Art Museum Lauren Rogers Museum of Art Leepa-Rattner Museum Louisiana Art & Science Museum Louisiana’s Old State Capitol Louisiana State Museum Louisiana State University Museum of Art Louisville Visual Art Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami Lunney Museum Magnolia Mound Plantation Maier Museum of Art, Randolph College Mandarin Museum & Historical Society Maria V. Howard Arts Center Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art Marietta Museum of History Marine Corps Museum Parris Island Matheson History Museum McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University Mint Museum Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience Mississippi Department of Archives and History Mississippi Museum of Art Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana

Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, Inc. Mobile Museum of Art MOCA Jacksonville Monticello/Thomas Jefferson Foundation Morse Museum of American Art MS Museum of Natural Science Muscarelle Museum of Art Museum of Arts & Sciences Museum of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg, FL, INC Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage Mosaic Templars Cultural Museum Center at 5ive Points Museum of Anthropology, Wake Forest University Museum of Art - DeLand Museum of Design Atlanta Museum of Durham History Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind National Civil Rights Museum National Museum of the Marine Corps National Sporting Library & Museum NCDNCR, NC Division of State Historic Sites and Properties Negro Southern League Museum North Carolina Museum of History Northeast Georgia History Center Oak Alley Foundation Office of Historic Alexandria Oglethorpe University Museum of Art (OUMA) Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art Old State House Museum Olde Towne Depot

Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center Orange County Regional History Center ORLANDO MUSEUM OF ART, INC. Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum Paul W. Bryant Museum Pensacola Museum of Art Pinellas County Historical Society/Heritage Village Polk Museum of Art Portsmouth Museums President James K Polk Home & Museum President James K. Polk State Historic Site/NC Dept of Natural & Cultural Resources Reuel B. Pritchett Museum Collection Reynolda House Museum of American Art River Discovery Center Riverside, The Farnsley-Moremen Landing Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking Rocky Mount Historical Association Rowan Museum, Inc. Rural Heritage Museum, Mars Hill University Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts Sarasota Art Museum Savannah River Site Museum SC Confederate Relic Room & Museum SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film Schiele Museum SE Center for Photography Shiloh Museum of Ozark History Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center South Carolina State Museum St. Marys Submarine Museum

Swope Art Museum Sumter County Museum Tampa Bay History Center Tampa Museum of Art Inc Taubman Museum of Art Telfair Museums Tellus Science Museum The Guntersville Museum The Anna Lamar Switzer Center for the Visual Arts, Pensacola State College The Bass Museum of Art The Charleston Museum The Chrysler Museum of Art The Columbus Museum The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens The Dixon Gallery & Gardens The Florida Holocaust Museum The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia The Mennello Museum of American Art The Mosaic Museum The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia The National WWII Museum The Oaks House Museum The Parthenon The Ralph Foster Museum The Royce J. & Caroline B. Watts Museum, West Virginia University The Weems-Botts Museum The Whitney Institute & Whitney Plantation Museum The Wolfsonian - FIU

The Wren’s Nest Thomas County Historical Society Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc Thronateeska Heritage Foundation, Inc. Tryon Palace UWF Historic Trust Union County Heritage Museum University of Alabama Museums University of Mary Washington Museums University of Mississippi Museum & Historic Houses University of Richmond Museums U. S. Marshals Museum, Inc. Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery Virginia Beach History Museums Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Virginia Museum of History & Culture Washington and Lee University Waterworks Visual Arts Center Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc. West Baton Rouge Museum West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History Wetzel County Museum Whalehead in Historic Corolla William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum Windgate Museum of Art at Hendrix College Wiregrass Museum of Art Yeiser Art Center

Corporate Members/ Business Associates A Different View Limited Alexander Haas Available Light Banks Creative Blair, Inc Bonhams Conserv Creative Arts Unlimited Crystalizations Systems Inc Doubleknot Gaylord Archival Haizlip Studio Helms Briscoe Hutchinson Design Group Keen DC, LLC Mallory Alexander International Logistics Peak Experience Lab Printology Signs & Graphics Transport Consultants International Waggonner & Ball, LLC

Corporate Friends 10-31-MuseumRails 1220 Exhibits, Inc. Absolute Museum & Gallery Products ACME Technologies Inc. Armour Systems Atelier 4 Aurora Storage Products

Belfry Historic Consultants, Inc. Blackbaud Bonsai Fine Arts Inc BPI Building Four Fabrication Carolina Conservation CatalogIt Charlotte Van and Storage Charlton Hall Auctions Cinebar Productions, Inc. Collector Systems, LLC. Cowan’s Auctions Darumatech.com Delta Designs Ltd. DeWitt Stern DLR Group dmdg2 Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc. Duncan-Parnell Encurate Mobile Technology ERCO Lighting, Inc. Exhibit Concepts, Inc. Explus, Inc. FASTSIGNS Louisville Frina Design Gallagher & Associates Guide ID HealyKohler Design Hollinger Metal Edge, Inc. Huntington T. Block (HTB) HW Exhibits Johnson Controls

L + D Mailmasters Lake City Creative Alliance Lucidea Mad Hat Creative LLC Malone Design/ Fabrication MBA Design & Display Products Mid-America Arts Alliance Monadnock Media, Inc. Museum of Discovery Nationwide Security Corporation Our Fundraising Search Patterson Pope, Inc. Q Media Productions, Inc Quatrefoil Associates QuietPixel, Inc. Re:discovery Software, Inc Riggs Ward Design Ripley Entertainment SAQA Global Exhibitions Sign 4, LLC Skinner, Inc. Smithworks Creative Arts, LLC

Solid Light, Inc Solomon Group STQRY Studio Displays, Inc The Design Minds, Inc Time Looper Tour-Mate Systems Transformit Travelers Insurance Universal Fiber Optic Lighting USA, LLC. U.S.Art Company Vamonde Warren Lasch Conservation Center Weber Group Willis Towers Watson - Fine Art, Jewelry & Specie Zone Display Cases

Corporate Partners Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution

SEMC Council 2020–2021 SEMC Officers Heather Marie Wells President

Robin Reed Treasurer

Crystal Bridges Museum of

Fort Monroe, VA

Digital Media Project Manager,

American Art, Bentonville, AR

Museum Administrator (retired),

Matthew S. Davis Vice President

Darcie MacMahon Past President

Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA

Florida Museum of Natural History,

Director of Historic Museums,

Director of Exhibits & Public Programs, Gainesville, FL

Deitrah J. Taylor Secretary Public Historian,

Milledgeville, GA

SEMC Directors Scott Alvey

Director, Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfurt, KY

Glenna Barlow

Deborah Mack

Curator of Education,

Assoc. Dir. Office of Strategic

Columbia, SC

Museum of African American History

Columbia Museum of Art,

Partnerships Smithsonian’s National and Culture, Wash., D.C.

Alexander Benitez

Rosalind Martin

The University of Alabama,

Knoxville Museum of Art,

Director, Moundville Archaeological Park, Moundville, AL

Director of Education, Knoxville, TN

Nancy Fields

Michael Scott

the Southeast American Indian,

Island Authority, Mosaic/Jekyll Island

Director and Curator, The Museum of Pembroke, NC

Director of Historic Resources, Jekyll Museum, Jekyll Island, GA

Pody Gay

Brenda Tindal

Museum of Discovery,

International African American

Director, Discovery Network Little Rock, AR

Director of Education and Engagement Museum, Charleston, SC

Elise LeCompte

Lance Wheeler

Florida Museum of Natural History,

for the Margaret Walker Center and

Registrar & Asst. Dept. Chair, Gainesville, FL

Education & Public Relations Manager COFO Education Center, Jackson State University. Jackson, MS

Calinda Lee

Head of Programs and Exhibitions, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, GA

A Snapshot of SEMC’s Reach Facebook Followers: 1,988

Twitter Followers: 2,087

Instagram Followers: 906

SEMC Membership Individuals Institutions Corporations

Individual Membership Student Retired Individual Benefactor

Institutional Membership Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 Category 6 Academic

Corporate Membership

Business Associate Corporate Friend Corporate Partner

Institutional members by state

Institutional Membership by State

AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC SC TN VA WV

Statement of Financial Position SEMC Endowment at end of FY20: $537,350 SEMC received $103,917 in contributions and grants in FY20 (including the endowment) FY20 FY19 Assets Cash & Cash Equivalents $397,887 $306,143 Investments $537,350 $518,787 Receivables/Prepaid $23,923 $42,331 Total Assets $959,160 $867,261 Liabilities & Fund Equity Liabilities $64,713 $78,997 Fund Equity $894,446 $788,263 Total Liabilities & Fund Equity $959,159 $867,260

You can support SEMC general operations, the SEMC Endowment, the Peter S.

LaPaglia Scholarship Fund (supports JIMI

tuition scholarships), Legacy Society (Planned Giving) or other activities by donating

online at www.SEMCdirect.net. SEMC

has created the Legacy Society to recognize the generosity of individuals who have included

the Southeastern Museums Conference in their wills or estate plans. Your planned gift will

make a difference in the services of SEMC and the future development of our profession. For more information, please refer to the Legacy Society brochure at www.SEMCdirect.net.

*Note FY20 is July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020