AUSTIN, Texas—Austin, deemed as one of the countryÌs most “wired” cities by Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine, will host the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Texas Association of Museums in late April. This four-day conference draws museum professionals, trustees and volunteers from throughout Texas as well as around the nation.
Scheduled for April 25-28 at the DoubleTree Hotel, this yearÌs conference will address the theme “museums@threshold.2k.” Participants will explore the ways in which the Texas Memorial Museum (TAM) and the Texas museum community can provide meaningful visitor experiences, become more engaged with communities and shift their focus from being repositories of collections to being providers of information.
A leader in the software entertainment industry and renowned professionals in the museum field will offer keynote addresses on topical issues. The April 26 luncheon speaker, Richard Garriott, senior vice president /executive designer of ORIGIN Systems Inc. in Austin, will give the opening address. He will be followed by Edward H. Able Jr., president and CEO of the American Association of Museums in Washington, D.C., who will hold a town meeting to discuss AAM initiatives, recent trends in the museum field and federal legislation affecting Texas museums.
FridayÌs luncheon speaker, Lonn Taylor, a historian with the division of social history, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., will give the closing address. His role as observer/commentator qualifies him to reflect on the conference theme and how it was addressed throughout the meeting. Conference-goers will spend their evenings at a variety of special receptions held at area museums.
TAMÌs annual meeting exemplifies collaboration between area museums. Led by Liz Barkowsky, director of visitor services, and Suzanna Cole, volunteer coordinator, both of the Austin ChildrenÌs Museum, staffs from local museums have worked together for more than a year to prepare for the conference. This coalition illustrates the variety that exists in the Austin museum community, spanning the spectrum in both size and subject matter.
The host institutions who have committed staff, time and underwriting to ensuring an Austin success are: Austin ChildrenÌs Museum, Austin Museum of Art — downtown and Laguna Gloria, Austin Nature & Science Center, Austin Steam Train Association, Beverly S. Sheffield Education Center, Capitol Visitors Center, Center for American History, Elisabet Ney Museum, French Legation, George Washington Carver Museum, GovernorÌs Mansion, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farm, Julia C. Butridge Gallery, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, McKinney Roughs Environmental Education Center, Mexic-Arte Museum, O. Henry Museum, Republic of Texas Museum, Texas Capitol, Texas Fine Arts Association, Texas Memorial Museum, Texas Military Forces Museum, Texas State Cemetery, The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum, Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, Women & Their Work and Zilker Botanical Garden.
This program is made possible in part by support from the Texas Commission on the Arts. Other contributors include Acord Information Management; anonymous benefactor; Austin American- Statesman; Sarah and Ernest Butler; city of Austin; Dell Computer Corp.; Double Tree Hotel; Eakin Press; H-E-B; Henderson Phillips Fine Arts; Herndon, Stauch & Associates; Museum Association of South Texas; Museum Association of Waco; Permian Basin Museums Association; RGK Foundation; Samsung Austin Semiconductor; TAM Collection Managers Committee; TAM Educators Committee; and Texas Historical Foundation. TAM also acknowledges ongoing support by Maxwell Locke and Ritter, Southwest Airlines; and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
