• Organized eight Annual Meetings including our first west coast meeting in 2008. The average attendance for these meetings has ranged between 200-270 members/year

• Awarded over $40,000 in travel grants for curators to attend the AAMC Annual Meetings and other professional development conferences around the country with special funding assistance from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and Henry Luce Foundation

• Awarded over $20,000 in 2005-06 in emergency grants to curators affected by Hurricane Katrina

• Organized two highly successful regional programs, one in Chicago in 2004 and one in St. Louis in 2008, with a combined attendance of over 120 members

• Published and distributed the 2007 Professional Practices for Art Museum Curators handbook

• Created a dynamic website in 2005 with a section exclusively for members featuring a searchable directory, an online discussion forum, and traveling exhibition postings, as well as a public area for employment opportunities

• Produced a compensation review in 2006 covering 23 years of salary data that compared curatorial salaries as well as those of other museum professionals (including directors, development and marketing personnel, conservators, etc.)

• Awarded annual prizes since 2003 for excellence in publishing including outstanding permanent collection and exhibition catalogues, outstanding essays or extended catalogue entries, and established an exhibition & installation award voted on by the membership of the AAMC

• Established the quarterly distribution of an e-newsletter for all members, affiliates, and supporters

• Worked in tandem with the Center for Curatorial Leadership, co-founded by Elizabeth Easton and Agnes Gund, to provide curators with leadership training, an initiative prompted by the 2005 Annual Meeting

1. Support and promote the curatorial profession
2. Retain existing members and target new members
3. Support professional development
4. Reevaluate internal AAMC governance and staffing structures
5. Build and implement a sustainable fundraising plan
6. Respond to the changing economic climate and its impact on museums and the curatorial profession

• Professional development and advancement
• Recognition of excellence within the field
• Research and scholarship
• Ethical and professional standards
• Collaboration among members and across professional organizations
• Dissemination of information and resources pertinent to the advancement of curatorial practice and expertise

• Provide an open forum for discussion about museum issues in North America
• Articulate professional standards and best practices
• Promote research, scholarship, networking, and mentoring opportunities through travel grants
• Use the website to exchange scholarly and procedural information as well as traveling exhibition and employment opportunities
• Recognize distinguished achievement in the field through annual awards
• Promote best practices and professional relationships through Annual Meetings and educational programs on selected themes held at venues throughout North America
• Serve as an advocacy group for the curatorial profession
• Accomplish these goals in cooperation with museum directors, trustees, and other staff as well as other national cultural and arts advocacy organizations

Strategy I: Define and articulate the many roles and responsibilities of the curator to a wider audience both within and external to the museum community.

Strategy II: Identify other organizations, associations, or programs with which the AAMC can participate to increase exposure and cultivate a clearer understanding of the profession for the public at large.

Strategy III: Look to other organizational models to encourage better institutional priorities for the promotion and advancement for curators.

Strategy I: Better communicate with current membership to maintain renewal rates.

Strategy II: Target specific regions or curatorial disciplines for recruitment.

Strategy III: Collaborate with other arts organizations to identify potential cross-benefits (contract-based negotiations for reduced subscription services, hotel rates, airline fares, etc.).

Strategy IV: Develop programs for undergraduate and graduate students to cultivate a new generation of curators

Strategy I: Create a long-term plan for the professional development needs of our members. Align programmatic timetables and fundraising goals to these needs.

Strategy II: Work closely with the Center for Curatorial Leadership and other curatorial training programs to collaborate and broaden development opportunities across the profession. Engage other museum professionals to further learning and understanding of the comprehensive needs of the museum field.

Strategy I: Revise board and staff job descriptions to create a system of orientation and evaluation for board members and staff.

Strategy II: Develop a formal system for trustee and committee recruitment and orientation including revisiting terms and rotation cycles.

Strategy III: Revise current by-laws to reflect updated governance structures.

Strategy IV: Look at the staffing needs of the organization and devise a plan to hire additional staff (paid and/or unpaid) to fulfill these needs.

Strategy I: With the creation of a three-year fundraising plan for the organization, distribute trustee responsibilities across the various plan priorities and develop a system for scheduling and evaluating fundraising initiatives.

Strategy II: Encourage and promote board and member involvement in fundraising goals by setting reasonable timetables and commitment levels.

Strategy I: Communicate and collaborate closely with local, national and international arts initiatives to address the consequences (both immediate and long-term) of the economic downturn.

Strategy II: Create a system for gathering budgetary or retrenchment updates from members, including those that can be made confidentially. Information collected will serve to help shape future programs and keep the organization apprised of structural changes affecting museums.

Strategy III: Identify outlets (media, other arts organizations, government watch groups, public forums, etc.) with which the AAMC can communicate, compile, and share information and resources.