The Art Museum Partnership is proud to announce the creation of a new “Directors Forum” conference as its inaugural program for the leaders of art museums nationwide. The annual conference will unfold at a series of distinguished art-related settings in New York City on October 22-24, 2006 and is open to all full-time directors of not-for-profit art museums and galleries. The program will begin with an opening dinner at the historic National Arts Club, followed by two days of informative sessions and special events at museums, galleries and auction houses. Eminent guest speakers will explore a variety of timely subjects such as disaster management, institutional identity, collaborations with consultants and the misuse of corporate business models in the nonprofit sector.
   
  The purpose of the Art Museum Partnership and its Directors Forum program is to identify and provide networking opportunities that facilitate the sharing of information, resources, and collections among the leaders of nonprofit art institutions. These initiatives were primarily established to benefit the directors of small to medium-sized museums that comprise the largest segment in the field, but are not represented by any other professional organizations. However, the leaders of large museums are encouraged to participate, since the challenges in the field are universal and all can benefit from the knowledge and experience of their peers. 
   
  This year’s keynote speaker is Robert Workman, director of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is being developed by the Walton Family Foundation on one hundred forested acres in Bentonville, Arkansas. Workman is a thirty-year museum veteran with a comprehensive background in all aspects of museum administration. Before joining the Crystal Bridges project, he was deputy director of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. During his eight-year tenure there, he led the museum’s $39 million renovation and expansion project. Workman also has extensive traveling exhibition experience, including a seven-year tenure with the American Federation of Arts in New York City, where as the director of exhibitions, he enjoyed significant success in establishing collaborations with other art museums throughout the United States and abroad.
   
  The members of the 2006 Directors Forum program committee are: Katherine B. Crum, Independent Curator, New York, NY; Laura Gorham, Director, Bermuda National Gallery, Hamilton, Bermuda; Kevin Grogan, Director, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA; Bruce Katsiff , Director, The James A. Michener Museum, Doylestown & New Hope, PA; John W. Nichols, Director, Art Museum Partnership, New York, NY; Joseph Ruzicka, Director, Washington County Museum of Art, Hagerstown, MD; Susan Visser, Director, South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, IN.
   
  A preliminary program will be released in June. To participate in the Directors Forum, individuals must be full-time, paid professional directors of nonprofit art museums or galleries open to the public on a regular schedule. The registration fee is $295, which includes the opening dinner, all sessions, one luncheon, and receptions. For additional information and updates, visit the Art Museum Partnership at: www.ArtMuseumPartnership.org 
   
  INQUIRIES:            
   
  Art Museum Partnership
303 Park Avenue South, Box 1112
New York, NY 10010-3657
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