BEYOND BORDERS: DISCOVERY AND COLLABORATION
CALL FOR PROPOSALS

WESTERN MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
SEPTEMBER 17-20, 1997

This meeting will explore how museums are responding to demographic,
technologic, and economic forces by developing new partnerships and audiences
and revitalizing strategies and procedures.  Sessions will focus on
transcending traditional boundaries which define where and with whom we work
and serve.

Museums in the West share international borders with colleagues and
constituents in Canada, Mexico, and Pacific rim nations that provide unique
opportunities for sharing collections and professional expertise to develop
exhibitions and programs of mutual interest.

Public/private boundaries are being crossed and novel approaches are being
taken in response to diminished financial resources.  Mutually beneficial
partnerships developed with corporations to share human resources, as well as
facilities and services, the use of private consultants rather than add to
existing career staff, and "down-sizing" personnel are some examples of new
economic strategies.

Technology, especially communications media, developed in the private sector
are being increasingly found in exhibition galleries to draw visitors and
enhance the delivery of the exhibition message.  Are some institutions
falling behind as others break through to the 21st century?

Change is the norm for today's museums.  Sessions will demonstrate how our
willingness to creatively reconsider and "reinvent" current processes by
which museums fulfill their missions can serve to revitalize our staffs and
exhibitions.

The Program Committee asks session proposers to keep certain issues in mind
when developing their ideas and suggesting possible participants.  These
include:

1) Diversity of session participants in terms of geographic location, gender,
race, ethnicity, and type of museum/institution.  The Program Committee
believes that this diversity enriches the scope of each presentation;

 2) Availability of the participants to take part in the conference from
September 17-20, 1997.  This is necessary at the initial stages of conference
scheduling since it allows the Program Committee to formulate a calendar that
takes into account the most efficient and effective arrangement of topics.

The preliminary proposal should include a description and information about
the focus of the proposed session and the goals the proposer wishes to see
achieved in it.  If there are specific suggestions for presenters, they
should be included.  The more fully developed ideas are, the more effectively
the Program Committee will be able to evaluate them.  If the proposal is
accepted by the Program Committee, the person formulating it will be asked to
develop a more specific description and details.

The deadline for receipt of all session proposals is November 15, 1996.

To obtain a preliminary proposal form, contact Wendy Finch or Jim Hanley at
the Western Museums Association, P.O. Box 36069, Los Angeles, CA  90036-0069;
(213) 939-6453; (213) 939-6493 FAX; E-mail: [log in to unmask]