Oregon Museums Association

Join us for a free OMA meet up at Deschutes Historical Museum in Bend on October 15th from 5-6:30pm!

This meetup is an opportunity for museums, libraries, and archives to talk about the more pressing issues facing our institutions in 2026. Over snacks and beverages, we will share and commiserate about the upcoming year.

Let us know you'll be there! RSVP: https://oregonmuseums.org/event-6808820

Join us for our next Board Governance affinity group, happening October 8th at 1pm!

Board service can be a solo journey, and this is a rare chance to connect with peers from other organizations. Join us to dive into the unique challenges of museum governance, share insights on strategic oversight, discuss effective fundraising, and fiduciary duties.

Let us know you'll be there! Visit https://oregonmuseums.org/event-6558474 to RSVP.

Interested in sharing your work at your organization? Have a program or exhibit that pushes back in this modern climate? Session and workshop proposals for the 2027 OMA Annual Conference in Ashland will open in October and close in December.

Welcome to a supportive space for museum board members, trustees, and advisory council members!

Board service can be a solo journey, and this is a rare chance to connect with peers from other organizations. Join us to dive into the unique challenges of museum governance, share insights on strategic oversight, discuss effective fundraising, and fiduciary duties. Together we can trade best practices, problem-solve, and build a vital network of shared support for confident leadership.

Our next Board Governance affinity group is October 8th at 1pm.

Let us know you'll be there -> https://oregonmuseums.org/event-6558474

Gather 'round the town crier!

Introducing the theme for Ashland's conference - Act Out!

The 2027 Oregon Museums Association Annual Conference theme is Act Out!, in reference not just to our host city of Ashland (home of the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival), but to the vital importance of letting our communities' voices be heard.

Over the last few years, museums and heritage institutions across the state and the country have been confronted by a convergence of federal censorship, financial pressure, and the dismantling of vital systems of support. The continued removal of exhibits and interpretive signage describing core elements of American history compromises the museum community's integrity and independence, leaving us with the increasingly important responsibility to Act Out! and speak out.

For Oregon's museums to build stronger connections with community members and support a more educated and culturally vibrant society, museums must address historical and contemporary systems of oppression. The 2027 OMA Annual Conference celebrates diversity and amplifies the voices of underrepresented communities across our vibrant state. Join us and let your voice be heard!

Join us Wednesday, October 21 at 11:00AM for Historians are Grant Writers (Grant Writers are Historians)!

This webinar is intended to help historians connect their existing aptitudes and skills to the process of institutional grant writing. It is not an all-encompassing or even detailed "How To" on the grant writing craft; it is a look at how a professional historian already engages in most of the common doings of the grant writer, and how the use of those skills can prove beneficial to both the historian and the organization with which they are associated.

Copies of the book Historians are Grant Writers, written by our webinar presenter, Lori Shea Kuechler, are available to purchase only as an add-on to your registration for this webinar. We have 10 copies available for $12 each, limit one book purchase per registration. Once we have sold all 10 copies, the option to add-on a book purchase will no longer be available.

Register for this webinar through our website: https://oregonmuseums.org/event-6832228

Meet the OMA Conference Committee!

These are the hard-working people who meet each month to plan and ensure a memorable Annual Conference. The group is made up of museum professionals from different styles of museums, at different stages of their career, and with unique perspectives!

Scroll through to meet each member and learn why they like being on the Conference Committee!

Since 1978, OMA has brought Oregon’s museum professionals together to cultivate ideas, further contributions to the museum field, and support our state’s cultural organizations.

Your tax-deductible donation supports our mission to empower Oregon's museums to thrive. We do that through lively discussion and networking at in-person events and via online media, insightful programming and training at our annual conference and workshops, targeted advocacy to advance the museum field, and member benefits that support professional advancement and community building.

You can make a donation of any amount to OMA by visiting oregonmuseums.org/Donate. Thank you so much for your support!

Did you mark your calendars for our Annual Conference in Ashland? If not, put down April 18 - 20, 2027 in Ashland. We cannot wait to see all the members and not-yet-members in 7 months!

As an OMA Institutional member, you get access to a number of museum-specific benefits, including having your museum's online collection listed on our website! Current members can contact [email protected] to have their online collection listed.

Interested in accessing this benefit and more? Visit oregonmuseums.org/Join to join us today!