Small Museum Association Conference 2025

The newest NEH grant programs aim to bolster institutional resources through professional development, preservation and interpretation of collections, and capacity building. In this workshop, it is our hope that NEH staff can help ease the burden on overworked and under-supported museum staff by de-mystifying the federal application process and providing one-on-one advising. Additionally, recent grantees will provide insight on navigating the federal application system and crafting a successful proposal.

Small Nashville Museum repatriates 255 artifacts to West Mexico and creates an exhibit to to inform visitors and grow community partnership.

Have you ever wanted to capture your community's voices for historical record but did not know where to start? Critically engage with the processes and practices needed for a small museum to take on an oral history project and how to successfully conduct one.

Any museum, no matter the size, must learn to overcome the logistical challenges of bringing students to the institution.  Join Liberty Hall Museum’s Education Coordinator, Hannah Gaston, and Education Assistant Michaela Piepoli as they share the strategies and effective practices they use when coordinating school trips, with the goal that participants will feel more empowered and more educated about how to recognize and prepare for their own institution’s field trip challenges. The panelists will explore questions including: How do you tell the buses where to drop off or park?; How do you get local schools to know about your institution and programs?; How do you make historic rooms accessible for students with physical disabilities in non-ADA compliment spaces?; and more.