Talks

Upcoming talks, tours, events, happenings

Only events open to the public are listed. (Conferences or affinity-group ticketed events are not listed).

Friday, July 23, 2021, Invited Talk, “Moving the Needle : Exhibitions and Activism,” Join curator and historian Juilee Decker to learn about the exhibition she co-organized, Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts & Activism, which was on view at multiple venues throughout 2019-2020 in New York, Virginia, and Ohio during 2019-20 (even during COVID!). In this live presentation and discussion, Juilee will center the conversation on the curatorial process and share visuals of the works as well as the installation venues. The conversation may take an historical glance, as well, in thinking about how objects of material culture can provoke and engage all of us as productive tools in deliberative democracies. To register, see FiberWorld https://fiberworldshow.com/

postponed – will be scheduled for the Fall 2021! For #InternationalMuseumDay2021, I will host a one-hour workshop “De-Mystifying the Publication Process: A Primer on Publishing with “Collections” Tues. 5/18/2021 via Zoom 6 pm EDT all are welcome! Free! Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6KhX6873aKmU3OI7G98chx8Kg49SB93cEKjezh4kTtJRqxg/viewform My goal is that you come away from our evening’s discussion empowered to seek out opportunities that will enable you to enter your voice into the conversation.

Past events

Only events open to the public are listed. (Conferences or affinity-group ticketed events are not listed here. For a fuller list, please see my short CV here OR contact me for my long-format CV.)

• Thursday, May 28, 2021, session “EMP Skill Share | Steps You Can Take to Level Up: Networking & Demystifying the Publication Process” In this panel Juilee Decker, Tory Cox, and Michelle Reynolds discussed ways you can “level up” by making the transition from graduate student to emerging museum professional and author. We shared ideas and outlets for networking and mentioned a few preliminary steps you can share your voice and vision through authorship. Organized by the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDaevwJRNH0&t=4080s

• Wednesday, April 28, 2021, workshop “De-Mystifying the Publishing Process: A Primer on Publishing with Collections,” University of Kansas Museum Studies Program
• Friday, April 9, 2021, “Breaking into Publishing in the Museum Field” Want to start publishing in the field but not sure where to start? What’s worthy of publishing? What are submission guidelines – and do you really have to follow them? What’s a peer-reviewed journal? How far in advance do you need to submit a manuscript? Are other publishing opportunities such as blogs or newsletter articles still considered “publishing”? Join museum journal editors Mariel Campbell (editor of Collections Forum and other SPNHC publications), Dr. Juilee Decker (editor of Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals) and Prof. Cynthia Robinson (editor of the Journal of Museum Education) for best practices, tips and tricks for getting published in the field. Bring your questions! Graduate certificate student Nikki Dean will moderate.

• Wednesday, February 10, 2021, Guest Lecture with University of Colorado-Boulder, Museum Studies Program
• January 26, 2021, Panel Discussion on Publishing in the Museum Field, as part of the CurCom Conversations, American Alliance of Museums Curators’ Committee, other panelists include Charles Harmon and John Fraser.
• January 13, 2021, Co-presenter with Hinda Mandell, “Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism Curators’ Talk,” Weaver’s Guild of Rochester, Rochester, NY
• November 19, 2020, Co-presenter “XR & Museums: Mixing Disciplines, Extending Boundaries & Delivering Multi-Modal Experiences in a Post COVID World,” in the session “Plays Well with Others,” 2020 Frameless Symposium. See us here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPfYqpIUryU&list=PLKmzcvVL2RTuuGGUdMwWVytUchdjTdG7n&index=5 (minutes 18:51-39:00, approximately)
• November 13, 2020, Guest on History Lunch Break, an initiative of Greensboro History Museum 12:00-12:30 ET in conversation with Glenn Perkins, the museum’s Curator of Community History at Greensboro History Museum. We talked about collecting during COVID, specifically the Greensboro initiatives and my work as community curator as part of the crowdsourced initiative A Journal of the Plague Year: COVID-19 Archive. Streamed on Facebook as well as Zoom and Youtube. Watch it here.
• October 20, 2020, Blurring Boundaries and Dissolving Silos: Developing an XR Museum Project in Collaboration, co-presenting in VR with Amanda Doherty, Joe Geigel, Andy Head, Gary Jacobs, Yunn-Shan Ma, and Kunal Shitut, https://account.altvr.com/events/1574790389796176741. Invited talk for Educators in VR series: Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)’s team behind the XR Museum Project share their insights, tips, and expertise developing a collaborative XR project, mixing disciplines among faculty and students, thereby encouraging the dissolution of silos in a university environment. Presenters include faculty and students from the following disciplines: 3D digital design, computer science, fine arts, museum studies, music, and theatre. (Image below) Stream here.

• October 19, 2020, Curatorial Conversation with Prof. Christine Chin’s Photography Course, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, Houghton House and Davis Gallery & via Zoom
• October 8, 2020, Panelist for the session “Toning Down and Tuning In: Addressing Archival Silences of Covid-19 Community Curation,” Organized by Marissa Rhodes, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University
• September 13, 2020, “From Aspiration to Activism: Fiber Arts at Woodlawn from Nelly Custis to Crafting Democracy” Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House, Alexandria, VA (via Zoom): In this talk, I examined the life and (needle)work of Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis Lewis (1779–1852), grand-daughter of Martha Washington, whose aspirations included decorative arts as well as an interest in preserving George Washington’s legacy. In much the same way that she carefully manicured his posthumous identity through written accounts that she shared with information seekers, Nelly fashioned herself as a learned craftswomen, as evidenced by her work in the collection at Woodlawn. Her creations are more than mere evidence of skill and pursuit of an aspiration: they help to define her and play a role in constructing her identity. This talk was part of the exhibition’s run at Woodlawn, which closed September 14, 2020.
• August 2020, “Casting a Legacy: Enid Yandell & Watch Hill’s Chief Ninigret“ & Book Signing at the Ocean House Seaside Ballroom, Watch Hill, RI (in person and via Zoom). All proceeds from this event were donated to The Watch Hill Conservancy. Thank you to the gracious hosts of Watch Hill.
• May 2020, “Memorials and Museum Practices,” Museums and Race Conference
• November 2019, “Virtual Historic Docent for a Living History Museum,” Demonstration using Hololens of AR/VR project, Frameless Symposium, Rochester, NY
• October – November 2019, Offered a series of four unique, audience and museum-specific lectures related to launch of monograph Enid Yandell: Kentucky’s Pioneer Sculptor:
  • November 17, 2019, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
  • November 15, 2019, Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY
  • October 4, 2019, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY
  • October 3, 2019, Filson Historical Society, Louisville, KY
• 2019, Interview with Jayne McGrew, Kentucky Educational Television (Louisville, KY), for their hour-long show to launch in March 2020 on Enid Yandell and their Suffrage Centennial celebration show to air in Fall 2020, https://youtu.be/D5JVRw7ncrA.
• November 2019, Kentucky Book Fair, Lexington, KY, organized by the Kentucky Humanities Council
• December 2017, “Immersive Technologies & Museum Functions,” Frameless Symposium, Rochester, NY
• June and July 2016, Invited Scholar on public art/monuments, memory, and commemoration in the age of #BlackLivesMatter, NEH-sponsored conference “The Legacy of the Civil War: Changing Memories Over Time,” held at Virginia Commonwealth University, the Museum of the Confederacy, and the Virginia Historical Society http://legacyofthecivilwar.org/