MAAM 2026 Annual Conference

Please note: This is a single, guided group tour that includes all three sites. Participants will travel together throughout the experience, and registration is for the complete tour only; individual museum stops cannot be attended separately. Portions of the tour take place outdoors, rain or shine, so comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate attire are recommended. 

This tour is not included with conference registration. Separate registration and payment required; register here. Transportation and lunch provided.

Step beyond the galleries and experience three distinctive museums that are preserving history, transforming institutions, and connecting communities across central New Jersey.

This exclusive tour begins at The Lawrenceville School, a National Historic Landmark founded in 1810, where you'll explore an extraordinary campus known for its architecture, fine and decorative arts collections, archives, and historic landscape.

Next, go behind the scenes at The Hopewell Museum, where museum leaders, trustees, architects, and conservators will share how this small museum has reimagined its future through strategic planning, major conservation initiatives, and the restoration of its 1877 Second Empire home.

The experience concludes at the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM), where nationally recognized exhibitions, a restored historic chapel and farmhouse, and the inspiring work of founders Beverly Mills and Elaine Buck illuminate the rich history of the African American community in New Jersey's Sourland Mountain region.

Whether you're interested in collections, historic preservation, museum leadership, or community engagement, this all day tour offers an inspiring look at how organizations of every size are preserving the past while building for the future.

Please note: This is a single, guided group tour that includes all three sites. Participants will travel together throughout the experience, and registration is for the complete tour only; individual museum stops cannot be attended separately. Portions of the tour take place outdoors, rain or shine, so comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate attire are recommended. 

This tour is not included with conference registration. Separate registration and payment required; register here. Transportation and lunch provided. Lunch is provided courtesy of Middlesex County.


Go behind the scenes with Middlesex County's Division of History and Historic Preservation as we explore three unique sites that preserve and interpret the region's rich history.

Begin at the Middlesex County Archives, where you'll get an inside look at managing county records alongside historic collections spanning the 18th century to today. Learn how archivists balance modern records management with preserving archaeological collections, government documents, and other invaluable primary sources.

Next, visit Raritan Historic Village, an open-air museum featuring 15 reconstructed and replica 18th- and 19th-century buildings that bring the history of the Raritan Valley to life. Discover ongoing preservation efforts, learn how the County maintains this historic site, and hear how living history interpreters engage visitors through traditional crafts, trades, and military history.

Finally, tour the Cornelius Low House Museum, one of New Jersey's finest examples of Georgian architecture. Curators will take you behind the scenes of Caught in the Crossfire: Divided Loyalties in Middlesex County, the museum's exhibition commemorating America's 250th anniversary, offering a look at the research, planning, and exhibition development process.

Please note: Registration for the full day workshops are not included in your conference registration. To join a workshop, register here.

What if a museum could feel less like a vault that preserves the past and more like a laboratory for exploring the present?

This intensive, full-day workshop gives museum professionals the tools to make that shift — moving from institutions that tell visitors what to think toward experiences that invite them to feel, question, and discover. Using a multi-stage methodology, participants will learn how to conceptualize exhibits and experiences that are educational, personally meaningful, and fun. The results? Experiences that give visitors fresh perspectives and transferable skills for their everyday lives.

Drawing on decades of practical experience and leadership–including the re-imagining of the International Spy Museum–the instructors will support you in moving away from “what we want to say” to “how visitors can most meaningfully experience it.” You will leave with a practical framework for experience design.

Please note: Registration for the full day workshops are not included in your conference registration. To join a workshop, register here.

This full-day management institute is a day dedicated to developing more compassionate, effective managers. It offers participatory activities and conversation, using a combination of individual, small-group, and large-group work.

The day will include: developing your personal management approach; uncovering your core values & how they differ from your institution’s / your direct reports’; exploring complicated staff management issues through real-life case studies; and understanding organizational culture & how your management choices contribute to it

We know non-profits historically neither hire nor train for management skills, leaving staff unprepared for some aspects of their jobs. The SEED approach to management training emphasizes co-learning, co-creation, and thoughtful risk-taking. The SEED trio (Rachel, Rebecca, and David) have both museum-based management experience and research-based understanding of key management skills. As consultants, we have heard from both leadership and new and seasoned managers that good management is key to institutional (and individual) success.

Kick off the 2026 MAAM Annual Conference by giving back to the museum community! Join fellow museum professionals and students for a day of hands-on collections care projects at museums in and around New Brunswick.

Projects may include inventorying collections, rehousing objects, scanning documents, numbering artifacts, and more.
Participation is free, lunch is provided by host museums, and volunteers are invited as complimentary guests to the Opening Reception that evening.

Interested in volunteering? Please complete the White Gloves Gang Interest Form. Volunteer placements are limited, and expressions of interest are requested by late September.

Please note: Registration is for the complete tour experience; individual museum tours are not available separately. 

This tour is not included with conference registration. Separate registration and payment required; register here. Transportation and lunch are on your own. Recommendations on transportation will be shared with registered tour attendees. 

A unique opportunity to explore two landmark museums in historic Princeton, NJ. 

Attendees will have the option to visit the newly re-opened Princeton University Art Museum with a special tour highlighting the museum’s diverse collection of art and providing a behind-the-scenes look at the architecture and exhibition design of the new space. The tour will begin at 10:30 am.

A short (10 minute) walk from the Art Museum, attendees will also have the option to take a curator-led tour of Morven Museum & Garden’s newest exhibition, Five Independent Souls: The Five Signers from New Jersey. Morven was the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and New Jersey’s first Governor’s Mansion. The tour will be offered at 1:00 pm. 

Each tour site lasts approximately one hour, with free time between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to enjoy lunch on your own and explore downtown Princeton. A list of nearby restaurants is provided. Your tour registration includes museum admission.

Do you need advice on making a career change? Need to have someone look over your resume? Bring your career questions and/or resume to our MAAM board members and colleagues and sit and discuss. Open to all career levels.

Join a behind-the-scenes tour at Grounds For Sculpture (GFS), a 42-acre nonprofit sculpture park, museum, arboretum, and home to Johnson Atelier (JA), a fine art fabrication facility and hub for artistic production.

The guided visit will highlight JA’s three core capabilities—Design (3D scanning, CAD, digital sculpting, and prototyping), Make (5-axis CNC, metal and woodworking fabrication, and advanced finishing), and Restore (museum-quality conservation). Learn how the Atelier partners with contemporary artists to transform ambitious concepts into durable public works while exploring active workshop spaces, fabrication processes, and conservation techniques. Participants must follow staff directions and safety guidelines in operational areas.

The tour also includes Opening the Vault: A Look Inside The GFS Collection, an exhibition developed collaboratively by staff across departments that offers a fresh perspective on GFS’s collection and curatorial practice. Current exhibitions will also be open for viewing before the tour.

Tour Logistics: Check in at the gate and follow directions to parking at the Welcome Center. Meet at the Guest Services desk. Following a welcome from GFS staff, attendees will divide into two groups and rotate between the Johnson Atelier and the exhibition. The tour includes walking between buildings, across the grounds, and through fabrication spaces, so comfortable, closed-toe walking shoes are required.

Dinner: Rat’s Restaurant, located onsite at Grounds For Sculpture, will be open until 9:00 p.m. for those who would like to stay for dinner. Reservations are required and dinner is not included with the tour. Please make your own reservation in advance. Following the tour, drive around to the restaurant parking lot, as the Grounds will close.