Outreach and Advocacy
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Introduction[edit | edit source]
Outreach and advocacy are one of the most important ongoing contributions from active professionals in the field of conservation. Whether it is educating the public on conservation activities, sharing resources and developments with allied professionals, or working to share and network with our peers and colleagues, conservation professionals are natural and vital advocates for objects, collections and our shared cultural heritage.
ECPN Resources[edit | edit source]
Poster: "Creative Endeavors and Expressive Ideas"[edit | edit source]
Presented in 2012 at the 40th AIC Annual Meeting, ECPN's Poster "Creative Endeavors and Expressive Ideas: Emerging Conservators Engaging through Outreach and Public Scholarship" showed how emerging conservation professionals engaged in different outreach activities. Outreach and Public Scholarship Poster.
Interview Series: "Creative Endeavors and Expressive Ideas: Emerging Conservators Engaging through Outreach and Public Scholarship"[edit | edit source]
ECPN Officers received so much content ahead of their 2012 poster, that they published a related series of interview blog posts leading up to the Annual Meeting.
- Series Introduction
- Emerging Conservators Connect via Social Media
- Emerging Conservators in the Blogosphere
- Outreach to Allied Professionals
- Private Practices Build Preservation Awareness and Opportunities
- Outreach in the Galleries
Webinar: "Get Involved! Education, Outreach, and Advocacy"[edit | edit source]
Get Involved! Education, Outreach, and Advocacy with Theresa Myers, Richard McCoy, and Sarah Barack took place on April 23, 2014. In this webinar, panelists share their personal experiences reaching out to various audiences to advocate for the field of art conservation.
Ruth Seyler, AIC’s Membership and Meetings Director, begins the webinar with an overview of AIC’s outreach and advocacy initiatives and ways in which members can get involved. AIC provides support and coordination for member’s outreach activities including various brochures and grants.
Theresa Myers, a conservator with a private practice in Maine, recounts her rewarding experience participating in the American Alliance of Museums’ (AAM) Museums Advocacy Day, a two-day event in which advocates participate in issue briefings followed by meetings on Capitol Hill.
Conservation and Preservation Consultant Richard McCoy discusses the importance of community engagement and shares the online resources he has developed. Projects such as the Public Art Archive, WikiProject Public Art, and WikiProject Collection Care aim to improve public awareness and stewardship of works of art and encourage community involvement.
Sarah Barack, Conservator and Adjunct Faculty Member at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Art, NYU, describes her activities as the co-chair of AIC’s K-12 Outreach Working Group. She offers valuable advice for reaching students and teachers locally as well as through national organizations.
Resources for Social Media[edit | edit source]
The internet is a useful public interface to connect to the wider networks, advocate for the field, and promote your own interests and projects. With the wide variety of platforms that are available, there are many tools to help make your content accessible. If you’re just getting started, take a look at this blog post on web-based media platforms and tips on writing a blog post.
By participating on these platforms, it can open conversations with people who may be interested in the field, your work, or even who you would be interested to make professional connections to. In contributing to an online professional presence, it tells the story of the conservation field and our engagement to the wider world.
Other platforms to consider:
- Picture/video-sharing: Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr
- Video: YouTube, Vimeo
- Formal and informal networks: LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+
While contributing to any platform, please make sure to consider the copyrights and permissions for material you would like to post by reviewing the Public Relations Toolkit.
See ECPN's Conservation on Social Media wiki page for links to examples of Instagram accounts, Facebook Groups, blog posts, Twitter accounts, and more that highlight the activities of emerging conservation professionals.
ECPN Social Media Sites[edit | edit source]
Join the conservation and stay up to date on news by following ECPN on the following platforms:
