The doors to the field seemed to be open in both directions this year, not just offering a one-way path out … MCN2019 felt like self-care for the maintainers of cultural sector transformation.

In a moment where the world feels consumed by divisive rhetoric and relentless, reactionary anger, this year’s MCN conference took a different path.

[Taylor Mac’s] collective engagement transforms the experience, creating a magical place of possibility where harsh truths and awkwardness mingle with triumph.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to offer visitors an unexpected experience during their time in the museum. I like delight and surprise (who doesn’t?), and I heartily believe that an art museum is ripe to provide both of those things.

An interdepartmental team of curators and educators came together to brainstorm ideas for how to take action in response, and after some discussion, we decided to focus in on this section: “Always be just as ready to listen as you are emboldened to speak out for or against others.”

It was a conference where I was alternately drained by, gaining from, and giving back to a community I love. And that’s what things we love do for us. We love them when they’re messy and maddening, and they’re always there when we need them.

The MCN community is a tribe of rabble-rousers. We rouse museum rabbles. We don’t accept that because something’s already out there, it’s necessarily out there at its best. We question and poke and push, because we know there are better things ahead, and we want to reach them. We want to create them. We want to share them with all the people who visit museums, physically or virtually.

One of the more exciting, progressive ideas to enter the museum space in the past decade has been the idea of “museum as platform” — the concept that rather than having to be the sole and final arbiter of all that goes on within its walls, museums could become platforms upon which others create their own cultural and educational experiences.

How do I want to make the shift from coordinator to manager? What kind of path do I want to forge for myself on this journey? How can I “pay it forward” to empower those around me to find their own paths?

What would happen when a bunch of us excellent talkers and wordsmiths were asked to put together an object-inspired experience in a short amount of time without the resources and familiarity of the usual lesson planning process?