Affinity Groups
Need help adding an Affinity Group? Email admin@texasmuseums.org
WHAT IS AN AFFINITY GROUP?
Affinity Groups are special interest groups for art museums, curators, educators, collection managers, historic sites and houses staff, marketing professionals, DEAI advocates, and executive leaders. You will intersect with and gain information from these key job-related groups. You will work to advance the mutual concerns and interests of these professional societies. Affinity Group dues are only $10 added for each member and those funds support webinars and workshops.
The Art Affinity Group (AAG) supports professionals in the Texas museum community and arts/cultural community who work with art or artists on a regular basis.
Rebecca Bridges, Chair
Executive Director
The Center for Contemporary Arts
220 Cypress Street
Abilene, TX 79601
325.677.8389 work
325-513-3259 cell
Email: director@center-arts.com
Texas collections managers, registrars and professionals in related fields come together in the Collections Managers Committee (CMC) to learn and promote the highest standards in their field, to network together, and to cooperate in creating the highest quality collections care for Texas museums.
CMC Website: https://www.texasmuseums.org/cmc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tamcollectionmanagers/
Wade Dillon, Chair
Museum Coordinator
Freeport Historical Museum
200 W 2nd St
Freeport, Texas 77541
Phone: (979)233-0066x2702
Email: wdillon@freeport.tx.us
Historic Sites and Houses Affinity Group (HSHAG) is dedicated to promoting the awareness and preservation of Texas museums in historic structures and offering our members opportunities for networking, sharing of ideas and professional development.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3851504501612296
Alysha Richardson, Co-chair
Museum Manager
Temple Railroad & Heritage Museum
315 W. Avenue B
Temple, TX 76501
Email: arichardson@templetx.gov
Steve Baird, Co-chair
Chief Historian
Klein Historical Foundation
Email: sbaird1@kleinisd.net
Marketing/PR and Media Affinity Group (M&M) functions as a marketing/pr “think tank” for furthering museums as a form of education and entertainment. Targeted to museum professionals with responsibility for communications, M&M encourages members to share ideas and brainstorm new marketing and media avenues. The group provides a safe environment for members to offer insights into the successes and failures of efforts in their communities.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingmediaprtamaffinitygroup/
Kali Ellis, Chair
Director of Development
San Jacinto Museum and Battlefield Association
1 Monument Circle
La Porte, TX 77571
Email: kellis@sanjacinto-museum.org
Museum Emerging Leaders of Texas (MELT) is a group of museum professionals, archivists, conservationists, and library science professionals who are just out of college and breaking into the career field, are transitioning to the museum field from another career, or who have been in the field for only a few years. The group offers support and networking opportunities for these professionals through quarterly meetings, webinars and workshops, and an active social media presence.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/622271388245782
Kayte Ricketts, Co-Chair
Education Coordinator
Bell County Museum
201 N. Main
Belton, TX 76513
254-933-5741
Email: kayte.ricketts@bellcounty.texas.gov
Rachael Nadeau Johnson, Co-Chair
Collections Manager
Dr Pepper Museum & Free Enterprise Institute
300 S 5th St
Waco, TX 76701
254-757-1025
Email: rachael@drpeppermuseum.com
Texas Association of Museums Diversity Committee (IDEA) encourages diversity and inclusion among staff members of museums and cultural institutions in the Texas region.
IDEA is an outgrowth of the Affinity Group formerly known as the Multicultural Initiatives Committee.
Kheli Willetts, Co-Chair
Principal
Dira Professional Development, LLC
Email: kheli@dirapd.com
Kendal Smith Lake, Co-Chair
Director of Communications
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Email: ksmith@themodern.org
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TAM Educators’ Committee (TAMEC) encourages a spirit of cooperation--through training, workshops, and networking between all museum educators and our colleagues from other disciplines in order to create the best possible museum educational experiences.
Erin Whitmore, Chair
Education Director
The Old Jail Art Center
201 South Second Street
Albany, Texas 76430
325-762-2269 work
Email: ewhitmore@theojac.org
TAM Executive Leaders Committee (TAMEL) provides a forum for support, collaboration, sharing, and benefit for Texas museum leaders with the goal of creating a more vibrant, sustainable museum community in Texas. Executive leaders who run a museum organization are invited to participate. These include Presidents, CEOs, and Directors.
Liz Jackson, Chair
President & CEO
Briscoe Western Art Museum
210 W. Market Street
San Antonio, TX 78205
210.299.4499
Email: Ljackson@briscoemuseum.org