Be sure to sign up for one of the free Pre-Conference Special Access Tours and/or for a Post-Conference Excursion. Pricing and schedule outlines below. Add these options to your registration today. Any questions? Reach out to Alexandra at aacademicmg[at]gmail[dot]com.
Note: Start and end times are firm. Exact schedule is subject to change. To register for any of these options, add them to your registration today!
Opening Up: Pre-Conference Special Access Tours – Monday, June 12, 2023
Conservation, Renovation, and Reinstallation at KU Libraries and Spencer Museum of Art
10AM-12:30PM
- Free of charge
- Advance Registration Required. Limited capacity. (FYI limit is 17 – FULL AS OF 4/27/23, If you would like on the cancellation list, you can email aacademicmg@gmail.com)
- Meet at Kenneth Spencer Research Library, 1450 Poplar Lane, Lawrence, KS
- No transportation provided, no meal provided
Whitney Baker (Head of Conservation Services, KU Libraries), Sofía Galarza Liu (Head of Collections, Spencer Museum), and Trang Nguyen (Head of Exhibitions, Spencer Museum) tell all in this two-site tour of recently renovated library and museum spaces that increase access for both public and staff/collections care needs. From 10-11AM, participants will visit Conservation Services in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library to view current projects and initiatives in the book and paper conservation lab and audiovisual preservation labs which were renovated in 2018 and serve all KU libraries. At 11AM, we will wander through Historic Marvin Grove to arrive at the Spencer Museum of Art for a tour of the renovated galleries and tips for strong staff collaboration on major projects like reinstalling the collection galleries and introducing an all-new study center. The path through Marvin Grove includes stairs. Please include requests for accessibility accommodations in your registration.
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art – Johnson County Community College
12PM-2:00PM
- Free of charge
- Advance Registration Required. Limited capacity. (FYI limit is 30)
- Meet at 12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS 66210
- No transportation provided – participants are expected to get themselves to and from this tour (please note this location is about a 45 min drive from Lawrence)
- Boxed lunch generously provided for each participant by the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (if you plan to attend this one and have dietary restrictions reach out to Alexandra immediately aacademic[at]gmail[dot]com)
- Registration deadline: June 1
Located on the outskirts of Kansas City across the state line, Overland Park wouldn’t seem like a natural setting for a revolutionary contemporary art museum. Further defying expectations, the Nerman calls Johnson County Community College home. Opening in 2007, in the institutional blink of an eye the museum has earned international acclaim for its architecture, exhibitions, educational programming and collection.
Join us for staff-led tours of the Nerman Museum’s current exhibitions, including Lauren Quin: My Hellmouth and Sun Drinks White, as well as tours of the Nerman’s permanent collection—on view throughout campus. Participants will be provided with a complimentary boxed lunch (deli sandwich, apple, chips and a cookie) as well as drinks. Take a break and see some great art before immersing yourself in the AAMG Conference.
Dole Institute of Politics
1-2PM
- Free of charge
- Advance Registration Required. Limited capacity. (FYI limit is 40)
- Meet at 2350 Petefish Dr, Lawrence, KS 66045
- No transportation provided, no meal provided.
- Registration deadline: June 1
The mission of the Dole Institute of Politics is to promote political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bipartisan, balanced manner. The public education coordinator will take you on an in-depth look at the Dole Institute and Archives. The museum gallery highlights Senator Bob Dole’s legacy and career of over 35 years representing Kansas in Congress. The Dole Institute is also home to the world’s largest stained glass American flag, Veteran’s Memory Wall with over 1,000 pictures of Kansas WWII veterans, and two beams from the World Trade Center, a memorial to the victims of 9-11. We’ll also go behind the scenes to see where one of the country’s largest congressional collections is stored. During the tour, we will discuss the many K-12 educational resources offered by the Dole Institute on-site, online and through outreach.
Post-Conference Excursions– Thursday, June 15, 2023
Outstanding in the Field
8AM – 2PM
- $115
- Advance Registration Required. Limited capacity. (FYI limit is 35)
- Dress for the outdoors for part of this excursion. See detailed notes below.
- Arrive by 7:45AM
- Bus departs from Oread Hotel at 8AM
- Boxed lunch included.
- You may bring your baggage on the bus and make arrangements to depart from any site using ride share or other transportation service.
- Bus returns to Oread Hotel at 2PM
- Registration deadline May 29
Become attuned to the native landscape and explore landmarks of Indigenous and Black educational experiences in the region from the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 through the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board Education of Topeka. (See note)
We begin by grounding ourselves in the Kansas prairie at the KU Field Station where we will experience here-ing, a labyrinth in the shape of the anatomy of the human ear created by artist Janine Antoni in partnership with the Spencer Museum of Art, the Kansas Biological Survey, and the Center for Ecological Research. Antoni suggests “walking the circuitous path gives us an opportunity to slow down, arrive in our bodies, and enter a receptive state, as we continue to draw the ear with our steps, we listen more deeply.” For walking the labyrinth, we recommend attire for close encounters with tall grasses and the insects and other organisms that call them home. A few simple preventive measures can help minimize susceptibility: closed shoes, long socks, tucking pants into socks, tucking shirts, long sleeves, and hats. We will provide insect repellent, sunscreen, and water. If you do not wish to enter the field, you are also welcome to enjoy a partial view from the trailhead.
At Haskell Indian Nations University we will explore the collections of the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum which “respectfully serves as a steward of living Tribal materials, traditions and cultural arts [and as a] vehicle of transmission to truthfully convey the story of Haskell’s remarkable evolution from a government boarding school to its present day fully-accredited University status. The Cultural Center celebrates the living heritage and culture of all Tribal peoples.”
At Grover Barn, an historic stone barn built in 1858 by abolitionists Joel and Emily Grover, we will bear witness to the pre-Civil War Underground Railroad network in Kansas where John Brown and freedom seekers risked their lives in pursuit of freedom.
In Topeka, Kansas we will visit the National Park Service’s Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park. Learn more about the local history surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and our ongoing responsibility for equity and justice in education.
Kansas City Legends: Art, Jazz, and the Game
9AM – 3PM
- $115
- Advance Registration Required. Limited capacity. (FYI limit is 35)
- This tour is exclusively indoors
- Arrive by 8:45AM
- Bus departs from Oread Hotel at 9AM
- Boxed lunch included.
- You may bring your baggage on the bus and make arrangements to depart from any site using ride share or other transportation service.
- Bus returns to Oread Hotel at 3PM
- Registration deadline May 29.
Discover some of Kansas City’s iconic institutions and traditions. Did you know that the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is home to an amazing historic to the present photography collection, or that the Nelson’s Chinese art collection features more than 7,000 works from every phase of China’s artistic activity? Were you aware that Kansas City was home to the Negro National League, a consortia of Black-owned baseball clubs founded in 1920? Did you know that many music legends got their start in Kansas City’s famed jazz club district in the 1920s-1930s? Between sites, Erik Stafford, Kansas City historian and educator, will share the historical context of Kansas City’s African-American history, settlement, culture, and racial divide.
In addition to time for exploring on your own at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, you will select one of the following behind-the-scenes tracks for special access with curatorial and collections colleagues:
- Join April M. Watson, Ph.D., curator, photography, for insight into the extensive Hallmark photographic collection and recent acquisitions;
- Delve into a recent conservation project of Chinese lacquer furniture with conservator Stephanie Spence and curator of Chinese art Ling-en Lu, Ph.D.; or
- Join Rachel Freeman, paper conservator, for a discussion of her research into “Petites Modistes” a pastel by Edgar Degas
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and American Jazz Museum are situated at the heart of the 18th and Vine National Historic District and anchor a thriving community and where barbeque, baseball, and bebop come together. Learn about the stories and stars of the Negro National League from its founding after the Civil War through the Civil Rights era, as well as the origins of jazz and Kansas City’s contributions to this distinctly American art form.
Dorothy, you are NOT in Kansas anymore!
9AM – 3PM
- $115
- Advance Registration Required. Limited capacity. (FYI limit is 35)
- This tour is exclusively indoors
- Arrive by 8:45AM
- Bus departs from Oread Hotel at 9AM
- Boxed lunch included.
- You may bring your baggage on the bus and make arrangements to depart from any site using ride share or other transportation service.
- Bus returns to Oread Hotel at 3PM
- Registration deadline May 29.
Like the stories “Alice in Wonderland” or “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” this excursion explores feats of imagination, features of the Kansas City landscape, and dramatic shifts in scale through two museums that showcase collections and stories both larger–and smaller–than life. Between the two, we will take a brief detour by SubTroplis, the 7.4 million square foot limestone cave complex beneath Kansas City where the US Postal Service stores its stamp collection and other institutional collections are housed, as well as numerous business operations.
Be among the first to peer into the world’s first “explor-a-storium,” the Rabbit Hole, before it opens to the public later this year. Conceived and constructed by artists in consultation with leading children’s book authors, this museum features three floors of children’s literature brought to life as three-dimensional, multi-sensory, discoverable environments. Within this radical literary wonderland, you can whisper “Goodnight Moon” in the quiet dark of the great green room; outshine Mr. Sun with Sam and the Tigers; or find yourself scaling the cliffs of My Father’s Dragon. This opportunity provides insight into the making of this immersive museum as you wander through some of your favorite stories and interact with your favorite characters.
Located on the campus of the University of Missouri–Kansas City, the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures is home to the world’s largest collection of fine-scale miniatures and one of the largest collections of historic toys in the United States. Name any type of object and you are likely to find a miniature version among the 4,000 on view in the maze of miniatures galleries. In the toy galleries, explore generations of childhood, serious play, and how we learn and transmit cultural beliefs through the toys, games, dolls, trains, and other objects of imagination and ingenuity on view.
