A Letter from Our Director
A Year of Gratitude and Renewal
Greetings VAM members and supporters,
As I reflect on 2025 and wrap up my first year as the Executive Director for the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM), I find myself feeling grateful for the museum community across the Commonwealth and Washington, D.C.; grateful for your trust and patience as VAM re-envisions and rebuilds. This year has sparked great momentum with new state-wide organizational partnerships, new educational programming, and a revamped advocacy initiative and strategy.
With a renewed commitment to service through workforce development, networking, and thought leadership, we are excited to embrace many new opportunities to support the museum community in 2026. This past year was focused on rebuilding the community profile through enhanced programming and stronger fundraising initiatives to address financial solvency for the organization. Most importantly, VAM was able to stabilize and rebuild organizational capacity to best serve you by welcoming Melissa Maxwell, Assistant Director of Membership and Communications, and Dominique Hubbard, Conference Administrator. These two wonderful professionals have greatly helped elevate the community profile for the organization and have streamlined many processes for membership, communications, and conference planning. For more information on the progress made in 2025, read our annual report below.
As we turn the page to 2026 and build upon our commitment to service, I am excited to announce the launch of our brand-new sustained giving program. This new donor initiative is designed to create deeper impacts and more meaningful support our cultural institutions across the Commonwealth and D.C. through enhanced educational programming and community engagement opportunities. An individual gift to VAM of any kind – at any level – is an investment in the cultural sector and landscape across Virginia and beyond. I hope you will join VAM and the governing Council as we continue to grow and expand upon our role as an industry leader for arts, history, and culture.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday season.
With deep gratitude,
Casey Jenkins
VAM 2026 conference information
The theme for the 2026 conference is: Little ‘r’ Revolutions: Museum Transformations for Everyone
The 250th anniversary of the United States offers the opportunity to showcase the transformative power of “revolutions” in our future planning, work cultures, and democratizing our institutions. Our colleagues will showcase workshops, panels, and posters that teach us all about the “small r” revolutions that VAM members are leading and for all of us to reflect on the opportunities these changes offer for our field.
Virginia is fortunate to have a rich and diverse museum community that preserves, protects, and interprets the Commonwealth’s cultures, arts, sciences, lives, and histories. The quality of collections, programs, and exhibits in the Commonwealth is exceptional. Creative collaborations between museums and other organizations lead to innovative approaches that have the power to transform communities.
Check out the Conference page, for all things Conference Related! Annual Conference - Virginia Association of Museums Conference Sponsorship and Exhibit Booth Information
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