Museums Advocacy Day

Save the Date: Museums Advocacy Day 2019 – Feb. 25-26, in Washington, D.C.

(Registration to open mid-November or shortly thereafter.)

Museums Advocacy Day is a unique opportunity to join with other museum professionals and supporters to make the case for museums. Learn more in the 2018 highlights below.

Museums Advocacy Day 2018 Highlights

The 10th Annual Museums Advocacy Day brought together over 330 advocates in Washington, D.C. In 2018:

• 335 museum advocates made visits to 395 congressional offices.
• Advocates shared key data from our new Museums as Economic Engines and Museums & Public Opinion 2017 reports.
• Museums of all types were represented, including art, history, science and children’s museums as well as zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, historic houses and sites and more. Adding to our message were over 35 museum trustees and individual museum supporters, independent professionals and service organizations who work for and with museums.
• Advocates heard from a host of bipartisan museum champions currently serving in the House and Senate about the importance of advocating for museums.
• Program highlights included hearing from federal agency leaders (NEA Chairman Jane Chu, NEH Senior Deputy Chairman Jon Peede, IMLS Deputy Director for Museum Services Paula Gangopadhyay, and Megan Brown, Chief, State, Tribal, Local Plans & Grants at NPS), Susie Wilkening of Wilkening Consulting and AAM’s Rob Stein on the newly released economic impact and public polling research, Jonathan Grella of the U.S. Travel Association on museums and the power of travel, and AAM’s Director of Inclusion, Nicole Ivy, sharing a view from the future. In honor of the 10^th annual event, there was special recognition of 10-time attendee advocates.
• We recognized two Congressional Honorees for their work as Museum Champions in Congress, Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
• We saw the power of the museum field coming together to raise our voices, share our data and tell our stories to legislators. And we learned just how many pending federal policy decisions affecting museums remain to be decided this year.

See the 2018 Advocate Materials

Get the updated Issue Briefs, Museum Facts Infographic, Publicity Tool Kit and other materials to advocate for museums throughout 2018.

Join the Cause: Advocate from Anywhere

You don’t have to be in Washington, D.C. to make the case for museums. The stakes have never been higher and every voice matters. Use our advocacy tools to join the cause and Speak Up for Museums during Museums Advocacy Day and throughout the year.

Thank You 2018 Supporters

Museums Advocacy Day would not be possible without broad, field-wide support. See the 2018 partners.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

Use #museumsadvocacy and #museumsadvocacy2018 to join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.