National Museum Publishing Seminar
The National Museum Publishing Seminar was founded in 1989 to provide resources for and build a community of publishing professionals in museum settings. Since then, the field has grown dramatically beyond its humble roots. With the addition of new roles such as chief content officers as well as colleagues in interpretation and education, this broader and more diverse community is working together to communicate the crucial - and changing - role of the museum today.
NMPS Mission, Audience, and History
Our mission: The purpose of the National Museum Publishing Seminar is to foster innovative conversations on the role of museum publishing and forge supportive, creative connections among the museum publishing community. As repositories of our communities’ cultural, historic, and scientific resources, museums are in a unique position to develop specialized publications that reflect their collections, as well as scholarly and educational missions, in print and digital format.
Museum publication programs serve many purposes: scholarly, documentary, informational—and entertaining. Museums publish scholarly and popular books, monographs, catalogs, brochures, maps, and periodicals. Some of these share the results of exhibitions, research projects, and conservation activities. Others aim to educate and inform the larger public about science, history, anthropology, fine arts, popular culture, and other subjects of museum collections. Among the most popular museum publications are visitors’ guides and maps, exhibition catalogs, souvenir books, journals and magazines, often translated into many languages. field.
Our audience: Speakers and attendees are drawn from the publications, digital media, and marketing departments at art, science, and history museums, as well as academics and professionals from university presses, small publishers, design firms, and freelancers. They are joined by sponsors and exhibitors who collaborate with museums by providing paper, printing, photographic expertise, design, writing, editing, packaging, web design, translation, and other services.
Attendees come from a variety of personal and professional contexts, but are united in their desire for deep discussion around museum publishing and their appreciation of museum publications as art objects in their own right.
Our history: The National Museum Publishing Seminar is the only program of its kind in the world. It was founded in 1989 to provide resources for and build a community of publishing professionals in museum settings. Since then, the field has grown dramatically to include new roles, such as chief content officers, colleagues in interpretation and education, and community members from a variety of museums beyond the United States. This broad and diverse community is working together to communicate the crucial—and ever-changing—role of the museum today.
The conference: This three-day seminar takes place every other year and travels around the United States, alternating in Chicago, to showcase the latest expertise among professionals who work on a spectrum of museum publishing and related services. Starting with 2020, the conference has featured virtual experiences in advance of our onsite meetings.
2025 Dates and Location
The 2025 in-person conference will be hosted at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, MD, from June 29-July 1, 2025.
We will also host virtual conferences prior to meeting onsite.
Please consult this site for updates on the exact dates, hotel location and registration information.
Submit a Proposal to Present at NMPS 2025!
Do you have a successful project you'd like to share with your peers? Have you created an innovative tool or strategy that our community could benefit from? Are you working through a challenge that may be common to other museums?
Each year, our most popular topics tend to coincide with pressing and timely questions and issues experienced by a wide cross section of museum organizations. Consider your own experience, recent policy and research, and your colleagues' input as you develop your topic.
Submit your idea for a 60-minute session at the 2025 NMPS. Possible formats include: panel, discussion, workshop, networking event, lecture —or feel free to suggest something new!
Committee members can help connect you with other potential panelists or partners, so please don’t hesitate to pitch a proposal or suggest an idea.
Please use this form to submit your proposal. Proposals are due October 31, 2024. We will send acceptance notices by December 31, 2024.
2025 Planning Committee
The conference and associated digital sessions will be organized by the 2025 Planning Committee. Please join us in thanking the following individuals:
Suzanne Abrams Rebillard, Corning Museum of Glass (USA)
J.M. Conway, University of Chicago Graham School (USA)
Erin Cecele Dunigan, Getty Publications (USA)
Allie Haeusslein, Pier 24 Photography (USA)
Martina Kado, Maryland Center for History and Culture (USA) (2025 NMPS Chair)
Matt Mayerchak, Myerchak + Company (USA)
Liz Neely, Georgia O'Keefe Museum (USA)
Megan Patty, National Gallery of Victoria (Australia)
Pascal Scallon-Chouinard, Canadian Museum of History and Canadian War Museum (Canada)
Tanya Thrasher (Cherokee Nation), National Museum of the American Indian (USA)
Emily Zoss, National Gallery of Art (USA)
2025 Exhibitors and Sponsors
Watch this space for updates.
2025 Premium Conference Exhibitors
| To Be Announced |
2025 Conference Exhibitors
| To Be Announced |
Ready to join us?
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