Join our next free workshop!

No matter what kind of cultural organization you work in, there are stories embedded there: of power, of change, of the same old same old, and sometimes even some new stories.

How can we refocus our storytelling efforts to encourage meaningful learning and conversation?

In this active, participatory webinar, we’ll consider our own blind spots and share some techniques for refocusing narratives and helping your communities and visitors understand those choices. You’ll come away with useful tips, clear examples, and as always, a chance to connect with colleagues.

The workshop is free or pay what you can. All funds will be donated to the California Indian Museum & Cultural Center. This is a virtual workshop and will not be recorded.

And More Chances to Learn with Us!

We’re excited to be partnering with the National Council on Public History for a series of three webinars this spring focusing on dialogue and communication internally within organizations.

Meaningful Conversations In & Out of Public History Institutions:

• Workshop 1: Basic Facilitation and Introduction to Dialogic Work Friday, April 10, 2:00 – 3:30 pm ET
  

• Workshop 2: Ethics Conversations Friday, April 17, 2:00 – 3:30 pm ET
  

• Workshop 3: Up & Down the Ladder: Organizational and Classroom Communication Friday, May 8, 2:00 – 3:30 pm E

What’s sparked our interest?

Community signs marking where panels from the President’s House exhibit on slavery were removed in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

Democracy Forward has compiled a list of National Park Service sites with interpretive signs already removed or targeted for removal. They include two films on labor history at Lowell National Historical Park, signs addressing the history and legacies of enslavement at numerous sites, the erasure of scientific knowledge on topics such as climate change, and the erasure of indigenous histories throughout the nation.

But pushback and resistance works! The City of Philadelphia immediately sued after panels interpreting the history of enslavement at the NPS President’s House were removed.  Community members posted new signage, rallied, and shared information and solidarity. A judge ordered the panels re-installation – and they were.

Stacey recently met Dr. Maya Carrasquillo, founding director of Libratory Infrastructures Lab (LiL), co-creating restorative justice in stormwater infrastructure projects. LiL is part of San Francisco’s citywide coalition building the FUTURE OF US Festival - redefining America’s 250th anniversary by shifting the focus from the past to community-driven visions of what our future could be. Over 10 days, this civic imagination festival uses art, science, and storytelling to equip the public with tools for agency and co-creation. A great example of how cultural institutions can turn a historic milestone into a joyful call to action.

Braden got to visit the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center as they generously hosted a workshop. After many years of admiring it from afar it was powerful to visit in person. It is an extraordinary example of what happens when there is a clear mission to serve and support the full breadth of a community's needs. From the disaster resilience infrastructure to exhibits that addressed the hard and humorous and beautiful, CIMCC seeks to serve the wholeness of its people. A fairly small physical footprint, but an enormous social one. If you have the chance to visit or learn from them, take it!

What are we up to?

Linda and Braden presented virtually at the Interpret Europe symposium, The Role of Narratives in 21st Century Heritage Interpretation, focusing on ways heritage interpreters can be continued anti-oppression learners.

Braden collaborated with amazing colleagues Dina Bailey, Kate Merrick and Jaime Arsenault to co-lead the in-person component of California State Park's Inclusive History Cohorts. These cohorts help Park staff build their capacity to work with partners and the public around histories of the California Missions, the Gold Rush, and colonial violence.

What’s coming up?

Angel Island Team: Reimagining Interpretation Project 2025 kick-off with Stacey and Linda.

Stacey will be joining the team at Angel Island Immigration Station again for a day-long workshop prototyping new interpretive ideas based on their new Theory of Change.

In April, Linda and Braden will be joining the Troutbeck Symposium to hear student projects and provide feedback on the ways the symposium can deepen their work and create new understandings.

The team will be helping plan and facilitate a workshop at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden on the theme: Climate, Heritage, and Policy: Dialogues in Learning, a program of the UNESCO Chair for Heritage Futures.  This workshop will use a framework of learning and dialogue to begin a body of practice that integrates across fields of climate change, archaeology and heritage, and governance and science-policy translation. It will look beyond what is changing in our many environments to explore how we gather, use, manage, store, and share our experiences of these changes.  

Interested in working with us?