Field Notes: Summer 2025 Travel Across Museums and Art Fairs
Our work at Museum Exchange is national in scope and relies on partnerships with museums of all shapes and sizes across the country. As such, we regularly travel outside of the traditional art centers to meet with museum professionals and art collectors so we can deepen our understanding of their needs. Already this summer, we’ve had the opportunity to connect with colleagues at a handful of specialized conferences and art fairs—events that not only make networking more efficient but also offer a chance to engage with the vibrant local cultures of the host cities. I’m excited to share a few observations and discoveries from these recent experiences.
Earlier this month I was fortunate to attend the Art Museum Development Association’s (AMDA) annual meeting in Detroit. Hosted at the always impressive Detroit Institute of Arts, we heard reports from the front lines of cultural fundraising, detailing the creative ways that these intrepid professionals are pivoting their efforts to ensure the viability of their institutions today and long into the future. The drastic and unexpected reduction in federal funding under the current administration was, of course, a key topic of discussion; but so too were the ethics around donor cultivation, the role that Millennials and Gen Z will play in shaping the future of our institutions, and a meaningful reminder that for most philanthropically-minded people, there is real joy in giving back.
We were also treated to walking tours and field trips to see the ways that art and culture continue to flourish in Detroit, a city that was famously transformed by a massive outflux of its population in the late 20th century. We witnessed two neighborhoods on opposite sides of downtown that are being revived and transformed by a new generation of creatives that includes architects, artists, chefs, bakers, and mixologists. One of those reinvestment efforts centers around a decommissioned church which has been repurposed as a dramatic exhibition space called The Shepherd that hosts rotating exhibitions, and is further enlivened by a speakeasy, skateboard park, sculpture garden, bed and breakfast, and bakery on its campus, all of which are accessible to the surrounding neighborhood in a massive gesture of goodwill and hope.
Aerial view: The Shepherd campus grounds (foreground), Detroit, MI, designed by the Office of Strategy + Design (OSD). Photo: Library Street Collective.
My colleague América Salomón has just returned from another conference, this one dedicated to the museums and galleries on college campuses across the country, organized by the Association of Academic Museum and Galleries (AAMG) and held in Albuquerque, NM. We’ve gotten to know so many of these often small, sometimes peripheral spaces that nevertheless produce high-quality programming and consistently serve their communities. A large number of these institutions lack acquisition budgets to grow their collections, and they’ve found in Museum Exchange a vital resource to breathe new life into their holdings and make connections with new patrons far outside their geographic areas.
One of the most inspiring panels that América attended was led by the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum (CAUAM), which is elevating its deep historical significance, leaning on its permanent collection, and looking toward the future through digital humanities initiatives to envision an “Audacious Platform” with which to engage their student body and broader communities. Museums such as this rarely catch the notice of the national media and yet they do exemplary work and garner respect amongst their peers while preparing a new generation to enter the field—as evidenced by CAUAM’s selection for the National Museum of African American History & Culture’s pilot HBCU History and Culture Access Consortium (HCAC).
My travels also took me to a brand new art fair, dreamt up by three women with their own independent art businesses who felt that a more intimate and personal forum for bringing gallerists, collectors, and curators together was needed. Their vision culminated in Arrival Art Fair, which debuted two weeks ago in North Adams, MA at a hip hotel called Tourists that is situated half-way between Williams College and MASS MoCA. The area already boasts art attractions such as the aforementioned famed contemporary art museum that took over an abandoned printing factory as well as the exemplary Clark Art Institute and Williams College Museum of Art, so it is no stranger to arts lovers, and its strategic location at the mid-point between New York City and Boston also places it within striking distance of deep art audiences. The bucolic setting, relaxed atmosphere, good food, engaging talks, and ample special events, not to mention an exciting roster of galleries from across the country (even Hawaii!), made it an immediate success and we were proud to be sponsors of this inaugural edition. We were able to see many of our existing curator and collector clients in person, as well as meet new friends and learn about exciting new projects such as the exciting SO-IL-designed Williams College Museum of Art that is already under construction. Arrival has adopted the biennial format, alleviating the pressure to do a fair every year, so we look forward to returning again in 2027 and encourage all of you to consider doing so as well!
While America’s big cities continue to dazzle with their rich cultural offerings that not only lead the nation, but really the world, our work with a wide range of museums and supporters outside of those centers is a poignant reminder that art is everywhere, being carefully tended to by a large ecosystem of dedicated and talented professionals and patrons that continue to do the work even in tenuous and unpredictable times. For that, I salute you!
Installation view: Library Street Collective Booth, Arrival Art Fair, North Adams MA, June 2025. Featuring works by Paul Verdell (painting) and Dee Clements (fiber-based installations). Photo: Mikhail Mishin.
