Museums Make New York: The State of Culture
MANY 2026 Annual Conference

May 7–9 2026
New York State Museum | Albany, NY

Bold. Civic. Proud. A statewide call to recognize museums as essential civic infrastructure powering New York's identity, economy, and cultural vitality. Museums don't just belong to New York — they've made New York. They help define what the state stands for: curiosity, creativity, and excellence. From world-renowned institutions to community preservation, every collection and museum professional contributes to shaping the civic and cultural identity of the most museum-rich state on earth. An occasion to celebrate the power and responsibility of the museum field as an engine of New York's global influence, the 2 ½ day 2026 Museum Association of New York Conference in Albany will center museums as engines of social, economic, and cultural impact that:

The Museum Association of New York (ma-nee) MANY's conference programming reflects the full diversity of New York's museum landscape. We will convene in Albany to elevate the museum field's role in public policy, funding, education, and economic development. This includes large and small organizations, as well as historical, scientific, artistic, and community-based institutions, from remote "forever wild" communities to the urban heart of a global megacity, and the Great Lakes to the Long Island Sound. As the staff, volunteers, creative partners, and leaders who make this work possible, we will collectively learn and reflect upon:

• Projects, ideas, or achievements that have advanced the museum field across New York State.
• Opportunities, responsibilities, and rights that New York museums have and that museums elsewhere do not.
• Strengthening the case for museums as essential civic resources; New York is/needs to be a global leader.
• What it means to treat collections as shared public resources for New York.
• How museum experiences—institutional, exhibition, digital, communications, branding, spatial—contribute to civic imagination.
• Ways that museums can, and do, drive New York's economies, creative industries, and tourism.
• Investing in the people who sustain New York's museums and building a more equitable, sustainable workforce.
• Measuring and communicating the impact of New York's museums to policymakers, funders, and communities.
• Plenary Session with The Office of the New York State Attorney General and Charities Bureau, regarding the legal protections, public obligations, and civil rights of museums in New York State.

In light of fundamental changes to the public funding landscape, and to capitalize on relationships with state and elected officials, the 2026 Conference will be held in Albany. Generously co-hosted by the New York State Museum on the Empire State Plaza, at the doorstep of the state government, Museums Make New York: The State of Culture will engage, advocate for, and celebrate the globally admired importance of museums in New York State—whether in terms of their critical role in education, the reverberating community impact, and/or the vital economic effect of cultural revenue. With the proud and unwavering support of the New York Attorney General's Office, this includes legally assured mission-critical commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

For decades, MANY's annual conference has hosted hundreds of museum professionals for learning and networking. This event convenes colleagues across disciplines, sizes, and regions, as well as creative partners, students, and community collaborators. MANY's full membership comprises 700+ museums with annual budgets ranging from <$10,000 to >$300 million, and staff sizes ranging from 1 to over 2,000. Collectively, MANY member institutions welcome more than 20 million visitors annually and contribute over $5 billion to local and global economies. From internationally recognized institutions to local community sites, we are united in commitment to public service and excellence in the arts, humanities, culture, history, and science. Museum professionals, board members, creative partners, students, industry peers, and community collaborators from across New York State are invited to participate.

MANY recognizes that our members' budgets are limited, particularly given reduced public funding for museums. Pricing for the 2026 conference has been streamlined and reduced to the greatest extent possible. Compared to the 2025 baseline, rates for members have been reduced by approximately 15%, and those for students and presenters by 25%. There will be no additional fee for workshops. All attendees and guests are welcome to the Special Event ($75 per person add-on) - we are planning a welcoming, celebratory evening with generous food and drinks for all – Join Us! Further details to be announced.

Scholarship Funds are available to support the attendance of as many New Yorkers as possible, and MANY supporters and sponsors are committed to enabling this. Funds are donor-directed and generally focus on students/emerging-career colleagues, people who self-identify as being from a community historically under- or misrepresented in museums, and/or those traveling from considerable/relatively costly distances. Funds support the cost of registration, hotel accommodations, and travel. Contact director@nysmuseums.org for more information.

Travel & Accommodations

Conference activities will be centered at the New York State Museum on the plaza in downtown Albany. Attendees from beyond the capital region may drive or travel to the area by Amtrak, regional bus services, or flying to nearby Albany International Airport.

Hotel room block details will be shared with Early Registration, including information on travel to the New York State Museum – walking from hotel partners, by public transit, and for on-site parking. Support and/or facilitation for accessible travel to/from the Museum and/or select hotels to any/all other "offsite" programs will be provided upon request. MANY welcomes inquiries regarding travel, accessibility, mobility, and/or other accommodation needs. Designated members of the planning committee are committed to supporting the most inclusive and equitable access to the conference possible.

If you have accommodation needs, including mobility, linguistic, cognitive, sensory, gender-expressive, religious, parental, or medical considerations or inquiries, please contact MANY directly. We are committed to an inclusive conference experience; prejudiced, exclusionary behavior will be neither normalized nor tolerated.

Sessions - Call for Proposals

In addition to plenary sessions, we are proud to invite Session Proposals proposals from museum professionals working for or with nonprofit museums in New York State, as well as from graduate students in New York-based programs of study. For-profit Industry Members are welcome to submit proposals only in collaboration with a museum partner(s), or to propose a (free) collaborative topic-specific subject-matter workshop.

Proposal Guidelines

Submission Form DUE January 31, 2026 | announced March 2026