Connecting to Collections Care

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the mental health movement in the workplace has been growing for several years. Beginning in 2022, AIC's Health and Safety (H&S) Network has been working to better understand the mental stresses conservators face in the workplace and developing resources that meet the needs of the community. In 2024, the H&S Network conducted an AIC membership-wide survey and two conservator-based mental health focus groups moderated by Dr. Stephanie Arel, who has conducted research on trauma in memorial museums around the world. Now this program is being expanded to those who work in the wider cultural heritage sector starting with the C2C Care Community and its vibrant collective of small and mid-sized institutions.

Presenters: 

• Dr. Stephanie N. Arel, Fordham University
• Stephanie Black, Conservator, Anchorage Museums/Chair, AIC Health & Safety Network
• Dr. Holly Cusack-McVeigh, Indiana University Indianapolis (IUI), Associate Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies, Public Scholar of Collections and Community Curation, Adjunct Associate Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies
• Dr. Mark Wilson, Clinical Assistant Professor, Occupational and Environmental Health, Sciences | Biomedical Health Sciences, Purdue University

To register: https://connectingtocollections.org/mental_health_for_cultural_heritage_workers/