Museum Educators of Southern California

Museum Educators of Southern California An inclusive alliance of critically aware museum educators. Join our community by becoming a member!

06/08/2026

Missed this year’s MESC Annual Institute? Join us for a virtual session that revisits and expands on the inspiring poster presentations featured at the AI.

In a dynamic ‘speed round’ format, poster presenters will share brief overviews of their projects, highlight key insights, and discuss practical takeaways for attendees.This is a great opportunity to connect with innovate ideas, learn from colleagues, and engage with work you may have missed during the conference.

We hope you’ll join us for these amazing presentations.

Monday. June 29, 2026 | 3pm-4:30pm |
Free for MESC Members and 2026 AI Attendees | $10 non-members | $5 Post-Session Recording

Register today! Link in bio or givebutter.com/ConvergenceinAction

06/02/2026

More than three weeks after this year’s MESC Annual Institute: Convergence | Collaboration as Critical Strategy, we continue reflecting with gratitude on the tremendous efforts, labor, insights, and intention cultivated by our featured speakers, presenters, and community members that made this event possible.

May 11 was more than just an opportunity to gather and network— it was a moment where emerging and established leaders convened to critically assess what is needed in the ever-growing field of museum education throughout a shifting social and political landscape.
Through empowering conversations, lessons, motivational peer-to-peer dialogue, creative research presentations and encouragement from local industry leaders, this year’s Annual Institute truly encapsulated core strengths of Southern California’s museum educator community: resilience, curiosity, collaboration, and an eagerness to excel together.

MESC extends our deep gratitude to those who were present and in community with us, for without our incredible network of leaders, learners, scholars, educators, professionals, and everyone else in between, this year’s Annual Institute truly would not have been possible.
MESC is dedicated to creating welcoming, encouraging and reflective platforms for collaboration so that the field of museum education can grow towards inclusive and progressive heights. We hope this year’s Annual Institute contributes to a future of museum education that is transformative, impactful, and inspiring for many, many years to come.

MESC would like to thank for this amazing video footage,
To our incredible host venue ,
Our inspiring Keynote Speakers from and Breakout Session Speakers of ,
& to our creative, talented, and insightful lineup of Poster Session Presenters!

We can’t wait for next year’s Annual Institute!

05/08/2026

The Annual Institute is right around the corner— do you have your ticket yet?

MESC Annual Institute 2026: Convergence
Petersen Automotive Museum
Monday, May 11 | 9 AM - 3 PM

This Annual Institute emerges from our current era: one that necessitates community and collaboration now more than ever. This full day of learning, networking, exploring, and convening will yield crucial moments of transformation that will powerfully impact the future of museum education for years to come.

Converse with your colleagues and meet new collaborators across departments and institutions, learn from a dynamic series of poster presentations created by an amazing lineup of educators, hear from industry leaders from institutions throughout Southern California, and join us for Happy Hour at All Season Brewing at 4 PM to continue conversations with colleagues and friends, old and new.

Admission includes breakfast, lunch, and access to all conference sessions. Don’t miss out— reserve your spot today! Link in bio or visit givebutter.com/AI26Convergence

05/08/2026

The Annual Institute is only four days away and we are so excited to welcome you all— our incredible community of educators and professionals across all career stages— to our convening dedicated to building a stronger network of museum educators in Southern California.

MESC Annual Institute 2026: Convergence
Petersen Automotive Museum
Monday, May 11 | 9 AM - 3 PM

Your Annual Institute experience will consist of networking opportunities designed to spark cross-departmental and cross-institutional collaboration, and keynote speeches and breakout sessions led by industry leaders from Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, San Bernardino County Museum, Skirball Cultural Center, and LACMA. You’ll have opportunities to connect with, share, and learn from a stellar lineup of educators showcasing a range of cross-disciplinary approaches and emerging practices shaping the museum field during our Poster Session Presentations.

This Annual Institute is all about intersection: crossing roles, departments, disciplines, institutions, and lived experiences to understand better how museum education is practiced, supported, challenged, and sustained. At a time when museum educators are being asked to do more with fewer resources, this year’s Annual Institute centers collaboration as a critical strategy for resilience, relevance, and impact.

Admission includes breakfast, lunch, and access to all conference sessions, and join us for a post-Annual Institute Sip & Share Happy Hour at 4 PM to continue catching up with colleagues and discuss all things MESC at All Season Brewing, just a 5-minute drive or 20-minute walk from Petersen Automotive Museum.
Don’t miss out on your chance to be a part of this one-day event dedicated to strengthening our communities and fortifying connections to inspire action and create change.

Secure your spot today! Link in bio or visit givebutter.com/AI26Convergence

05/06/2026

Come Sip & Share with us after the Annual Institute!

Let’s unwind after the MESC Annual Institute with a casual happy hour at All Season Brewing Company (800 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036)! Just a 5-minute drive or a 20- minute walk from the Petersen Automotive Museum, It’s the perfect spot to relax, learn about MESC membership, and keep the conversations going with colleagues from across Southern California. We hope to see you there!

All Season Brewing Company
800 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles
4 PM

If you haven’t grabbed your ticket to the Annual Institute yet, it’s not too late! Visit the link in our bio or givebutter.com/AI26Convergence

05/04/2026

We are so eager to introduce our next featured speaker who will be joining us and leading a Breakout Session at next week’s Annual Institute.

Meet Dr. Kidogo A. Kennedy, Director, Academic Programs and Partnerships at LACMA ()

Co-Creating the “Living Archive”: Designing New Pathways for Museum Education
Step into a dynamic conversation about what museums can become—not just places that preserve history, but vibrant spaces where knowledge is continuously created, shared, and reimagined. In this hands-on workshop and conversation, participants will explore how museums function as “living archives”—active evolving ecosystems shaped by the people, stories, and communities they serve. Using an ecological systems framework, this session guides you in mapping relationships across your institution’s role and beyond, revealing pathways for deeper collaboration, meaningful partnerships, and innovative approaches to museum education.

Dr. Kidogo A. Kennedy is an educator, strategist, and meaning-maker utilizing communication as both art and infrastructure. An alum of CSU, Los Angeles (B.A. in Speech; M.A. Organizational Communication) and USC (Ed.D. in Educational Psychology), she has spent years in higher education moving fluidly between classroom and boardroom grounding her work in a deep understanding of how people learn, relate, and transform together.

Now serving as Director, Academic Programs and Partnerships at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), she brings her signature blend of rigor and imagination to the museum ecosystem building bridges between institutions of higher education, communities, and the expansive possibilities of public scholarship integrating academia and museums into experiential journeys that are bold and alive.

Don’t miss out on your chance to connect with and learn from our incredible Breakout Session Speakers at the Annual Institute next Monday. It’s not too late to secure your spot— grab your ticket using the link in our bio or givebutter.com/AI26Convergence.

See you next Monday!

05/01/2026

We’re excited to introduce our next MESC 2026 Annual Institute Breakout Session Speaker!

Meet Anna Lund, Education Programs Specialist at the Skirball Cultural Center ()

What Do You Carry With You?
This hands-on workshop takes a closer look at the Skirball Cultural Center's In-School Residency Program and offers educators, artists, and community specialists a scalable framework for developing multi-week residencies that connect museum collections with students' personal identities. Using the Skirball’s "What do you carry with you?" prompt as a catalyst, participants will collaborate to design mini-curricula that align institutional goals with ethnic studies and social-emotional learning. By bridging the gap between specific cultural narratives—such as Jewish history—and universal student experiences, attendees will learn to center identity-based pedagogy and creative practice within sustainable community engagement models.

Anna Lund (she/her) is an Education Programs Specialist at the Skirball Cultural Center, where she oversees the development and implementation of curricula and programming for grades 5 – 12. Her work includes school tours, in-school residencies, and professional development for staff. Anna previously served as an Advisory Committee Member for TeenTix LA and worked as an educator, program coordinator, and artist with Seattle’s Taproot Theatre Company. She holds a BFA in Acting and a degree in Honors Humanities from Azusa Pacific University.

Come learn from our incredible speakers and stay tuned as we announce our next session leaders who will present at the 2026 MESC Annual Institute: Convergence | Collaboration as Critical Strategy

May 11 2026 | Petersen Automotive Museum | 9 AM - 3 PM

There are ten days left to secure your spot to the Annual Institute. Grab your ticket today! Link in bio or givebutter.com/AI26Convergence

05/01/2026

Now introducing our first MESC 2026 Annual Institute Breakout Session Speakers!

Eliana Zacarias | Curator of Education
Erica Barajas | Associate Curator of Education
San Bernardino County Museum

Meant to Degrade: The Care and Interpretation of Educational Objects and Collections
Every museum holds a teaching collection—but how do we steward it across departments and disciplines? This roundtable explores convergence in practice, where Education, Collections, and curatorial teams collaborate to care for and activate hands-on objects. Through case studies, examples of tangible interpretive techniques, and open discussion, participants will examine shared stewardship models and rethink educational object use to expand access while balancing preservation, interpretation, and community engagement.

About our speakers:
Erica Barajas is the Associate Curator of Education at the San Bernardino County Museum, truly passionate about community and access to alternative learning venues. As an educator, she has communicated in various museums, nature centers, and national parks where she developed engaging programs, virtual content, and hands-on creative activities to express the importance of art, science, and environmental stewardship in her communities.

Eliana Zacarias is the Curator of Education at the San Bernardino County Museum who has a passion for museum education specializing in public programs and community building. Her educational background drives her interest in the intersections of art, public service, and education. Her work in the past 12 years within the museum field has revolved around the development of equitable and inclusive educational experiences for all community members.

Come learn from these incredible speakers and stay tuned as we announce our next session leaders who will present at the 2026 MESC Annual Institute: Convergence | Collaboration as Critical Strategy

May 11 2026 | Petersen Automotive Museum | 9 AM - 3 PM

Don’t miss out on a day of learning, networking, and collaborating to collectively shape the future of museum education. Grab your ticket today! Link in bio or givebutter.com/AI26Convergence

04/30/2026

Tomorrow! It's not too late to RSVP for our next MESC Features with California Art Education Association () Thursday, April 30 at 4:30pm.

Join us on Thursday, April 30, 2026 from 4:30pm-6:00pm for Intersections: Museum Educators and Classroom Teachers Connect. This engaging panel explores arts education in California museums, bringing together classroom teachers and art museum educators from across the state of California to discuss accessibility, meaningful collaboration, and building sustainable partnerships.

Through dialogue and shared examples of intentional practice, participants will gain insights into bridging the gap between museums and school communities while strengthening systems that support arts learning statewide.

Participants will leave with practical resources, strategies, and connections to support collaboration between museums and school communities.

This program is recommended for mid-career professionals; educators across all levels welcome to join.

April 30, 2026 | 4:30pm-6:00pm | Zoom

Free for both MESC and CAEA members.
MESC members: check your emails for our registration code! If you’d like to receive the code again, please email [email protected]
$10 non-members | $5 for recording/assets only (free for members)

Register today using the link in bio or visit mesconline.org/events

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