Museum Development Associates

Museum Development Associates was founded to provide services aimed at improving the operations and infrastructure of small, rural and emerging museums in the Southwest, so that they might become greater economic contributors to their communities. We provide:

- Professional development for staff and board through workshops and specialized training;

- Inventory services and collections care training

- Conservation assessments

- Organizational development for start-up museums

- Creation of preservation plans to protect collections

- Exhibition development and project management

- Analysis of governance and financial management

- Communication of best practices via listserv and website

Since 2005, MDA has offered more than 30 workshops on topics as varied as collections care for different types of objects, inventory, museum management, volunteer recruitment, and designing museum products. We have conducted strategic planning for ten small museums located throughout New Mexico; we also provide conservation assessments, both as part of the Heritage Preservation CAP Program and on contract.

M. Susan Barger, PhD, co-founder of MDA and Director since 2008, has been involved in conservation for over 30 years as a conservation scientist and as an educator, both on the university level and for professional development for small museums. Over the last fifteen years, she has been involved in consulting and training for workers in small museums in the Southwest.