CAM’s vision is “Stronger Museums for a Stronger California”. Our role in realizing this vision is to unify and strengthen California museums to expand their collective impact. CAM is governed by a Board of Directors that provides strategic direction and oversight.
About CAM
To support the success of California museums and their communities, our key programs and services include: professional development programs, including an annual conference and regional workshops that address best practices and trends; CAM eNews, which is distributed every two weeks to thousands of subscribers; studies and reports; an active advocacy program that monitors legislation and spearheads strategic initiatives to support funding sources; and special initiatives that promote provide leadership in important issues affecting the field. Much of CAM’s work is led by Member Committees that actively involve members of the association.
CAM supports over 1200 individual, business and institutional members within our association. Our institutional members are located throughout the state of California and range in size, scope, and discipline. They include historical societies, cultural centers, art museums, botanical gardens, science centers, tribal museums, zoos, aquariums, and children’s museums. Our business members assist the museum field in various ways and can be found organized by service type in our Business Directory.
We work collaboratively with many statewide and national partners to achieve shared goals, including the California Arts Council, California State Parks, California Humanities, the California State Library, California Natural Resources Agency, the California Department of Education, the California Preservation Program, Exhibit Envoy, the Western Museums Association, the American Association of Museums, and the Association for State and Local History.
CAM's Racial Equity Statement
As an alliance of museums and individuals, the California Association of Museums (CAM) is committed to realizing our vision of Stronger Museums for a Stronger California. We recognize that museums have been and continue to be complicit in promoting stories, individuals, and values that reinforce white supremacy and dominant cultures while marginalizing and oppressing others. To accurately represent the people of California, yesterday and today, strong and resilient museums must center equity in their practices and work to intentionally disrupt racism and practices of exclusion.
We believe equity is essential in fulfilling our mission to “unify and strengthen museums to expand their collective impact.” We are committed to helping our field reveal underlying structures of privilege and cultures of bias to interrupt racism and oppression. This work must start by acknowledging our organization’s complicity in perpetuating these oppressive systems and proclaiming our moral obligation to listen, learn, and transform. We will continue this process by implementing a work plan (below) that measures our actions and accountable steps to foster a culture of anti-racism and inclusion.
Annual Reports
We submit an annual report to our membership on our programs, financial health, and new initiatives.
California Arts Council Grants
CAM is supported in part by grants from the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. To learn more about the arts in California, the Arts License Plate, and other initiatives for the arts in California, please visit the CAC Website.
