From Friday, November 14 to Sunday, November 16, the Student Advisory Board of the Princeton University Art Museum had the ability to send three delegates to the Students in Museums Summit (SIMS) at Vassar College. Convened by The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Student Advisory Committee, this event brought together student representatives from 10 institutions across the Northeast. At the event, SAB members had the opportunity to hear from renowned speakers and engage in meaningful dialogue with fellow students about their experiences, adversities, and aspirations.
“As someone interested in continuing to work in museums, this event provided a look into many of the diverse approaches and challenges faced by college-based museums,” said Paige Walworth ’26, SAB Vice President of Marketing. “Although I’ve worked with the SAB for the past two years, Princeton’s Museum only just opened. Because of this, the opportunity to hear from other students on their experiences engaging with campus collections in a physical space was especially impactful.”
At a morning keynote presentation by Miki Garcia, Director of the ASU Art Museum (@asuartmuseum), participants had the chance to hear about the goals of the ASU Art Museum in its efforts to engage the local community and support students through to graduation.
“I found Miki Garcia’s keynote presentation incredibly interesting,” said Talia Goldman ’27, SAB Chair of Student Engagement. “I particularly resonated with her discussion of the importance of place specificity and community members as our own Museum, a brand-new space meant to be a town hub as well as a gathering space for visitors from far away, undergoes a defining period of increasing community engagement.”
Later that afternoon, Karen Vidangos, the Senior Manager of Social Media at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (@metmuseum), shared her experience pursuing a career in the arts and running the social media accounts for several major institutions. Entitled “From Galleries to the Grid: Museum Storytelling on Social Media,” Vidangos provided valuable insights into how social media can educate, entertain, and build community while amplifying voices often left out of institutional narratives.
“Karen’s lecture was not only interesting but inspiring: it taught me how to think about the role of museums in the modern age,” said Jane Buckhurst ’27, General SAB Member. “I had previously assumed much of a museum’s social media presence was devoted to drawing in audiences, but Karen explained that most of the Met’s following would never step foot in the museum. Instead, she has her team focus on education: how can they use their account to tell stories and create learning experiences? This talk really reoriented the way I think about social media, and its potential to inspire a wide range of audiences.”
“I’m definitely inspired to incorporate more of the storytelling aspects described by Karen into SAB initiatives,” agreed Walworth.
Throughout the day, SAB members also had the chance to discuss with fellow students about some of the challenges facing their museums through structured breakout sessions.
Walworth, who participated in Museums as a Resource and Difficult Histories, said that this experience provided a valuable chance to engage in difficult, but meaningful, conversations about the past of museums and ways to readdress previous harms through modern actions.
Buckhurst recalled how the discussions in the Community Engagement and Student Engagement sessions highlighted the importance of not only bringing diverse audiences into the museum and making them feel comfortable, but also bringing pieces of the museum to communities in need. “It made me think about how we could do more work with Younity (where our Community Engagement Committee currently volunteers) and create more structured programming that engages with the Museum,” Buckhurst reflected.
Goldman echoed that similar topics were addressed in her sessions, Inner Workings and Community Engagement, and expanded on the role of museums in fostering engagement. “We discussed family events as a way to increase public engagement with our museum, bilingual programming and labels, and how relationships with local communities build at the pace of trust,” recalled Goldman. “As we open the building again, thinking about ways to get community members who may not feel welcome in museums excited about and engaged in the Museum is absolutely crucial.”
As a whole, SAB members cited the Summit as a valuable experience for their academic development and enhancing their roles as members of the SAB.
“I think this conference has ultimately opened my eyes to the many different ways that students can get involved with museums and champion new initiatives,” said Buckhurst.
“SIMS was a wonderful experience. It was meaningful to meet so many students with like-minded interests and concerns,” said Goldman. “I’m grateful to the Princeton University Art Museum for sending us to the summit, and to the students at Vassar for organizing such a fruitful event!”
“From this experience, I was hoping to learn from peers across the region and brainstorm initiatives to bring back to the newly opened Princeton University Art Museum,” recounted Walworth. “And I’m happy to say that that’s exactly what I got.”
The event drew representatives from 10 institutions across the Northeast. 
Miki Garcia, Director of the ASU Art Museum, presents “Making Meaning: Place & Space at the ASU Art Museum.” 
Afternoon speaker session “From Galleries to the Grid: Museum Storytelling on Social Media” presented by Karen Vidangos, the Senior Manager of Social Media at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
Talia Goldman and Paige Walworth pose with Henry Moore’s “Double Standing Figure” at the Loeb Art Center. Moore is the same artist who designed “Oval with Points” on Princeton’s campus.