Resume 2026

ELAINE HEUMANN GURIAN Elaine Heumann Gurian, LLC (EIN 54-2039294) 1016 South Wayne Street, Apt. T03, VA 22204 egurian@localhost:8680, localhost:8680 Cell: 703-209-8780 RESUME 2026 EXPERIENCE SUMMARY: • Principal: Elaine Heumann Gurian LLC.: Senior advisor to museums and museum systems that are beginning, building, or reinventing themselves focusing on operations, construction, planning, supervision, project management and staff training for inclusion and community building. • Coach: To Directors and Senior Staff in museums undergoing change. • Teacher and lecturer for in-service, undergraduate and graduate museum education, museum leadership, and museology programs: • Member of the founding committee of the Museum Group, an association of senior museum consultants and former president. • Senior consultant to organizations that concentrate, in part, on reconciliation between the majority and minority cultures of their country • Visiting Scholar and Fellow: • Speaker, Lecturer and Facilitator: • Writer and Editor, including: 1. Centering the Museum, 2006 and 2. Civilizing the Museum, 2021: The Collected Writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian” published by Routledge. STAFF POSITIONS: • 1998 -- 1999 Acting Director, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, • 1991 -- 1994 Deputy Director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. • 1990 -- 1991 Deputy Director for Public Program Planning, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. • 1987 -- 1990 Deputy Assistant Secretary for Museums, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. • 1985 – 1987 Associate Director, The Children’s Museum, Boston, MA. • 1972 – 1985 Director, Exhibit Center, The Children’s Museum, Boston, MA. • 1969 -- 1972 Director of Education, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA. ELECTED: • ICOM US Board, 2009-2014. • American Poetry Museum, President, 2004-2007. • TyPA, Argentina Foundation for the Arts, Advisory Board, 2004-present. • The Museum Group, (association of independent museum professionals), President 2000-2005. • American Association of Museums, Vice President 1982-1984, Treasurer 1984-1988, Council 1980-1982, 1989-1991. • CECA/ICOM (International museum educators) Vice-President, 1980-83, 1983-86. • AAM/ICOM (International museum organization), Board of Directors, 1980-84. Executive Board, 1979-83, 1983-86. • AAM/Education Committee (AAM/EdComm), Regional Representative, 1977-79, Advisory Board, 1980-1989. AWARDED: • Fulbright Specialist – Ukraine, Museum of the Euro-Maidan 2017-18. • Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Fellow, Santa Fe, NM, 2015 • Osher Fellow, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA, 2012 • Salzburg Scholar, Salzburg Seminar, 2011 • Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Argentina, 2007. • American Association of Museums Centennial Honor Roll, 2006. • Distinguished Service to Museums, American Association of Museums, 2004. • The Lab School Outstanding Learning Disabled Achiever Award, 1993. • Brandeis University Class of 1958 Distinguished Alumni Award, 1993. • Museum Educators Award for Excellence, 1985. • National Endowment for the Arts Museum Fellowship, 1985. • National Museum Act Travel Fellowship, 1974. APPOINTED: • National Advisory Council, Mississippi Museum of Art, 2018-2023 • ViequesLove, Vieques, Puerto Rico, Board of Directors, 2018-2023. • Vieques Concert Society, Vieques, Puerto Rico, Board of Directors 2015, Vice President, 2016 - 2022. • Vieques Conservation Trust, Vieques Puerto Rico, Advisor, 2005-2013. • Routledge Press, Museum Encyclopedia, International panel, 2005. • Brandeis University Visiting Committee for the Arts, 1999-2005. • Brandeis University 40th Reunion, program chair, 1997, program committee 2003. • AAM, Strategic Planning Committee 1997, Program Committee, 1992. • Task Force on Education, creators of Excellence and Equity, 1990-1991, 1994-96. • Te Papa, The Museum of New Zealand, chair, peer review panel, program, 1994. • Pew Foundation, City Life Program panel, 1991. • Experimental Gallery Advisory Panel, Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC, 1989-1993. • American Museum of Natural History, Education Visiting Committee, New York, NY, March 1990. • Conference and tour for the Indo-US Sub-commission on Education and Culture, “Architecture for Natural History Museums,” February 1990. • Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA, advisor, 1990-1996. • Curator, Editorial Board, 1989-2015. • J.P. Getty Advisory Panel, Museum Management Institute, 1985. • Governor’s Advisory Council, Mental Health/Mental Retardation, 1975-76, 1976-78. • Massachusetts Council on Arts and Humanities, 1972-75. • Governor’s Task Force on Arts and Education, 1972-73. • Brandeis University Hillel, Executive Board, 1976-1980. • Museum Education Information Center, Advisory Board, George Washington University, 1977-79. CONSULTANT / ADVISOR / CLIENT (A PARTIAL LISTING ): 2020-2026:   • Fundacion TyPA, Buenos Aires Argentina, 2006 -- present. •  • Museum of the Euro-Maidan, Kiev, Ukraine, 2015 – present. Wales Museum Service, Cardif, Wales, 2017-18 PAST: • Antorchas Foundation, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002-2004. • Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, 2004. • Bloomfield Science Center, Jerusalem, Israel, 2001. • Bush Foundation, St. Paul, MN, 1993-2009. • Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa, Canada, 2002-2004. • Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada, 1994-1997. • Carlisle Museum Service, Carlisle, England, 1996. • Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL, 2001-2004. • Children’s Museum, Egypt, 1986. • Cirma, National Archives of Guatemala, Antigua, Guatemala, 1999-present. • Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, 2003. • Glasgow Museum Service, Scotland, UK, 1996. • Israel Museum, Ruth Youth Wing, Jerusalem, Israel, 1997. • Jewish Museum Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 1999-2002. • Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2009. • Mayor’s Office, Art Consultant, Summerthing, , Boston, MA. 1969 -- 1971 • Memorial Museum, Rosario, Argentina, 2005-2007. • Memorial Museum of Dominican Resistance, Santo Domingo, DR 2008-2011. • Minister of Culture, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2003-2004. • Minnesota Science Museum, Minneapolis, MN, 1998. • Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MI, 2005. • Municipality of Dubai, U.A.E., 1996-2000. • Museum of London, London, England, UK, 2004 -- 2011. • Museum of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia, 1997. • Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, 1997. • Museum of World Cultures, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2001-2004. • Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CN, 2004. • Nassau County Government, Nassau County, NY, 2005-2007. • National Archive of Film and Video, Canberra, Australia, 2009-2011. • National Arts Council, Mauritius, 1995. • National Audubon Society, New York, NY, 1995. • National Children’s Museum, Washington DC, 2003-2009. • National Discovery Museum, Bangkok, Thailand, 2005-2006. • National Museum of African American History and Culture 2007-2009. • National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, 2004-2007. • National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia, 1997-2003. • National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, 1991-2007. • National Museum of the Army, Washington DC, 2004. • National Museums, Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 2006. • Newmont Gold Mining Company, Denver, CO, 2002-2004. • Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, FL, 2005-2008. • Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative, 2002-2005. • Plimouth Plantation, Plymouth, MA, 2006-2007. • Port Discovery, Baltimore Children’s Museum, Baltimore, MD, 1994-2003. • Prisma, the Government of Puerto Rico Children’s Museum, San Juan, PR, 1995-2001. • Richmond Children’s Museum, Richmond, VA, 1994-1999. • Swedish Cultural Board, Stockholm, Sweden, 2006-2007. • Te Papa, National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand, 1994-2002. • United States State Department, Mission to Chilean Embassy, Santiago, Chile, 2000. • Weeksville Historical Society, Brooklyn, New York, Advisor, NEH Grant, 2006. • World Bank Visitor Center, Washington DC, 2003-2004. • Zona Franca, (tax free zone) Montevideo, Uruguay, 2001. PUBLISHED: • “The Importance of “And”, Complexity Theory and Museums in MacLeod, Suzanne, Austin, Patricia, Hale, Jonathan and Ho, Oscar, eds., The Future of Museum and Gallery Design. Informa UK, LTD, 2017. • “Public Spaces for Strangers, the Foundation for Peacebuilding and the Implications in Heritage Institutions”, Heritage and Peacemaking, in Walters, Diana, Laven, Daniel and Davis, Peter, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK. • “Curator from Soloist to Impresario”, in Cameron, Fiona and Kelly, Linda, ed., Hot Topics, Public Culture, Museums, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Castle on Tyne, UK, 2010, Chapter 5. • “Wanting to be the Third on Your Block”, UM Working Papers in Museum Studies, Number 5 (2010),http://ummsp.lsa.umich.edu/documents/working_papers/5_gurian_2010.pdf • “Museum as Soup Kitchen”, Curator, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. • “One Meter Square” in Sacco, Graciella, M2, Museo Castagnino +MACRO, Rosario, Argentina, 2009. • “A new form of forward, a caution”, Forward in Janes, Robert, Museums in a Troubled World Renewal, Irrelevance or Collapse?, Routledge, 2009. • “Review of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum”, Curator, Volume 50, No 7, 2007. • *”Along the Continuum, Museums and Possibilities, Contest and Contemporary Society, Open Museum Journal, Volume 8,http://amol.org.au/omj/volume8/volume8_index.asp, August, 2006. • *Civilizing the Museum: The Collected Writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian, Routledge, 2006, London and New York. • “The Essential Museum,” Te Ara, Journal of Museums Aotearoa, Volume 31, Issue1, May 2006, pp. 4-12. • “The Potential of Museum Learning, The Essential Museum”, in Lord, Barry, Manual of Museum Learning, Alta Mira, 2007, p. 20ff. • “Free At Last, A Defense in Favor of Free Admission” Museum News, Volume 84, No. 5, Sept/Oct. 2005, Page 33-35, 61-66. • *“Museum Practices Crossing Borders,” Curator, volume 48, number 1, 2005, pp. 18-20. • “Threshold Fear” in MacLeod, Suzanne, Reshaping Museum Space, Routledge, London, 2005. • “Singing and Dancing at Night,” in Edwards, Alison, and Sullivan, Lawrence, Eds., Stewards of the Sacred: Sacred Objects, Religious Culture, and the Museum as Social Institution. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums, 2004. • *“Timeliness: A Discussion for Museums”, Davis, Joy, Gurian, Elaine Heumann, Koster, Emlyn, Curator, volume 46, number 4, October 2003, pp.353-361. • *“Choosing Among the Options: An Opinion about Museum Definitions”, 2002, Curator, 45/2, pp. 75-88. • *“Function Follows Form: How Mixed-Used Spaces in Museums Build Community,” Curator, 44/1, January 2001, pp. 87-113. • “Thinking about My Museum Journey,” Presence of Mind: Museums and the Spirit of Learning, Bonnie Pitman, ed., AAM, Washington D. C., 1999, pp. 31-35. • *”What is the Object of this Exercise? A Meandering Exploration of the Many Meanings of Objects in Museums,” Daedalus, summer 1999, volume 128, number 3, pp. 163-183. • “Continuous, Unexpected Joy and Fascinating, If Demanding Work,” Museum News, volume 77, No. 4, July/August 1998, pp. 36-37. • “The Changing Paradigm,” Collective Vision: Starting and Sustaining a Children’s Museum, Association of Youth Museums, Washington, DC, 1997, pp. 20-21. • “A Savings Bank for the Soul,” Grantmakers in the Arts, autumn 1996, volume 7, number 2, pp. 6-9. • *”A Blurring of the Boundaries,” Curator, March 1995, pp. 31-37. • “Offering Safer Public Spaces,” Journal of Museum Education, volume 21, number 1, fall, 1995, pp. 14-16. • Institutional Trauma; the Effect of Major Change on Museum Staff, Editor, American Association of Museums, Washington DC, 1995. • “The Importance of ‘And’”, Patterns in Practice, Museum Education Roundtable, Washington DC, 1992, pp.88-89. • “Reluctant Recognition of the Superstar,” Journal of Museum Education, volume 17, number 3, fall 1992, pp. 6-7. • “The National Museum of the American Indian,” Forum, Issue 4, January/February 1992. • “The Opportunity for Social Service,” in Zemer, E.(ed.) , ICOM-CECAannual meeting proceedings 1991, Museums and the Needs of the People, Haifa, ICOM Israel. • “Noodling Around with Exhibition Opportunities,” Exhibiting Cultures, 1991, Smithsonian Press, Ed. Steven D. Lavine & Ivan Karp. • “Let’s Empower All Those Who Have a Stake in Exhibitions,” Museum News, March/April 1990. • “An Afterward,” Museum Education Anthology, ed. Susan Nichols, Museum Education Roundtable, 1973-1983, pp. 24-25. • “Interactive Exhibits at The Boston Children’s Museum, ”ICOM/Education, No. 10, 1983. • “Museum Relationship to Education,” Museums and Education, Denmark, 1982. • “Adult Learning at the Children’s Museum of Boston,” Museums, Adults and the Humanities, 1981. • “Making the Move,” Roundtable Reports, Vol. 5, #3, 1980. • “A Working Paper on Exhibits,” Museum News, March/April 1976. • “Learning, Play and Fantasy,” An Interview, Summer Issue, Roundtable Reports * published in juried publications. SPEAKER / LECTURER: a partial listing in addition to conference presentations in the conferences of AAM,ASTC, AYM 1971-2017. KEY NOTE: • Museum Association, UK, Belfast, 2018. • Association of Art Museum Directors, 2018. • MuseumNext, Melbourne, Australia, 2017. • Caos in the Museum, a design conference of the International Museum Exhibition Design Committee and Fundation TyPA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2016 • Reimagining the Museum, A Latin American Conference sponsored by Fundation TyPA and AAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2015 • University of Leicester conference, Leicester, UK 2014 • University of the Arts conference, London, UK 2014 • Arts Council Norway annual conference, Bergen, Norway 2013 • Association Danish Museums, Arhus, Denmark, 2013 • Museums Aotearoa, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2010 • Florida Museum Association, Sarasota, FL, September 2009. • Michigan Museum Association, Ann Arbor, MI, October 2009. • Irish Museum Association, Derry, Northern Ireland, November 2008. • Museum Association Alaska, Homer, Alaska, November 2007. • ICOM Triennial Conference, Vienna, Austria, November 2007. • ICOM CECA, Triennial Conference, Vienna, Austria, November 2007. • Hands-on Europe, Berlin, October 2007. • Mid-Atlantic Museum Association, Brooklyn, New York, October 2006. • Northwest Museum Association, Boise, Idaho, September 2006. • Museums Association, Napier, New Zealand, April 2006. • New England Museum Association, October 2005. • Canadian Museum Association, September 2005. • Visitor Services Association, August 2005. • Leicester University conference on space and museums, May 2004. • Contested Spaces, Sydney, Australia, October 2003. • Canadian Museum Association, May 2002. • International Children’s Museum Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, 1998. • New England Museum Association, Hartford, CN, 1997. • Museum Association Conference, Cardiff, UK 1997. • Museum Association Conference, Leicester, UK, 1996. • Museum Association Conference, Sydney, Australia, 1996. • Ohio Museums Conference, Virginia Museums Conference, 1995. ICOM/CECA Conference, Jerusalem, Israel, 1991. • Canadian Museum Association, 1991. • Museum Educators Association of Australia, Biannual Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 1982. • ICOM/CECA Conference, Swenborg, Sweden, 1982. SERIES: • Lecture series, Te Papa Community Service, 5 venues, 2002. • Speaker, National Museum Australia, radio series, 2002. • Speaker, Inauguration Adult Lecture Series, Jewish Museum, Berlin, 2001. MODERATOR: • Opening Symposium, National Museum of the American Indian, September 2004. • Hands-on Europe, London, UK, 2001. • Conference on Culture and Museums, Copenhagen, Sweden, 2001. ACADEMIC /VISITING LECTURER / FACULTY (A PARTIAL LISTING): MULTI-YEAR: • Bank Street Graduate School of Education, Museum Leadership Program, New York, NY. • George Washington University Museum Education Graduate Program, Washington, DC. 1975-present. • Gothenburg University, Graduate School of Museum Studies, Gothenburg, Sweden. 2004 – 2010. • Interlochen Arts Academy, Visual Art Graduating Seniors, 2016-present. • Leicester University Museum Diploma Program, Leicester, England,UK. 1985-87 • MRL, Museum Resilient Leadership Program, UK, 2012 – present • Museum Leadership workshop, Fundacion TyPA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 2010 to present. • Museum Management Institute, Berkeley, CA.1983-86 • Noyce Leadership Program, • University of Michigan, Museum Studies, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Appointed Visiting Scholar 2006-2009. • University of Victoria, Continuing Studies, Cultural Resource Management Program, Victoria Canada, SINGLE YEAR/MULTI-SESSION • ICOM-ITC, Bejing, China, 2015. • Seminar series, Rosario, Tucuman, Buenos Aires and Cordoba, Argentina sponsored by Fulbright, US Embassy and Fundacion TyPA, July – October 2008. • Faculty, “Enriching Museum Experiences. A Symposium on Education and Marketing”, Romanian Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, The Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe, Bucharest, Romania, October 2007. EDUCATION: • Master of Education, Elementary Education and Art Specialist, State College of Boston, June 1966. • Bachelor of Art, History of Art, Brandeis University, June 1958. • Special Student, Rhode Island School of Design, summer 1956.