National Museum Publishing Seminar

A biennial conference by and for the museum publishing community.

Aerial view of a spiral bookshelf with colorful volumes lining the steps.

The National Museum Publishing Seminar was founded in 1989 to provide resources for and build a community of publishing professionals in museum settings. Since then, the field has grown dramatically beyond its humble roots. With the addition of new roles such as chief content officers as well as colleagues in interpretation and education, this broader and more diverse community is working together to communicate the crucial - and changing - role of the museum today.

NMPS Mission and Audience

Our mission: As repositories of the nation’s cultural, historic, and scientific resources, museums are in a unique position to develop specialized publications that reflect their educational missions and collections. Museum publication programs serve many purposes: scholarly, documentary, and informational. The purpose of the National Museum Publishing Seminar is to foster rigorous, informed conversations on the role of museum publishing today that enhance and serve this growing field.

Our audience: Speakers and attendees are drawn from the publications, digital media, and marketing departments at art, science, and history museums, as well as academics and professionals from university presses, small publishers, and design firms. They are joined by sponsors and exhibitors who serve museums and their needs by providing paper, printing, photographic expertise, design, writing, editing, packaging, web design, and other services.

Attendees come from a variety of personal and professional contexts, but are united in their desire for deep discussion around scholarly publications and their appreciation of museum books as art objects in their own right.

2023 Dates and Location

The 2023 conference will be hosted in-person at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago, IL from Sunday, August 27 to Tuesday, August 29, 2023. Please check the schedule as times have changed since it was initially posted.

Fairmont Hotel

200 N. Columbus Drive

Chicago, IL 60601

(Registration begins at 11:00 am CDT on Sunday, August 27)

2023 Planning Committee

The conference and associated digital sessions will be organized by the 2023 Planning Committee. Please join us in thanking the following individuals:

Suzanne Abrams Rebillard, Corning Museum of Glass
Gina Broze, smart-rights.com
Shaunee Cole, Yale University Press
Erin Dunigan, Getty Publications
Kamilah Foreman, Dia Art Foundation
Allie Haeusslein, Pier 24 Photography
Martina Kado, Maryland Center for History and Culture
Matt Mayerchak, Mayerchak + Company
Tanya Thrasher (Cherokee Nation), National Museum of the American Indian
Nikki Yagoda, University of Chicago Graham School
Emily Zoss, National Gallery of Art (2023 NMPS Chair)

Exhibitors and Sponsors

We are looking forward to welcoming in-person exhibitors back to participate in the 2023 NMPS. The Exhibitor Hall will be the central hub for meals and mingling. Please join us in thanking our current exhibitors.

Premium Conference Exhibitors