Display, Commercial Space & Sign Design 38 (Japanese and English Edition)

Jason Porter is the Director of Education + Programs at MoPOP (Museum of  Pop Culture)  in  Seattle.  Previously,  he  was the  Director  of Education  and Public Engagement  at  the  San Diego Museum  of  Man and Associate Director  of Education at  the  Skirball Cultural Center  in  Los Angeles.  His work  focuses on  experiential   education  and  public  programs  that  serve  community,  school, family, and teacher audiences and on using the arts as a vehicle  for personal  and  social change.
 
Prior to his work in the museum world, Jason was a public school teacher.   His dissertation examined charter schools meeting the needs of special education students. Professional development activities have included panel presentations at conferences including AAM, CAM, and WMA, and serving as a mentor to emerging museum professionals and a guest lecturer at Harvard University's Masters in Museum Studies program at the University of Washington's Museology program. He served as a board member of EdCom (at AAM) from 2014 through 2016, a jurist with the Excellence in Exhibitions competition (at AAM) in 2017 and 2018, a grants reviewer for IMLS (from  2018 to the present) and as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Museum Education since 2016.
 
In the last 25 years, Mary Kay Cunningham has served over 35 different cultural  institutions  or attractions  in  the  diverse  roles  of  consultant, manager, educator, volunteer  coordinator, and docent.  She founded  Dialogue Consulting in 2001 to support institutions in their efforts to improve the visitor experience by inspiring conversational learning through inclusive  and collaborative interpretive planning, programming, and professional development.
 
Mary Kay is the author of The Interpreters Training Manual for Museums (published by AAM in 2004 and translated into Italian by the University of Macerata in 2013) that guides front line staff in facilitating  meaningful learning conversations with visitors. She continues her commitment to fostering professional development in the field by serving on the editorial board of The Journal of Museum Education since 2010, creating and serving as an instructor for a graduate-level course on Visitor Experience design at the University of Victoria, B.C. since 2013, and presenting over 45 sessions or workshops in the last 20 years for professional meetings including AAM, WMA, NAI, ASTC, APGA and the Northern California Arts Foundation.