• "Well... there aren't many downsides to be honest, but occasionally it's a case of logistics, when you have 30 people and everybody is trying to communicate an idea among each other, sometimes it's just not easy to do."
  – George Hyrcelak, Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago
  

The benefits of a partnership like Cultural Connections make the extra effort worthwhile. These include increased audience numbers and the cross-fertilization of ideas and strategies.

• "...We're a museum that doesn't have walls. The collaborations have been critical to just keeping us going. I think we try to leverage the fact that we don't have a space by the fact that we have partners and friends in the city that do have spaces."
  – Mary Doi, Japanese American Historical Society
  

Partners work together to:

• foster cultural understanding and recognize the value of cultural differences.
  
• expand public awareness of museums and cultural centers as educational resources.
• increase public understanding of contemporary issues facing diverse communities.
  
• target educators and parents as key disseminators.
  
• develop relationships with higher education institutions.
• build capacity through the sharing of resources.
  

To learn more about collaborative programming, download our Guide to Planning Cultural Connections Events.

Organizational Structure
Cultural Connections is housed administratively in The Field Museum's Center for Cultural Understanding and Change. The Center also provides the anthropological context for programs and events. In addition to over twenty ethnic museums and cultural centers, the Cultural Connections partnership involves additional groups and committees, listed below.

• Steering Committee – Made up of six Cultural Connections partners who rotate after two years of service. Two of the partners serve an additional two years, to ensure a smooth transition.
  
  
• Community Advisory Panel – A range of community members whose communities may or may not be represented ethnically in the partnering institutions.
  
  
• Professional Anthropology Organization – Anthropologists from the Chicago Association for the Practice of Anthropology (CAPA) act as facilitators during discussion portions of events and help to illuminate anthropological context and content.

continue to Program Events >>