Every year at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings, the Council for Museum Anthropology hosts a reception for members and invited guests. In recent years, these receptions have been held at museums in the host city; some museums have also offered special behind-the-scenes tours of collections for CMA members.
Information about the 2021 AAA meeting will posted on the AAA website. CMA Members Reception information to follow.
Annual CMA Reception:
The 2019 reception was hosted by the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in Vancouver, BC.
The 2018 reception was hosted by the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.
The 2017 reception was by hosted by the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Smithsonian Anthropology Collections
We also offered our members a behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Anthropology and National Anthropological Archives collections at the museum’s off-site storage site.
Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology (SIMA) 10-year Anniversary Event
Putting Theory & Things Together: Research with Museum Collections
We also encouraged our members to attend the 10-year anniversary event for the Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology, which has trained so many of our colleagues. The symposium was held in the QRIUS theater at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.
2016 Meeting
In 2016, our CMA Reception was hosted by the Minneapolis Institute of Art
We were also were hosted by the Minnesota Historical Society for a tour of their ethnographic collections!
2015 Meeting


Pre-2015 Meetings

CMA Reception 2013
Loyola University Museum of Art, Berkeley, Chicago, Illinois
CMA Museum Tour 2012
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, California


CMA Museum Tour and Reception 2011
McCord Museum, Montreal, Quebec


CMA Museum Tour and Reception 2010
New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana
