In 1998, I was contracted by the American Alliance of Museums to coordinate the first hemispheric conference of museums. The conference, “Museums and Sustainable Communities” brought museum leaders from Canada to Chile together in San José, Costa Rica, in April of 1998 for a three-day summit.
The meeting resulted in a report that summarizes the discussions on the role of the museum within the community as it relates to education, cultural heritage, technology, emergency preparedness, and cultural tourism.
The conference report examines culture’s role in the development process through case studies and statements from major international agencies.
The conference was conducted as part of the ICOM Triennial Program 1995-1998 and was organized in cooperation with the Institute for Latin American Museology (ILAM).
John served as my project director for the groundbreaking Summit of the Museums of the Americas in Costa Rica. It was an intense 5 day event with multiple moving pieces and John put in an extraordinary effort. I returned to DC the day after the event and John stayed in Costa Rica to work with our in-country organizing partner. Museum and cultural colleagues still speak about that highly interactive summit and what it accomplished. John was a critical piece of that success.
Jerold Kappel, CFRE, Consultant
