Quotations and some full sessions from the Los Angeles conference ...

.

"Jewish museums, like Jews, must have an agenda for the world." (Rabbi David Wolpe)

LISTEN:  Introductions & Keynote:  Lynette Allen, Gabrielle Tsabag, David Wolpe

"Exhibit developers are no longer writing for middle school students. This generation of museum visitors are used to media when and how they want it." (Brian Edwards)

LISTEN:  CAJM Vendor Forum:  Marty Sklar, Hagy Belzberg, Richard Bencivengo, Brian Edwards, Cybelle Jones, Heather Lindquist, Steven Rosen, Darren Ulmer

"The [Bloch-Bauer] case had tremendous personal meaning for me, not only because of the family connections, but because, like you, I was helping to tell a story that might have been lost."  (E. Randol Schoenberg)

LISTEN: Beyond Return: Creating Connections and Continuity from Restituted Art: Karen Franklin, Grace Cohen Grossman, Susan Boyer, E. Randol Schoenberg, Julie-Marthe Cohen

"In the 21st century, boundaries between internal and external, sacred and secular, are going to be blurred. Creativity is the new continuity." (Shawn Landres)

"This generation wants to participate, not just stand up and sit down in shul." (Tiffany Shlain)

"It's not about identity. It's about identification." (Ari Kelman)

"We're not concerned about having the biggest Jewish community, but about having the most vibrant one." (Jaime Walman)

LISTEN: Affiliation 2.0: Daniel Schifrin, Richard Siegel, Ari Y. Kelman, Shawn Landres, Jaime Walman, Tiffany Schlain

"Site-specific programs that incorporate spectacle and play help to build community, but planning for museum participation must start at the top, with the director." (Aaron Paley)

[Speaking about some Idelsohn Society for Music Preservation's exhibitions] "They're about practice and participation. You get involved. You leave with something."  (Josh Kun)

"This generation doesn't want to be pigeon-holed. They prefer interdisciplinary programming and screenings at secular venues."  (Peter Stein)

"In some cases, we have deeper relationships with our Twitter followers and Facebook fans than with our members. Real dialogue goes on." (Stacy Lieberman)

"Art history training, which emphasizes attribution and connoisseurship, is just part of the preparation for curatorial work, which has as much to do with practical matters, such as schedules for loading and unloading trucks." (Gabriel Goldstein)

"In advocating for their exhibitions, curators must be something between lawyers and salesmen. They must be leaders of conversations and also responders to the larger Jewish-American conversation." (Norman Kleeblatt)

[Speaking of controversial situations] "If you ask the wrong question, you get the wrong answer." (Michael Berenbaum)

"What function can cultural works have? They can shift relationships radically - radical like love is radical." (Rhoda Rosen)

"We must bring people together through arts and culture rather than fragment them. One way is through short-term programs that are spontaneous and presented in fresh contexts." (Lori Starr)

"In these challenging times, we can find a model of frugality in first- and second-generation Americans." (Akemi Yano)

"Strategic planning is a fabulous elixir."  (Steven Koblik)

"To be sustainable, you must place more emphasis on linking to mission than on the mechanics of any dilemma. Respect past paradigms, but don't be afraid of changing the way you do business." (Charmaine Jefferson)

"If you blow in the wide end of a shofar, not much happens. If you do the opposite, everyone hears." (Cynthia Ozick, paraphrased by David Wolpe)