Multicultural Speaker Series Featuring Kelly Lao

Our aim for this series is to provide an opportunity for individuals and organizations to engage diverse residents and employees from multiple sectors in the Quad Cities region, broaden their networks, and enhance their awareness of diversity issues.

Title: Curating Inclusive History with Authentic & Reciprocal Relationships at the Putnam Museum & Science Center

This renewed and re-envisioned bilingual exhibition tells the story of the Quad Cities. Previously called River Prairie and People, this flagship exhibition has existed since 1985. Three years ago, we decided it was finally time to take on this 6600 sq foot exhibit that was not telling a diverse and inclusive story of our region. What started in prototyping and discussion groups with community members such as the NAACP and LULAC Council 10 among others, turned into a full-scale exhibition overhaul. Key partners on the project included LULAC #10, Friends of MLK, Azubuike African American Council for the Arts, and the Native American Coalition of the Quad Cities. These groups, along with many co-curators, helped us reimagine the exhibition with inclusive collections, storytelling, and interactives that are woven throughout the exhibition. We will then invite the group to tour through and see it for themselves. A work in continual progress, there are opportunities for continued collaboration and collecting of both objects and narratives around the Latino experience in our region that many participants might be interested in sharing for future generations.

About our speaker, Kelly Lao: 

Kelly Lao serves as Vice President of Museum Experiences at the Putnam Museum and Science Center overseeing both the curatorial and education departments. She led the German American Heritage Center and Museum as Executive Director for six years, and was with the organization for eleven. Ms. Lao serves on the board of directors for the Iowa Cultural Coalition and on the board for ArtsBasics for the Davenport Community School District. Ms. Lao is associated with the League of Latin American Citizens #10, the American Association of Museums, Midwest Museum Association, Iowa Museum Association, Scott County Historic Preservation Society, and the American Association of State and Local History. She has her Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Western Illinois University and received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Iowa. She lives in Rock Island with her spouse and three children.