As Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko points out, museums are, historically, intimately tied with colonization practices; this persists today. A large part of Catlin-Legutko's work as a museum administrator is focused on giving voice and the power to direct back to the people whose culture and heritage are represented in the museum, advocating, through practice, for “decolonizing” the museum space.

Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko is a passionate advocate for museums and their intersections with social justice and activism, community development, and memory and remembrance. Prior to joining the Abbe Museum as President/CEO in 2009, Cinnamon was the director of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where she led the organization to the National Medal for Museum Service. Catlin-Legutko serves on the board of the American Alliance of Museums, the Maine Humanities Council, and the Smithsonian Affiliates Advisory Council. She is president of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce board and serves on the Island Housing Trust board. Her most recent publication, “Museum Administration 2.0,” was released by Rowman & Littlefield in 2016. Catlin-Legutko received her BA from Purdue University, and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas MA program in anthropology. She is a 2004 graduate of the Seminar for Historical Administration and joined as a faculty member in 2014.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx