Upholding our belief that our sector is stronger together, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA) is pleased to announce the creation of the Baltimore Informal Educators Roundtable (BIER). Click here to sign up for the BIER email list
What is Baltimore Informal Educators Roundtable (BIER)?
Baltimore Informal Educators Roundtable (BIER) serves professionals working with a variety of informal education settings. Our mission is to create a community in which people share ideas and inspiration, grow professionally, and find opportunities for connection and collaboration. We do this through workshops, conversations, and shared exploration of cultural venues and offerings.
BIER is housed at the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.
What does BIER do?
The group will meet approximately six times per year for networking and learning experiences, including workshops, informal lunch and talk sessions, and invitations to cultural events. With this group, GBCA will collect resources and make them available to all members through a shared Google Drive.
What are BIER’s Principles?
- Members of BIER are antiracist, and committed to principles of justice and equity, particularly as informal educators in our communities.
- In the 21st century where we find so many instances of isolation, BIER works intentionally to create a meaningful sense of belonging.
- The history, evolution, resilience, and aesthetics of Baltimore provide a context for and inform BIER’s work. Members of BIER are committed to supporting rigor and excellence from all informal learning experiences, and building resilience and enrichment in our community.
- Members of BIER are committed to accessibility and anti-ableism.
BIER Steering Committee:
- Roslyn Esperon, Manager of Evaluation & Audience Impact, The Walters Art Museum
- Roz Kreizenbeck, Manager of Gallery Experience & Interpretation, The Walters Art Museum
- Tim Rhue II, Education Specialist, Space Telescope Science Institute
- Rebecca Shulman, Consultant, Museum Questions
- Tracy Stevens, Marketing Manager, Maryland Citizens for the Arts
- Deborah Wood, Museum Learning Manager, Maryland Center for History Culture
- Heather Kerner, Librarian II, Artist-In-Residence Coordinator, Enoch Pratt Library
- Teddy Driscoll, Elementary Programs Manager & Camp Director, Howard County Conservancy
- Elise Petersen-Deitrick, Cultural Heritage Manager, Sandy Spring Museum
BIER Steering Committee: Application Form
The Baltimore Informal Educators Roundtable (BIER) is currently soliciting applications for new BIER Steering Committee members. The Steering Committee is a group of up to 12 individuals who work in informal education settings, and who are planning the programs of and path for this very new organization, with support from the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.
Help us reach out to local informal educators, plan events, lead coffee chats, and more. Learn more and apply!
Click here to view the BIER Steering Committee ApplicationUpcoming Events:
May 21, 2026: VIRTUAL COFFEE CHAT SERIES – facilitating engagement with Black history
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.
Each chat runs 9:30–10:00 a.m. and is intended to support anyone connected to education in museums, theaters, libraries, science centers, or other cultural institutions. Sessions may take different shapes: a question-driven discussion or a short 15-minute speaker segment followed by open conversation.
Previous Events:
April 16, 2026: VIRTUAL COFFEE CHAT SERIES – Volunteer Retention
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.
February 19, 2026: VIRTUAL COFFEE CHAT SERIES – Volunteer Retention
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday, March 10th:
6:00pm – 7:30pm
“Volunteer Retention: What Works and Why”
Enoch Pratt Free Library / Central Library / 400 Cathedral Street / Creative Arts Center
Join experienced volunteers and volunteer leaders that are connected with Black Cherry Puppet Theatre, Red Emma’s The Baltimore Free School and the Walters Art Museum as they share real-life experiences, practical tips, and personal insights on what helps keep volunteers engaged and committed over time.
December 17, 2025: GBCA Holiday Happy Hour at MotorHouse
5:30pm – 7:30pm
Join us for a relaxed evening with fellow GBCA Board members and BIER members at MotorHouse’s Showroom Bar. Enjoy good food, great company, and a chance to connect with the community before the year wraps up.
October 23, 2025: BIER Crawl: Samplings of Five Contemporary Issues
5:00pm – 7pm
Connect with fellow informal educators from across Baltimore for a lively and fast-paced event focused on professional challenges we all face. Jump into a series of short, guided conversations on topics including collaboration, wonder, mentorship, and more.
Each “tasting” offers a chance to explore fresh ideas, share your own experiences, and discover new approaches with peers who are navigating similar challenges. Conversation starters will help get things going, and you’re encouraged to move between groups to meet new people and hear a variety of perspectives.
Want to keep the conversation going? Stick around afterward to dive deeper into any topics that sparked your interest!
August 7, 2025: Tour the Irish Railroad Workers Museum with Director Sammie Samuels
5:30pm museum tour | 7pm networking at the Backyard
Curious about the ins and outs of running a public cultural site when you’re the entire staff? Join Sammie Samuels, Director of the Irish Railroad Workers Museum, for an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session!
Sammie will be sharing insights into the rewarding yet challenging experience of navigating complex interpretive narratives and managing all aspects of a cultural site on her own. Together, we’ll delve into everything from the ethical considerations of interpreting challenging and controversial topics to the practicalities of educational programming and community outreach – all from the perspective of a one-person operation.
Continue the conversation with Sammie and join BIER for some networking around the corner at the Backyard, a neighborhood bar and restaurant!
April 24, 2025: Who is Your Community? at the Enoch Pratt Free Library
As informal educators, we often value the idea of “community” and engaging with it, but how do we define “community”? Who is in (y)ours? How do we make it? What does it mean to be in it? Join BIER at the Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Thursday, April 24 for a fishbowl style discussion* of these questions. The conversation will run from 6:00-7:00, but you are invited to arrive as early as 5:00 for a tour of the building from our hosts at the Pratt and stay as late at 7:30 to mingle and continue the conversation.
*A fishbowl style discussion encourages participation from all in the room. The room will be set up with a larger number of chairs for listening participants around a smaller number of chairs for speaking participants. During the discussion, folks from a listening chair who want to add to the conversation can move to a speaking chair, and folks in a speaking chair can make space for more voices by moving to a listening chair. A moderator will present an open-ended question for those in speaking chairs to discuss, and ensure balance in listening and speaking roles.
January 30, 2025: Foregrounding Justice at the Baltimore Museum of Art
Join staff from the Baltimore Museum of Art and Howard County Conservancy in a discussion about foregrounding social and climate justice in the contemporary interpretation of Maryland sites that carry stories of slavery and environmental degradation.
They will discuss how objects and spaces can re-center historical truths about freedom and agency which extend into the context of our complex modern world, and how they’re using transparency in the process of making interpretative change.
December 6, 2024: GBCA Holiday Happy Hour at The Peale.
Join us at The Peale for GBCA’s Holiday Happy Hour and December BIER Meetup! Celebrate the season and experience the Baker: Off The Web Exhibition at The Peale! Enjoy snacks, drinks, and art in the oldest museum building in America.
November 4, 2024: Script Tease Play Reading: Glitter in the Glass by R. Eric Thomas at Everyman Theater.
Everyman Theater’s Script Tease reading series offers audiences an early look at new plays. On November 4, this series will feature Glitter in the Glass by R. Eric Thomas, and BIER invites you to join us to see and discuss this play.
Glitter in the Glass features Chelle, a Black mid-career artist who is running out of steam and faces a creative block as she attempts to replace a Confederate monument in Baltimore with her artwork. Despite securing a grant, she struggles to complete her piece, getting lost in the complexities of American history. Her journey is further complicated by her brother Willard, who is organizing a Juneteenth festival, and Thalia, an interior designer with a unique perspective. As Chelle reconnects with her childhood home, and caught between the past, present, and future, she embarks on a reflective journey that transcends time and space. Tis event will take place in Everyman’s second-floor performance space.
Doors open at 6:00pm, with food and drink permitted inside. Performances begin at 7:00PM. Admission will be covered by GBCA and food and drink will be available for sale from 6-7pm, while BIER members gather and chat. Admission will be covered by GBCA.
September 12, 2024: Increasing Accessibility as Educators – A BIER Learning and Networking Event at The Peale
This event will explore ways that we, as educators, can increase the accessibility of exhibits, performances, and programs. It will begin with a tour of the Founding Fossils exhibit at the Peale by the exhibit developer and accessibility expert, Dr. Cheryl Fogle-Hatch of MuseumSenses. This multisensory exhibit reproduces fossils collected by early American leaders in a 3D-printed format so that they can be touched. The tour will be followed by some thoughts by a few other accessibility experts from around Baltimore and small group activities and discussions that explore other ways to create accessible experiences. There will be opportunities to think through ways to make experiences at your site more accessible to all and identify experiences that you didn’t even know could be improved.
Please join us for some learning, some networking, and a drink if that’s your thing.
Accessibiliy information for the Peale: https://www.thepeale.org/accessibility/
June 5, 2024: Informal Educator Speed Dating at the Motor House
Inspired by the American Alliance of Museum’s Annual Meeting taking place in Baltimore this May, this event will feature discussions of lessons from the field, speed dating style. Informal educators from museums, theaters, arts centers, and more will lead five-minute conversations about their recent learnings from conferences, articles, or experiences at their site before a buzzer sounds, prompting attendees to move to the next conversation. After rotating through each conversation, there will be time for informal networking and a round of BIER, if that’s your thing. Come as you are, or sign up to lead a conversation. Have you attended a great conference recently? Learned something new at a peer presentation? Heard an idea you can’t stop thinking about? Bring a prompt from recent experience or nugget of learning to lead a conversation with.
February 15, 2024: Visitor Feedback at the Maryland Center for History & Culture
BIER hosted a conversation with staff from The Walters Art Museum and the Maryland Center for History in Culture (MCHC). The discussion focused on how to invite, capture, and learn from visitor feedback.
October 17, 2023: Tour or Vision & Spirit at Reginal F. Lewis Museum
We’re delighted to host BIER tomorrow, Tuesday, October 17, 2023 for a tour of Vision & Spirit: African American Art from the Bank of America Collection, a viewing of Blacks in White: African American Health Professionals, and a dialogue about ethical interpretation. This email provides logistics information on joining us at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum tomorrow.