Community engagement work

Since beginning work at the Walters in February 2017, Hoobler has sought to forge connections with the Latino community and a broad range of patrons in Baltimore. This has led to record audiences for Day of the Dead festivals at the museum (up ~8%, to more than 1900 attendees in 2019), museum ad purchases in the Mundo Latino newspaper, and more consistent attendance at monthly meetings of the Latino Providers Network (local community organization focused on Baltimore and Maryland Latinos). 

Tours and Talks for Community Groups – Tours for school and social groups, including interns from the Smithsonian Latino Center, the Mi Espacio teen group from the CASA de Maryland (Latino and immigration advocacy-and-assistance organization), as well as to Latino Employee Resource Groups from PNC Bank and Exelon (yearly for Hispanic Heritage month). 

Community Advisory Group – Have convened a community advisory group of scholars and local community leaders to offer input on the installation of the permanent galleries of Art of the Americas. Some of these scholars and community members will also write community labels for the project as well. 

Land Acknowledgment – Worked with museum leadership to write and edit an Indigenous Land and Cultural Heritage Acknowledgment statement for the Walters. The acknowledgment was evaluated by multiple community members, is part of a broader plan of engagement with Indigenous peoples of Baltimore. Lumbee artist Christine Duckworth's jewelry and accessories are now (Oct. 2022) featured in the Walters shop. As of Fall 2022, Hoobler is also coordinating a broader regional group, originally founded by Dare Turner, curator of the Baltimore Museum of Art and Ryan Koons of the Maryland State Arts Council, that includes representatives from other local museums, cultural institutions, and universities seeking to broaden engagement with the local Native American population.

Ensuring access for scholars and engaged parties – Working with local professors to ensure access for university groups from Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and other university group. Provided sound files and photographs from John Bourne's archive, dating to the 1940s, to Canadian scholar specializing in the culture of the Lacandón  Maya of Chiapas, Mexico. Also enabled access to the collection to interested parties outside of specific academic/museum researchers (Argentine researchers and enthusiasts of pre-Columbian Andean ceramics.)