VRA Virtual Conference 2026: Zooming In
The Visual Resources Association 2026 Annual Conference will be held virtually, October 5–9th.
The proposal submission deadline closed Monday, April 20, 2026.
Final decisions will be sent on or around Friday, June 19th.
What does it mean to truly look closely? This year's VRA annual conference, Zooming In, invites visual resources professionals to shift from the wide view and settle into the details, the workflows, tools, discoveries, and community conversations that define our day-to-day practice.
Delivered fully online, VRA 2026 brings together a rich program drawn from 40+ proposals spanning panels, lightning talks, virtual tours, and more. Whether you're navigating new roles in your institution, exploring how AI is reshaping cataloging and metadata work, grappling with collection development decisions, or finding new ways to activate and engage communities through visual collections, there's a session built for where you are right now.
This year's program reflects both the breadth and the depth of our field: from digitizing ancient scrolls to first-time service management, from reparative description to classroom pedagogy, and interactive digital maps. It's a conference for asking: what happens when we look more carefully?
Join us to learn, connect, and zoom in.
Please direct any questions about the annual conference to VRA’s Directors for Events & Initiatives at initiatives@vraweb.org.
Registration Rates
| Type | Early Bird | Regular |
|---|---|---|
| Members / Business Affiliate Members | $100 | $125 |
| Non-Members (Registration + Membership) | $200 | $225 |
| Student Members | $20 | $25 |
| Student Non-Members (Registration + Membership) | $70 | $75 |
| Discount Members | $75 | $100 |
| Discount Non-Members (Registration + Membership) | $125 | $150 |
Important Dates
On or around June 19: Notification of final program decisions
July 6: Early bird registration opens
September 5: Early bird registration ends
About the conference artist
Lee Post of PostMarks LLC, is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, whose comic strip, Your Square Life, ran in the Anchorage Press from 2001 to 2007. He’s produced several books including Portraits for the Alaska Immigration Justice Project and contributed a chapter to A Native Lad, a collaborative Alaska history graphic novel. In addition to numerous gallery shows, he had a solo retrospective at the Dorothy Page Gallery in Wasilla, and gave a presentation at the Anchorage Museum. He's also done live "visual harvesting" for a number of large audiences across Alaska.
Website: postmarks.graphics
Instagram: @postmarks.graphics