International Partnerships Among Museums                              IPAM Program Overview

IPAM provides museums worldwide with a unique intercultural opportunity to establish lasting institutional ties by developing and conducting collaborative projects. IPAM was founded in 1980, and its goal is to establish mutually beneficial sustainable linkages between U.S. and non-U.S. museums with similar missions. IPAM is intended to promote institutional development while enhancing the participating museums' ability to enrich their own communities.

Sustainable linkages are established by developing and executing a collaborative project with specific goals and concrete objectives. These projects may involve areas of museum operation such as, but not limited to, administration, collections stewardship, education, community outreach, cultural tourism, interpretation, research, marketing, or exhibit development and design. It should be noted that projects must be mutually beneficial and cooperative; proposals that emphasize training, technical assistance, observation, or travel will not be considered.

The execution of the project is facilitated through the exchange of institutionally nominated, mid-level staff members for minimum 31-day residencies at the partner museum.

Primary support for the IPAM program comes from the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) which fosters mutual understanding between the United States and other countries through international educational exchange and training programs. The bureau promotes personal, professional, and institutional ties between private citizens and organizations in the United States and abroad, as well as by presenting U.S. history, society, art, and culture in all of its diversity to overseas audiences.