AAM Announces Two Newly Accredited Museums and 29 Museums Re-Accredited
Washington, DC, 5/13/2008 -

The American Association of Museums announced today that two museums have been awarded accreditation and 29 earned re-accreditation at the most recent meeting of the Accreditation Commission. Accredited status from AAM is the highest national recognition achievable by an American museum. Accreditation recognizes high standards in individual museums and ensures that museums continue to uphold their public trust. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for more than 35 years, AAM’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. 

 

The characteristics of an accredited museum establish outcomes toward which all museums can and should strive and can achieve in ways appropriate to their resources. To best serve their communities, it is essential that museums be committed to institutional improvement, maintaining the highest standards in collections stewardship, governance, institutional planning, ethics, education and interpretation and risk management.  AAM accreditation signifies excellence and accountability to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies and to the museum-going public.

 

The following museums joined the distinguished list of accredited institutions:

 

• History San Jose, San Jose, Cal.
• Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, San Bernardino, Cal.

 

All accredited museums undergo a subsequent review within 10 years of their last accreditation award. The following museums were awarded subsequent accreditation:

 

• Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, Cal.
• Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine
• Conner Prairie, Fishers, Ind.
• Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Col.
• Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, Ariz.
• Early American Museum, Mahomet, Ill.
• Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Frick Collection, New York, N.Y.
• Hillwood Museum & Gardens, Washington, D.C.
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Mass.
• McLean County Museum of History, Bloomington, Ill.
• Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, N.Y.
• Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Ala.
• The Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, Fla.
• Museum of Science and Industry, Tampa, Fla.
• The Newark Museum, Newark, N.J.
• New England Aquarium, Boston, Mass.
• Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Tex.
• Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, N.C.
• Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, Va.
• Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center, Haines, Ark.
• Sloan Museum and Longway Planetarium, Flint, Mich.
• Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.
• Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Wash.
• Tryon Palace Historic Site and Gardens, New Bern, N.C.
• Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, Fla.
• Western Heritage Center, Billings, Mont.
• Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kan.
• Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Penn.

 

“AAM accreditation demonstrates a commitment to outstanding stewardship, education, accountability, governance and transparency,” said Ford W. Bell, president of AAM.  “As accredited institutions, these 31 museums have achieved the highest standards of service to the public.”

 

Of the nation’s nearly 17,500 museums, 776 are currently accredited. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers.  The Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.  While the time to complete the process varies by museum, it generally takes as much as three years.

 

For more information about AAM and the Accreditation Program, including a complete list of accredited museums, please visit www.aam-us.org.

 

About AAM

The American Association of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. With more than 15,000 individual, 3,000 institutional and 300 corporate members, AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

 

Press Contact:
Dewey Blanton
202-218-7704
dblanton@aam-us.org

Return to Press Releases

Return to the Press Room