Recognition is Emblematic of Institutions's Commitment to Excellence
Washington, DC, 8/27/2009 -

The American Association of Museums announced today that three museums have been awarded accreditation and 23 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. 

This group of accredited museums is representative of the breadth and scope of America’s museums. It includes such institutions as Missouri’s St. Louis Science Center, the San Francisco Museum of modern Art, and the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, as well as treasured community gems such as the University Museums at Iowa State in Ames, and the Nicolaysen Museum and Discovery Center in Casper, Wyoming.

The characteristics of an accreditable 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 communities served by these 26 institutions can take pride in knowing that they have in the midst one of the country’s top museums,” said Ford W. Bell, AAM president. “At AAM, we feel that museums are as essential to our communities as schools, libraries and utilities. Few recognitions afforded museums bespeak that value proposition as much as accreditation.”

The following museums joined the distinguished list of accredited institutions:

• Nicolaysen Art Museum &  Discovery Center, Casper, Wyom.
• West Baton Rouge Museum, Baton Rouge, La.
• William R. and Clarice V. Spurlock Museum, Urbana, Ill.

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

• Bennington Museum, Inc., Bennington, Ver.
• Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Fla.
• Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Col.
• Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, St. Johnsbury, Ver.
• Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, N.Y.
• Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, S.C.
• Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, Mass.
• Hermann-Grima/Gallier Historic Houses, New Orleans, La.
• McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex.
• Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Mass.
• Morgan Library and Museum, New York. N.Y.
• Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
• Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, Calif.
• Museum of Western Colorado, Grand Junction, Colo.
• The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, N.Y.
• Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Me.
• Public Museum of West Michigan, Grand Rapids, Mich.
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, Calif.
• Saint Louis Science Center, Saint Louis, Mo.
• The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Fla.
• University Art Museum, Long Beach, Calif.
• University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
• Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, Wichita, Kan.

Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, 778 are currently accredited. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, then undergo a site visit by a two-person team of peers.  The Accreditation Commission, an autonomous body of museum professionals appointed by the AAM Board, considers the self-study and site visit 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.

AAM recently announced a research effort focused on accreditation, designed to explore means of making the program more accessible for museums of all types and sizes. That effort, funded by grants from The Kresge Foundation and the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, is currently underway.

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

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