Ten Small Museums Tapped for First Year of Readiness Program for AAM Accreditation

Posted on Jan 26, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 26, 2016

ARLINGTON, VA–The American Alliance of Museums announces the ten museums participating in the first session of its new Small Museums Accreditation Academy:

Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, Bainbridge Island, WA
Earth & Mineral Sciences Museum at The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Flushing, NY
J. Wayne Stark Galleries, College Station, TX
Monterey County Agricultural and Rural Life Museum, King City, CA
Mountain Heritage Center – Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC
Museum of Art – University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg, SC
University of Mississippi Museum and Historic Houses, Oxford, MS
Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH

The Academy is a new initiative funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and assisted by an Advisory Panel of leaders in the museum field. It is a year-long readiness program to make the Alliance’s accreditation process more accessible to smaller institutions. At the end of the program, the participating museums will emerge with a stronger culture of excellence and be poised to apply for accreditation.

“The limited staff and resources of small museums do not preclude them from being operationally excellent and having tremendous impact on their communities,” said Alliance President and Chief Executive Officer Laura L. Lott. “I’m excited to welcome these ten museums to our new program as they take a major step toward being recognized by the field for that excellence.”

The Academy is a guided online experience combining live sessions, mentoring and collaborative activities for staff and governing authority members at small museums. It is designed for high-performing organizations with five or fewer staff members that are striving to meet best practices and achieve accreditation. Applications for the 2017 class will open later this year.

About the American Alliance of Museums

The American Alliance 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. Representing more than 30,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance is the only organization representing the entire scope of the broad museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

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