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AAM Announces Three Newly Accredited Museums and 30 Museums Re-Accredited

Emblematic of Institutions' Commitment to Excellence

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American Association of Museums announced today that three museums have been awarded accreditation and 30 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, encompassing all types and sizes of institutions and every region of the country. It includes such institutions as the Montana Historical Society in Helena, the Georgia Southern University Museum in Statesboro and the Whitney Museum of American Art on Madison Avenue in New York City.

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.

"Accreditation is an entirely self-motivated process, and is no small task," said Ford W. Bell, AAM president. "Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement. But put simply, it means the citizens of the communities served by these museums have in their midst one of America's finest museums."

The following museums joined the distinguished list of accredited institutions:

Contemporary Arts Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, Virg.
Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, Farmville, Virg.
National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Penn.

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

The Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y.
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Anchorage, Alas.
Arkansas State University Museum, State University, Ark.
Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Mich.
Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, Buffalo, N.Y.
C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Mont.
California Science Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Carroll Reece Museum, Johnson City, Tenn.
DAR Museum, Washington, D.C.
Georgia Southern University Museum, Statesboro, Georg.
Guild Hall of East Hampton, East Hampton, N.Y.
The Health Adventure, Asheville, N.C.
The High Desert Museum, Bend, Oreg.
Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, N.H.
Kenosha Public Museum, Kenosha, Wis.
Lake County Discovery Museum, Wauconda, Ill.
Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, Ill.
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, Calif.
Memphis Pink Palace Family of Museums, Memphis, Tenn.
Montana Historical Society, Helena, Mont.
Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, Provo, Utah
Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Mich.
Natural Science Center of Greensboro, Greensboro, N.C.
Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Penn.
San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Tex.
San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego, Calif.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virg.
Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, Virg.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, N.Y.

Of the nation's estimated 17,500 museums, 779 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 is in the midst of a re-examination of 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.:

Dewey Blanton
AAM Media Relations
Phone: (202) 218-7704
Email: dblanton@aam-us.org