AAM Announces Fourteen Newly Accredited Museums

Washington, DC, 9/4/2007 - The American Association of Museums announced today that fourteen museums have been awarded accreditation, the highest national recognition a museum can achieve. Accreditation recognizes high standards in individual museums and ensures that museums continue to provide the best possible service to the public. 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 accredited museums describe outcomes that all museums can and should strive for, 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, and education and interpretation. AAM Accreditation signifies excellence to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.

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The following museum joined the distinguished list of accredited institutions:

* Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Fresno, Calif.

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

* Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, Mass.
* The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Md.
* Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Fla.
* Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, Calif.
* Omniplex Science Museum, Oklahoma City, Okla.
* The Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Mass.
* Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, Ann Arbor, Mich.
* Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, S.C.
* Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, Superior, Ariz.
* Old Salem Museums and Gardens, Winston Salem, N.C.
* Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Ill.
* Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wis.
* The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Ark.

"AAM Accreditation demonstrates a commitment to outstanding stewardship, education, governance, and transparency," said Ford W. Bell, President of AAM. "As accredited institutions, these fourteen museums have achieved the highest standards of service to the public."

Of the nation's nearly 17,500 museums, 775 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.

Source: American Association of Museums