Arab American National Museum Earns ITS Industry's Highest Seal of Approval

posted on: Sep 18, 2013

The Arab American National Museum (AANM) has achieved accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition for a museum. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies and to the museum-going public.

AANM Director Devon Akmon will formally announce the Museum’s AAM accreditation this evening at an invitation-only reception at the Museum.

AAM Accreditation is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation, and public accountability, and earns national recognition for a museum for its commitment to excellence in all that it does: governance, collections stewardship, public programs, financial stability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement.

Developed and sustained by museum professionals for 35 years, AAM’s Museum Accreditation program strengthens the profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and to provide the best possible service to the public.

Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, 1,005 are currently accredited. The AANM is one of only 25 museums accredited in Michigan; others include The Henry Ford, the Detroit Institute of Arts and Cranbrook’s art and science museums (see complete list below).

“Accreditation assures people that their museum is among the finest in the nation,” said Ford W. Bell, president of the Alliance. “As a result, Arab Americans and all Americans can take considerable pride in this institution, for its commitment to excellence and for the value it brings to the community.”

Accreditation is a rigorous process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation, a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. AAM’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, review and evaluate the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.
Accreditation Facts

There are 1,005 accredited museums in the United States. That means that just 6% of the estimated 17,500 museums in the country are accredited.

Simply, accreditation is the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval of the American museum industry.

Accreditation is a self-motivated process; museums take it upon themselves to seek accreditation.

The process involves a thorough self-study of all museum operations ─ financial, governance, public programs, community engagement, collections stewardship, security, etc. This is followed by a similar study by an outside peer reviewer, a museum professional. Both studies are honest and straightforward appraisals. These two reports are evaluated by the Accreditation Commission (another group of seasoned museum professionals, at which point a decision is rendered.

Accreditation is often a prerequisite for or integral to loans of objects from other museums, particularly internationally; funding from many philanthropies and foundations; and support from local, municipal and state government.

To be accredited signifies a museum meets and often exceeds the standards and best practices of the museum field.

Accredited museums encompass the breadth of America’s museums – art, children’s, history, historic sites, natural history, science and technology centers, public and botanic gardens, zoos and aquariums.

Accredited museum range from some of the world’s best-known institutions – the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the California Academy of Sciences – to smaller museums in all 50 states, such as the Montana Historical Society and the North Museum of Natural History at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

AAM-Accredited Museums in Michigan (as of August 2013)

Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland, MI
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Museum, Flint, MI
Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, MI
Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, MI
Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan, Alpena, MI
Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, MI
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Frankenmuth Historical Association Museum, Frankenmuth, MI
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI
The Henry Ford, Dearborn, MI
Holland Museum, Holland, MI
Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Kalamazoo, MI
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI
Mackinac State Historic Parks, Mackinac Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, MI
Michigan Historical Museum System, Lansing, MI
Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI
Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
Public Museum of West Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI
Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MI
The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI