April 2, 2023—According to a recent post by the Wallace Foundation, the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) is updating its standards for the first time in 20 years, and it will include goals for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access as an integral part of museum excellence.
In the interview with Laura Lott, CEO and President of AAM, she said the new standards, when finalized, will become a requirement for accreditation for the more than 1,000 museums currently under its umbrella and the standard for professional practice for its more than 35,000 members.
I believe this is a bold initiative and hope it can become a model for other arts and cultural institutions. I encourage the readers of Arts & Culture Connections to check out the interview at this link.
As always, I would like to know what you think. I invite you to share your comments below.
I love this and glad to see AAM include this as I advocated for it in my 2020 article in the International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, https://www.proquest.com/openview/87f284a152ec20da5e0b3fae0bc6f53f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=5531554. But, I wonder what this would look like in the cinematic, literary, and performing arts since these areas of the creative sector can’t use accreditation to incentivize this work. I’m also curious to see how museums in “red” states respond to this new requirement.
Thank you Dr. Cuyler, you raise an interesting question!