​Museum Accreditation 

The American Alliance of Museums​ is the national body for museums in our country. Institutions can sign up for memberships and reap all sorts of benefits, such as conferences, question boards, updates in the field, and numerous other rewards. 

One area promoted and glamourized is accreditation. The AAM will accredit any museum in the country that follows the specific guidelines to operate at a higher standard. From staffing and funding to education and collection care, an accredited museum displays how to best run their organization. While not required, accreditation is a prestigious accomplishment; only about 3% of all US museums have received accreditation…and only 11 total in Kansas! Once accomplished, a museum retains its accreditation for ten years. 

Here at Old Cowtown Museum, we are reaching the end of our ten-year accreditation; so earlier this year we started our reaccreditation process. Financials, programming, fundraising, events, educational opportunities, and so many other things are needed to explain who each museum is. This complete step one. 

Once our application is read, step two is a site visit. Two members of the accreditation committee will visit our museum to see the buildings, exhibits, staff, and board of trustees to gain a sense of how our museum improves the community.  When we pass our site visit, we retain our accreditation.