AKRON, OH.- The Akron Art Museum announced it has again achieved accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM).

“I am pleased to announce that the American Association of Museums has officially voted to accredit the Akron Art Museum,” said Mitchell Kahan, Director and CEO of the Akron Art Museum. “They found our institution to ‘meet or exceed’ every relevant criteria they examined. This is our fourth accreditation, the museum having been one of the earliest institutions to participate in the program with our first accreditation way back in 1972.”

AAM Accreditation is the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies and to the museum-going public. All museums must undergo a re-accreditation review at least every 10 years to maintain accredited status.

AAM Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for 35 years, AAM’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and remain financially and ethically accountable – all in order to provide the best possible service to the public.

Accreditation is a very rigorous but highly rewarding 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, 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.

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.