Press Releases & Statements

AAMD Celebrates Role of Art Museums in Education with Publication of Compilation of Innovative Educational Programming

New York, NY
April 28, 2014

The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) today released a resource, Next Practices in Art Museum Education, which compiles information on AAMD member museums’ innovative approaches to engaging the public with the arts through diverse learning opportunities. AAMD members will further celebrate the importance of art museum education on Sunday, May 18, during the fifth annual Art Museum Day.

“At their core, museums are educational institutions that play a unique role in complementing and extending their regions’ educational resources for children, students, and adults,” said Chris Anagnos, Executive Director of AAMD. “With the publication of Next Practices, AAMD presents case studies of innovative education programs developed by our members as a resource for the field, educators, civic leaders, and the public. This Art Museum Day, AAMD encourages everyone to discover the wide variety of programs available at your local art museum.”  

AAMD’s Next Practices incorporates 100 case studies of the recent and ongoing educational programming that its member museums have designed and implemented. The resource underscores the many forms art museum education can take, and provides practical and inspiring ideas for future programming at institutions worldwide. The case studies include programs that range from: a collaboration between an art museum and elementary school teachers to develop a website to bring more art into the classroom; to a curriculum to engage Pre-K children through diverse arts-integrated lessons; to a Spanish guide for visitors comprising a museum’s local Latino community’s personal interpretations of artworks in its collection. To download a PDF of Next Practices, please click here.

“AAMD’s Next Practices in Art Museum Education takes us beyond proven ‘best practices,’” said Lori Fogarty, Director of the Oakland Museum of California and Chair of AAMD’s Education and Community Issues Committee. “This publication is designed to spark new ideas and create a platform for sharing those ideas, while also providing practical information on how museums can initiate, support, and evaluate new education programs. Education is central to our field, and we are committed to fostering the innovative programming museums develop.”

On May 18, many AAMD member museums will further emphasize the importance of art museum education by offering educational programs and other special initiatives as part of their annual celebration of Art Museum Day. As in past years, participating museums will also offer free admission and/or special discounts. AAMD will encourage public participation by inviting visitors to share their learning experiences through social media platforms with the hashtag #ArtMuseumDay.

Art Museum Day emphasizes the essential role that art museums play in their communities, highlights the value of the visual arts in society, and provides new opportunities for audiences to participate in the wide-ranging programs offered by AAMD member museums. These member institutions—located across the United States, Canada, and Mexico—include regional museums as well as large international museums. International Museum Day is organized annually around the world by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) (http://icom.museum/imd.html), and has been celebrated globally since 1977. AAMD’s Art Museum Day is an opportunity to focus attention on the role of art museums in North America.

 

Museums participating in AAMD’s Art Museum Day in 2014 include:

 

Ackland Art Museum Addison Gallery of American Art Albright-Knox Art Gallery Allen Memorial Art Museum American Folk Art Museum Amon Carter Museum of American Art Andy Warhol Museum Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Art Gallery of Ontario Art Gallery of Windsor Art Institute of Chicago Asia Society Museum Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Aspen Art Museum Baltimore Museum of Art Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive Birmingham Museum of Art Boise Art Museum Brandywine River Museum of Art Brooklyn Museum Burchfield Penney Art Center Carnegie Museum of Art Chazen Museum of Art Cincinnati Art Museum Clyfford Still Museum Colby College Museum of Art Columbia Museum of Art Columbus Museum of Art Contemporary Arts Center Crocker Art Museum Dallas Museum of Art Denver Art Museum Des Moines Art Center Detroit Institute of Arts Dixon Gallery and Gardens El Paso Museum of Art Eli and Edythe Broad Museum of Art, Michigan State University Farnsworth Art Museum Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Flint Institute of Arts Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Frick Art and Historical Center Frist Center for the Visual Arts Georgia Museum of Art Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Gilcrease Museum Grand Rapids Art Museum Hammer Museum Henry Art Gallery Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art High Museum of Art Honolulu Museum of Art Hood Museum of Art Hunter Museum of American Art Indianapolis Museum of Art Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts J. Paul Getty Museum Japan Society Gallery Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Joslyn Museum of Art Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Kimbell Art Museum Laguna Art Museum List Visual Arts Center, MIT Los Angeles County Museum of Art Lowe Art Museum Madison Museum of Contemporary Art McNay Art Museum Meadows Museum, SMU Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Michael C. Carlos Museum Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University Minneapolis Institute of Arts Mississippi Museum of Art Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Morgan Library and Museum Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William & Mary Museo Arocena Museo de Arte de Ponce Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino Museo Franz Mayer Museo Nacional de Arte Museo Nacional de San Carlos Museo Tamayo Museo Universitario Arte Contemporaneo Museum of Arts and Design Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Museum of Glass Museum of Latin American Art  Museum of Modern Art Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University Nasher Sculpture Center National Gallery of Canada National Museum of African Art National Museum of Women in the Arts National Portrait Gallery Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art New Orleans Museum of Art Norman Rockwell Museum North Carolina Museum of Art NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Oakland Museum of California Orlando Museum of Art Palm Springs Art Museum Palmer Museum of Art Peabody Essex Museum Penn Museum Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Perez Art Museum Miami Philadelphia Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art Phoenix Art Museum Portland (Maine) Museum of Art Portland Art Museum Princeton University Art Museum Reynolda House Museum of American Art RISD Museum Saint Louis Art Museum Salvador Dali Museum Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art San Antonio Museum of Art San Diego Museum of Art San Jose Museum of Art Santa Barbara Museum of Art Seattle Art Museum Shelburne Museum Sheldon Museum of Art Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago Smith College Museum of Art Snite Museum of Art Speed Art Museum Spelman College Museum of Fine Art Spencer Museum of Art Studio Museum in Harlem Tacoma Art Museum Taft Museum of Art Tampa Museum of Art Telfair Museum of Art The Bronx Museum of the Arts The Butler Institute of American Art The Cleveland Museum of Art The Columbus Museum The Contemporary Austin The Corning Museum of Glass The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia The Frick Collection The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art The Menil Collection The Mexican Museum The Mint Museum The Noguchi Museum The Phillips Collection The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts The Walters Art Museum Timken Museum of Art Toledo Museum of Art Tucson Museum of Art Utah Museum of Fine Arts Vero Beach Museum of Art Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Wadsworth Atheneum Walker Art Center Weisman Art Museum Westmoreland Museum of American Art Wexner Center for the Arts, O.S.U. Wichita Art Museum Worcester Art Museum Yale Center for British Art Zimmerli Art Museum/Rutgers

 

A comprehensive list of participating AAMD member art museums is available on the AAMD website (https://aamd.org/our-members/from-the-field/art-museum-day-is-sunday-may-18). Note that while ICOM’s International Museum Day is formally held each year on May 18, some institutions shift their celebrations to adjacent dates.

The Association of Art Museum Directors, representing 240 art museum directors in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, aids its members in establishing and maintaining the highest professional standards for themselves and the museums they represent.  It serves as a forum for the exchange of information and the exploration of ideas, and as a voice with which museum directors may express their joint perspectives and those of their institutions. Further information about AAMD is available at www.aamd.org.

Contact

Alison Wade
Association of Art Museum Directors
212-754-8084

Meryl Feinstein
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
212-671-5161