Press Releases & Statements

New York, NY -- April 1, 2013 -- The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) today relaunched its website, with a completely new design and structure designed to make it easier to share news about the field of art museums. The site includes sections with much clearer access to key AAMD information, including the Association’s leadership, standards and practices, advocacy initiatives, and information about current members--presented in a more navigable and fully searchable interface. The site was designed and built by Pentagram, which also developed AAMD’s new graphic identity, unveiled last year.

“This new website represents a significant step in AAMD’s commitment to leading the art museum field, making it easier for us to share information about the many ways in which our member museums foster vibrant communities,” said AAMD President Kimerly Rorschach, director of the Seattle Art Museum. “While we have always made best practice information available publicly, we have not had a robust platform to distribute information about our members’ activities and to put the Association’s many activities in context. This website brings us forward as a membership organization with a strongly public mission. I want to thank Christine Anagnos, our Executive Director, as well as Pentagram and our committee of supporting AAMD members for steering this process forward.”

The design of the website utilizes “containers” with both text and graphics to draw readers to specific content. Content on the homepage will reflect the most current content for other sections of the website, ensuring that AAMD can always present news items from member museums and at the same time share critical information about legislative or international issues of interest to both members and other audiences. The ability to incorporate images--a major change from the previous, text-driven site--is critical for an association made up of arts institutions.

Brand new to the website is a section called “Museum Careers,” where museums and other arts organizations--non-members as well as AAMD’s members--can post listings for jobs in the arts. Since the Association represents more than 200 museums in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, this service is another opportunity to support the growth and development of the field by having a central place for job seekers in the arts across three different countries. Also integrated on the homepage and throughout the site are links to AAMD’s Twitter and Facebook presence, an area in which the Association has become increasingly active over the last two years.

“In developing this site, we were mindful of our three most important constituencies--our members, the broader museum field, and public audiences who may or may not know a lot about art museums,” said Christine Anagnos, Executive Director of AAMD. “While the website obviously serves a very public function, it is also helping us meet internal needs by providing better information to our members, helping us cover a growing network of institutions spread across three countries and thousands of miles.”

Long-term, AAMD plans to launch a new version of its Object Registry database that will be redesigned and integrated directly into the website. The registry provides information on members’ collections in two areas--New Acquisitions of Archaeological Material and Works of Ancient Art, and Resolution of Claims for Nazi-Era Cultural Assets--and will remain accessible at its original (http://aamdobjectregistry.org/) until the new database is developed later this year.

The Association of Art Museum Directors, representing 222 art museum directors in the US, Canada, and Mexico, promotes the vital role of art museums throughout North America and advances the profession by cultivating leadership and communicating standards of excellence in museum practice. Further information about AAMD’s professional practice guidelines and position papers is available at www.aamd.org.