By Steve Gilliam, University Relations
Weatherspoon Art Museum
The Weatherspoon Art Museum has been reaccredited for the maximum 10-year period by the American Association of Museums.
The Weatherspoon is one of 25 museums in North Carolina that hold AAM accreditation, a seal of approval within the national museum community. Of the nation’s nearly 16,000 museums, only 765 are fully accredited by the association.
“It was with great pride that we received news of reaccreditation from the AAM,” said Nancy Doll, director of the Weatherspoon. “It is the top honor for a museum, and recognizes that the institution's policies and practices meet the highest professional standards of the field. It also is a mark of excellence in programming and service to the public.
“What we learned from the self-study will guide us as we continue to plan strategically for a secure and successful future for the Weatherspoon Art Museum, and as we strive to best serve the public.”
Initially accredited in 1995, the Weatherspoon has an extensive collection of more than 5,600 objects. Important recent additions include a 1939-40 drawing by Jackson Pollock, a collage by Joseph Cornell, and an early glass pavilion by Dan Graham, which will be placed in the soon-to-be-renovated museum courtyard.
The collection's reputation continues to grow as national and international museums request loans from the Weatherspoon for major exhibitions. Recent examples include the traveling Robert Smithson retrospective, which opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and is currently at the Whitney Museum of American Art; two upcoming exhibitions featuring the work of David Smith, one at the Whitney and one at the Guggenheim Museum of Art; and an Eva Hesse drawing exhibition that opens at the Menil Foundation in Houston and travels to The Drawing Center in New York.
Since its founding in 1906, the AAM has grown to more than 16,500 members, including 3,200 museums. The rigorous accreditation process examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. Reaccreditations at 10-year intervals are equally thorough, while keeping pace with evolving standards in the museum field.
