American Association of Museum Educators

American Association of Museum Educators
Name	American Association of Museum Educators
Type	Professional association
Founded	1970s
Headquarters	United States

American Association of Museum Educators is a professional organization serving practitioners in public engagement, interpretation, and learning at museums, historic sites, science centers, art museums, botanical gardens, and zoos. Founded amid shifts in museum practice in the late twentieth century, the association connects professionals across institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, Getty Center, and Museum of Modern Art. Its membership spans staff from regional institutions like the Field Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, to smaller historic houses, cultural centers, and university museums including The Frick Collection, Wadsworth Atheneum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Pérez Art Museum Miami, High Museum of Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Peabody Essex Museum, Chinatown Museum of San Francisco, National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Museum of the City of New York, Chicago History Museum, New-York Historical Society, Rubin Museum of Art, Brooklyn Historical Society.

History

The association grew from professional networks and conferences that included staff from institutions like Cooper Hewitt, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum, The Henry Ford, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Historic New England, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, and Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. Early convenings featured practitioners affiliated with National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, American Alliance of Museums, Association of Science-Technology Centers, and university programs at Bank Street College of Education, Columbia University Teachers College, University of Leicester, University of Toronto, Indiana University Bloomington, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, Syracuse University, and Tufts University. Influences included exhibitions and education innovations at Exposition Universelle, World's Columbian Exposition, and pedagogical shifts associated with figures connected to Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, John Dewey, and practitioners working alongside museums such as Science Museum London, Natural History Museum, London, and Musée du Louvre.

Mission and Activities

The association promotes standards and best practices aligned with initiatives at American Alliance of Museums, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, UNESCO, and municipal cultural agencies like New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. It advances work in community engagement with partners resembling Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Cooper Hewitt Education Department, Victoria and Albert Museum Learning Department, Tate Modern Learning, British Library, Library of Congress, MoMA Learning, and Getty Education. Program areas intersect with conservation efforts at Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, interpretive strategies from National Park Service, audience research from AAM Center for the Future of Museums, and accessibility frameworks in line with ADA compliance discussions at major institutions including Kennedy Center.

Membership and Governance

Membership comprises educators, curators, program developers, directors, volunteers, and students from institutions such as Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Newark Museum of Art, Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Baltimore Museum of Art, Tampa Museum of Art, Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, Harvard Art Museums, Yale University Art Gallery, Princeton University Art Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, National Museum of the American Indian, Holocaust Museum Houston, and community museums like Tenement Museum. The association is governed by a board and elected officers and works with committees mirroring governance at American Alliance of Museums and nonprofit bylaws similar to those used by Association of Art Museum Directors.

Professional Development and Publications

The association publishes practitioner-focused materials, toolkits, and journals comparable to resources from Museum Management and Curatorship, Curator: The Museum Journal, Journal of Museum Education, Curatorial Studies, and working papers used by Center for the Future of Museums and Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. It offers webinars, workshops, and mentorships that echo training offered by Getty Conservation Institute, MoMA PS1, Cooper Hewitt National Design Education Center, Centre Pompidou, Tate Britain, Royal Ontario Museum, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Hammer Museum, Portland Art Museum, and graduate programs at New York University, University of Leicester School of Museum Studies, University College London.

Conferences and Awards

Annual and regional conferences draw participants from institutions including American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum, Science Museum of Minnesota, Exploratorium, Franklin Institute, Museum of Science (Boston), California Academy of Sciences, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Please Touch Museum, Discovery Place, Chicago Children's Museum, Boston Children's Museum, COSI (Center of Science and Industry), Liberty Science Center, and international delegations from ICOM, UNESCO, European Museum Forum, and Asia-Europe Foundation. Awards recognize innovations similar to honors from National Humanities Medal, MacArthur Fellowship, Pritzker Architecture Prize, James Beard Foundation Awards, and field-specific grants administered by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Ford Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship programs, and government cultural grants from National Endowment for the Humanities.

Partnerships and Advocacy

The association partners with academic, cultural, and funding bodies such as Smithsonian Institution, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, American Alliance of Museums, Association of Science-Technology Centers, International Council of Museums, UNESCO, The Rockefeller Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Knight Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Getty Foundation, and networks including Museum Computer Network, MuseumNext, AAM, ICOM-US, Cultural Institutions Group, Museum Association of New York to advocate for public policies, funding, accessibility, inclusion, and professional standards that align with practices at Smithsonian Folkways, National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of Women in the Arts, African American Museum in Philadelphia, Japanese American National Museum, Wing Luke Museum, Latin American Museum, and other community-focused organizations.

Category:Professional associations in the United States