MORGANTOWN — The Art Museum of WVU has been selected to participate in the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), which is administered by the American Alliance of Museums.
Through guided self-study and on-site consultation with a museum professional, participation in MAP is intended to empower the art museum to better serve the students, faculty and staff of the university as well residents of Morgantown and the region by facilitating its meeting and exceeding the highest professional standards of the museum field.
The museum’s participation is made possible through funding provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. MAP helps museums strengthen operations, plan for the future and meet standards through self-study and a consultative site visit from an expert peer reviewer.
The Art Museum has chosen to do a MAP organizational assessment as a step toward preparing for its initial accreditation with the American Alliance of Museums, to expand knowledge of professional museum standards and best practices and increase financial sustainability.
The assessment team, made up of museum staff, including Joyce Ice, director; Robert Bridges, curator; Heather Harris, manager of educational programs; Keith Jackson, dean, College of Creative Arts; and Bernie Schultz, Professor Emeritus and museum docent; Arthur Jacknowitz, Professor Emeritus, museum docent, and member of the Museum Advisory Council; Alison Deem, chair, Museum Advisory Council and museum docent; and Lyn Dotson, former vice president, WVU Foundation, and member of the Advisory Council.
“The self-study process in itself is a helpful for the museum staff as well as its stakeholders because it highlights strengths as well as areas for improvement,” Ice said. “As the museum approaches the third anniversary of its opening, the MAP program will help us to prepare for our next phase of growth and development.”
The assessment team has been engaged in exercises related to the museum’s mission and the public’s experience of the museum.
For more information, including a complete list of museums participating in MAP, visit aam-us.org/map, call 202-289-9118 or e-mail map@aam-us.org.
The art museum’s collection includes paintings, prints, works on paper, sculpture and ceramics and totals more than 3,000 works of art that are international in scope. The collection has been created through private gifts, donations from alumni and individual collectors, and purchases over the decades.
The museum is free and open to the public from 3:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday and from 12:30-4:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
