AAMC & AAMC Foundation Mission Statement The mission of the Association of Art Museum Curators is to support and promote the work of museum curators by creating opportunities for networking, collaboration, professional development, and advancement.
In support of these aims, the AAMC Foundation seeks to heighten public understanding of the curator's role in art museums through professional development programs, awards, and grants.
Vision Statement By providing a dynamic forum in which to share ideas and encourage professional development, the Association of Art Museum Curators will continue to attract membership, increasing its visibility and importance to North American art museum curators and to the larger arts community. Values & GoalsThe AAMC values, supports and promotes:
• Professional development and advancement
• Recognition of excellence within the field
• Research and scholarship
• Ethical and professional standards
• Collaboration among members and across professional organizations
• Dissemination of information and resources pertinent to the advancement of curatorial practice and expertise
The goals of the AAMC are to:
• Provide an open forum for discussion about museum issues in North America
• Articulate professional standards and best practices
• Promote research, scholarship, networking, and mentoring opportunities through travel grants
• Use the website to exchange scholarly and procedural information as well as traveling exhibition and employment opportunities
• Recognize distinguished achievement in the field through annual awards
• Promote best practices and professional relationships through Annual Meetings and educational programs on selected themes held at venues throughout North America
• Serve as an advocacy group for the curatorial profession
• Accomplish these goals in cooperation with museum directors, trustees, and other staff as well as other national cultural and arts advocacy organizationsAAMC History
The
AAMC, a 501(c)(6) membership organization, grew out of the Forum of
Curators and Conservators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a
recognized, non-union body of more than 100 members. In response to news
of staff reorganizations at several major US museums, members of the
Forum created an ad hoc committee to explore the feasibility of a
national organization of museum curators in 1999. Over the course of two
and a half years, curators at the Metropolitan Museum-including
Katharine Baetjer, Stefano Carboni, Colta Ives, Peter Kenny, and Gary
Tinterow-drafted the mission statement and by-laws of the proposed
organization. In April 2001, they held a meeting in New York, attended
by representatives from a dozen American art museums, during which they
voted the organization into existence.
At
the same time, members of the Forum's ad hoc committee worked closely
with prominent members of the Association of Art Museum Directors
(AAMD), including Philippe de Montebello, Anne d'Harnoncourt, Katharine
Lee Reid, and James Wood. Earlier, in autumn 2000, the Presidents
Council held a formal discussion with senior curators regarding the
establishment of the AAMC, the first time that curators were invited to
speak to this committee. In Spring 2001, Mr. de Montebello announced the
formation of the AAMC in his keynote address at a colloquium sponsored
by the American Federation of Arts, and in July of that year, James
Cuno, then president of the AAMD, wrote an official letter of
endorsement. In June 2002, more than 300 curators from across the United
States attended the first AAMC convention held at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
The
AAMC has held an annual meeting in each subsequent year and continues
to build membership and programs. In 2012, the AAMC has a board of 17
trustees from 16 museums who comprise some of the most distinguished
figures in the field; more than 1200 members in the United States and
Canada; and a paid Executive Director working in offices in New York
City generously provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
In
early 2004, the AAMC board of trustees voted to incorporate the AAMC
Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. The AAMC Foundation
seeks to
heighten public understanding of the curator's role in art museums
through professional development programs, awards, and grants.
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Meet Erica Hirshler, Croll Senior Curator of Paintings, Art of the Americas, MFA, Boston