This fall, Spartanburg Art Museum will take part in the Museum Assessment Program created in collaboration between the American Alliance of Museums and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
“This is tremendous news for SAM,” Elizabeth Goddard, Executive Director, said. “I have worked with both of these organizations in the past and feel very fortunate to have another opportunity to bring national standards of excellence to the work SAM is striving to accomplish.”
The American Alliance of Museums mission is to nurture excellence in museums through advocacy and service. MAP: A Customized Roadmap for Improvement is a powerful tool designed to support museums of all sizes through a one-year process of self-assessment, institutional activities and consultative peer review. At the end of this process SAM will emerge with an analysis of its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and a prioritized roadmap for improving operations and meeting standards.
For the past 30 years, the MAP program has assisted more than 4,500 museums to strengthen operations, plan for the future and meet standards. The IMLS-funded MAP grants provide $4,000 worth of consultative resources and services. “What these means specifically for SAM is a year of access to an online community with years of expertise rooted in national best practices, peer reviews, free webinars, national recognition, and a site visit, all designed to emphasize strategic planning and ensuring operations and resource alignment with our evolving mission,” Goddard said. “This process will involve the staff and Board of Directors as we increase our knowledge together and improve our operations and build capacity for all of core components.”
This is a pivotal time for Spartanburg Art Museum. The Board of Directors just welcomed several new members, Ryan Langley, Kerin Hannah, Sharon Butehorn, Cathy Bagwell, Epsie Coleman and Mary Ann Kotlarich. George Nixon, the current Board President is excited for SAM’s future. “SAM is helping us think – about ourselves and the world around us. Interactive places encourage children of all ages experience art in non-traditional ways,” Nixon recently wrote in a SAM website blog post.
Goddard has been with SAM for almost a year now and said, “with the contributions of our existing board members and the addition of these strong community minded members, SAM is moving forward with new sense of purpose, vision and understanding of what it means to function as a relevant cultural institution in the 21st century. And now with the assistance of such strong national organizations, like the American Alliance of Museums, we seem to gaining deep traction in moving our mission forward.”
SAM has a full fall season planned of new exhibitions, Art School classes, and outreach sites serving youth throughout Spartanburg County during afterschool hours with its COLORS program. For more information, please visit spartanburgartmuseum.org or call (864) 582-7616.