The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Selected to Participate in National Museum Assessment Program

The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University has been selected to participate in the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), which is administered by the American Alliance of Museums. Through guided self-study assessment and on-site consultation with a museum professional, participation in MAP will empower The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum to better serve the citizens of the Great Lakes Bay Region and beyond by facilitating its meeting and exceeding the highest professional standards of the museum field. The on-site consultation took place August 12 – 13, with Melissa Gold Fournier, Head of Imaging and Intellectual Property of the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut.

“We are grateful to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) who has provided the funding to make our participation in this assessment possible,” state Megan McAdow, Director of the Museum. “It is the behind-the-scenes work of collections management and preservative conservation that ensures Museums like ours can continue to share our art and archives collections with today’s and future generations,” she added. MAP helps museums strengthen operations, plan for the future, and meet standards through self-study assessment and a consultative site visit from an expert peer reviewer.

The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum has chosen to do a Collections Stewardship MAP assessment in order to gain a better understanding around their own best practices and stewardship as they plan for the future of their collections.  “We feel the MAP assessment will strengthen our knowledge of day-to-day operations and provide a plan to help provide access to our collections not yet digitized,” states Geoffe Haney, the Museum Collection Manager. 

 “Choosing to be part of the MAP program is indicative of the commitment to civic involvement, public service and overall excellence on the part of The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum,” said Laura Lott, president of AAM. “Studies have shown America’s museums to be among the country’s most trusted and valued institutions. MAP is designed to make them even better.”

Since its creation in 1981, the MAP program has served over 5,000 museums. MAP is supported through a cooperative agreement between AAM and IMLS. For more information, including a complete list of museums participating in MAP, please visit www.aam-us.org/map, call 202-289-9118 or e-mail map@aam-us.org. Our website also has information about museums across the country who have previously participated in MAP and other AAM Excellence Programs (such as Core Document Verification and Accreditation).

AAM is the only organization representing the nation’s entire museum community and has been dedicated to promoting excellence within the museum field for over 100 years. For more information about AAM, visit www.aam-us.org. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. To learn more about the Institute, please visit: http://www.imls.gov.

The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum is located on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, 7400 Bay Road, University Center, MI. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday 11 am – 5 pm. For more information, call (989) 964-7125 or visit the Museum’s website at www.marshallfredericks.org.