Following a lengthy evaluation process, The Gund recently received national accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest recognition for museums in the United States. According to the AAM website, the U.S. has roughly 33,000 museums, but only 1116 are currently accredited — meaning The Gund has joined the ranks of a select 3%. 

Daisy Desrosiers, chief curator of The Gund, explained that the road to accreditation was no easy feat. “Accreditation by the [AAM] is a rigorous, multi-year and multi-phase process — in our case, just over three years — that evaluates every aspect of a museum’s operations, from governance and collections care to public trust and educational impact,” she wrote in an email to the Collegian. “At The Gund, this involved a deep assessment of our mission, policies and practices, alongside an active strategic plan. One of the biggest challenges was the significant time, reflection and coordination — on top of our regular programs and exhibitions.”

Desrosiers also elaborated on what changes The Gund’s new status brings — namely, increased prestige and easier acquisition of grants and collaborations. “While the museum’s mission remains consistent, accreditation affirms that we are meeting the highest standards of museum practice. It strengthens our ability to steward the collection, apply for competitive grants, and collaborate with peer institutions nationally and internationally on exhibitions. Practically, it helps us build stronger partnerships and deepen our impact both on and off campus,” she wrote. 

Jodi Kovach, the Pamela and Christopher Hoehn-Saric deputy director of curatorial affairs and education, reiterated the new opportunities that that accreditation will bring. “When we build exhibitions, we rely on loans from artists, private collectors and major museums. Accreditation tells these lenders that we meet the highest standards of professionalism — just like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) would — so they can trust us with valuable works of art. Without it, many institutions don’t consider lending at all,” she wrote in an email to the Collegian.

The change comes in light of a restructuring to the studio art major’s capstone, involving a location move from The Gund to Gund Commons. However, while many studio art majors have criticized the restructuring to the capstone, others have acknowledged that the accreditation has been a longtime goal of the establishment. “From conversations we’ve had with The Gund, it seems like accreditation is something they’ve been pushing towards for the past few years,” studio art major Logan Furlonge ’27 wrote in a message to the Collegian. “This does mean there’s going to be some reorganization of the relationship between studio art majors and The Gund, which is going to be difficult to navigate in the first couple of years, as is the same for all forms of change on academic levels.”