KNOXVILLE—The Frank H. McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, recently received its fifth accreditation from the American Association of Museums. Of the 160-plus museums statewide, McClung is one of only thirteen that are accredited.
The designation is the highest national honor for a museum.
Only 775 of the estimated 17,500 museums nationwide are accredited, which puts the McClung Museum in the top 4 percent of museums in the US.
“Our vision is to be one of the top university museums in the Southeast and to be part of the university’s vision to be a Top 25 institution,” said McClung Museum Director Jeff Chapman. “We want to be an important component of that ranking.”
The accreditation comes as McClung Museum officials begin preparations for its fiftieth anniversary, which takes place in June 2013.
The McClung Museum was first accredited in 1972 and has maintained the distinction since then. The process occurs every ten years. The museum is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
The McClung Museum is a general museum with permanent exhibits on Archaeology and the Native Peoples of Tennessee, Ancient Egypt, Geology and Fossils, Decorative Arts, the Civil War in Knoxville, Human Origins, and Freshwater Mussels.
Upcoming temporary exhibits include Birds in Art, Zen Buddhism and the Arts of Japan, and Splendid Treasures of the Turkomen Tribes from Central Asia.
For more information, visit mcclungmuseum.utk.edu.
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CONTACTS:
Jeff Chapman (865-974-2144, jchapman@utk.edu)
Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lola.alapo@tennessee.edu)