Washington, DC, 4/25/2002 - A new publication from the American Association of Museums (AAM) urges museums to continue pursuing deeper engagement with their communities and offers strategies for how that can be done. Mastering Civic Engagement: A Challenge to Museums will be released at the AAM Annual Meeting in Dallas, May 12-16, 2002.

The book is the product of AAM's Museums & Community (M&C) Initiative, an ongoing effort to explore the possibilities for museums as civic enterprises and help museums create and share inventive models. Six community dialogues convened throughout the country brought together more than 700 people, with more than two-thirds coming from community organizations. The dialogues both confirmed cultural institutions' potential as agents for community vitality and change and the public's confidence and interest in museums.

Mastering Civic Engagement encourages museums to rethink and redefine their civic role and to take more active, community-oriented approaches to their missions. "Civic engagement occurs when museum and community intersect-in subtle and overt ways, over time, and as an accepted and natural way of doing business," the book explains. "The museum becomes . . . an active, visible player in civic life, a safe haven, and a trusted incubator of change."

"AAM is committed to helping museums become community citizens," said Edward H. Able Jr., AAM's president and chief executive officer. "Every museum takes its own approach to this civic role, but the times demand that museums take this responsibility seriously as a core value."

This three-part publication challenges museums to shape a renewed civic purpose from the inside out by reexamining core values, learning from promising models, and building sustained organization-to-organization relationships. The introductory essay, "Mastering Civic Engagement," describes museums' potential as civic enterprises and provides questions to guide inquiry and action. Four other essays offer thought-provoking community perspectives. The book also features brief pieces by 10 participants at the M&C-sponsored dialogues, which reflect on the real work of civic engagement in towns and cities throughout the nation.

The M&C Initiative is made possible with support from the Ford Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds, and the American Association of Museums.

In conjunction with the release of Mastering Civic Engagement, two sessions are planned for the 2002 AAM Annual Meeting in Dallas: The ABC's of Civic Engagement and Museums & Community/Post 9/11. More information is available on the AAM Web site: www.aam-us.org.

As the national service organization representing the American museum community, the American Association of Museums addresses the needs of museums to enhance their ability to serve the public interest. AAM disseminates information on current standards and best practices and provides professional development for staff to ensure that museums contribute to public education in its broadest sense and protect and preserve our cultural heritage. Since its founding in 1906, AAM has grown to more than 15,900 members, including over 11,000 museum professionals and trustees, 1,900 corporate members, and 3,000 museums.

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