By Dirk Langeveld

Image from the Fairfield University art Museum.

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield University Art Museum has earned certification from the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, making it one of the first museums in the nation to earn this recognition.

The certification recognizes the museum’s “commitment to excellence as an academic museum serving Fairfield University and the broader community” as well as its “dedication to nationally recognized standards in governance, collections stewardship, education, accessibility, strategic planning, and community engagement.”

The Association of Academic Museums and Galleries is a professional organization dedicated to supporting professional development, advocacy, and best practices in academic museums, galleries, and collections in higher education. Its mission is to “enable its member organizations to fulfill their educational missions.”

The Fairfield University Art Museum was established in 2010, and earned accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 2024. It includes items from its permanent collections as well as special exhibitions in the Bellarmine Galleries, while the separate Walsh Gallery at the Quick Center for the Arts hosts larger special exhibitions. The permanent collection features American and European paintings, including a core group of 10 Renaissance and Baroque artists, as well as artwork from Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

The museum states that it partners with faculty across multiple disciplines to bring original works of art into the classroom through art-based learning. Such programming, along with gallery visits, seeks to “strengthen visual literacy, critical thinking, and analytical skills through direct engagement with works of art.”

The Fairfield University Art Museum is free and open to the public, although it is currently closed for the installation of fall exhibitions. Hieroglyphs to Hype: The Afterlife of Ancient Egypt will be on view at the Bellarmine Galleries from Sept. 18th to Dec. 12th, while James Welling: Cento will open on Sept. 25th at the Walsh Gallery.

For more information, visit fairfield.edu/museum.

Dirk Langeveld

Dirk Langeveld has worked as a news reporter, content marketing specialist, and freelance writer. He is the author of “The Artful Dodger: The 20-Year Pursuit of World War I Draft Dodger Grover Cleveland Bergdoll” and has contributed to several books on Connecticut history.