Penn Museum Launches National Survey on Museum Collecting Practices
From May 20 to August 20, 2025, the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania will conduct the National Survey of Museum Collecting Practices. This initiative seeks to gather comprehensive information on the collecting policies, acquisitions, disposals, and provenance studies of nonprofit museums and libraries throughout the U.S. The survey aligns with the M2A Project, which began in October 2024 and received support from a National Leadership Grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. A group of over 50 specialists has crafted the survey, with findings expected to be released in 2027 and recurring every three years, contingent on funding availability.
Key facts
- National Survey of Museum Collecting Practices runs May 20 to August 20, 2025.
- Survey is part of the M2A Project launched in October 2024.
- M2A Project funded by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
- Survey collects data on acquisitions, loans, deaccessions, and provenance research.
- Over 50 museum experts helped develop the questionnaire.
- Results will be published in 2027 with generalized insights only.
- Penn Museum became first U.S. museum to limit incoming antiquities in 1970.
- Penn Museum faced controversy in 2020 over skulls of enslaved people in its Morton Cranial Collection.
Entities
Institutions
- Penn Cultural Heritage Center
- University of Pennsylvania
- Penn Museum
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
- U.S. Department of State's Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee
- Artnet News
Locations
- Philadelphia
- United States