Baylor’s Mayborn Museum earns Smithsonian Affiliate status

There’s no bigger name in the museum world than Smithsonian, with their famous collections lining the National Mall in Washington. What you might not know is that they have affiliate museums around the nation — a roster that now includes Baylor’s Mayborn Museum.

The Mayborn was named earlier this fall as a Smithsonian Affiliate, one of just 200 in the nation and the only one in Central Texas. It’s certainly a great endorsement for the Mayborn, which had already earned a prestigious accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, an honor only three percent of museums receive. And it’s long been a draw for families, schools and children to campus for its array of exhibitions and permanent collections ranging from mammoth fossils to space exploration. Guests have testified to the museum’s excellence to the tune of more than two million visits.

The Smithsonian affiliation builds on all that by tying the museum into a global network that shares information, resources and context. Smithsonian affiliates collaborate on projects of strategic significance to the Smithsonian, and add local context to larger stories. Additionally, the Mayborn can now collaborate with other affiliates in partnerships that bring exhibitions, programs, workshops, lectures and more to Waco.

Immediate payoffs of the affiliation include the Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism Youth Action and Leadership program, which brings environmental leadership training to local schools, and the possibility of bringing in major national Smithsonian exhibitions in the coming years.

Sic ’em, Mayborn Museum!