Being accredited is very important in the world of art. And the Waterworks Visual Arts Center realizes that distinction, having received national accreditation in 1999 and reaccreditation in 2012. The prestige that comes with accreditation is now being shared on a personal level by Waterworks Executive Director Anne Scott Clement who has been asked to serve as a Visiting Committee Peer Reviewer for a Florida museum.

In May, Clement was asked to serve as a peer reviewer by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). She has recently led the Waterworks through the process of reaccreditation and being approved for an additional fifteen years.

Art facilities have a variety of personalities and missions. Waterworks is accredited as a noncollecting museum, which means that it does not maintain nor acquire art for a permanent collection. Instead, Waterworks exhibits original contemporary fine art and craft by emerging and established professional artists for a limited time of exhibition.

As with the Florida museum that was recently visited by Clement, the Waterworks is a member of a community of institutions which have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to a high standard of excellence. This shows they are good stewards of their resources and are committed to a philosophy of continual institutional growth. There are some 35,000 museums in the nation and of these, only 1,054 are accredited.

Being accredited places a museum in a leadership position in the community and it is looked upon as a pace-setter in the overall arts scene, demonstrating the value of public art and leading the community in illustrating the message and worth of art production and why it should be supported.

The Waterworks Visual Arts Center is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Its mission is to provide diverse opportunities in the arts for all people through exhibitions, education and outreach. The Waterworks is funded by individual memberships, corporations and businesses, foundations, the City of Salisbury, Rowan County and the Rowan Arts Council. The Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, a federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities, supports the Waterworks Visual Arts Center. Waterworks receives general support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.