Trust in US Museums Grows Across Party Lines, Survey Finds
But the federal government’s threats to institutional independence could undermine these upward trends.
Trust in US museums is on the rise, regardless of political affiliation, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and Wilkening Consulting. The infographic story, published on August 17, compiled data from January and past annual surveys conducted between 2021 and 2025. Despite holding the second position in the public's trust, museums came close to overtaking researchers and scientists, public libraries, news agencies, and the US government.
On a scale of 1 to 10, conservatives rated museums at 7.3, a significant increase from their previous scores in 2021 and 2025. Moderates also showed an upward trend, assigning museums a score of 7.2, a 0.6 increase from the 2021 figure. Liberals scored museums at 7.8, matching last year's average and surpassing their 2021 rating.
Susie Wilkening, a principal at Wilkening Consulting and the survey's lead author, explained to Hyperallergic that people generally oppose political interference in museum content. This sentiment spans across all political spectrums, especially in light of recent controversies involving the Smithsonian Institution. President Donald Trump's attempts to whitewash US history at the Smithsonian, coupled with accusations of promoting extreme political activism, led to threats of stripping federal funding and a proposal for one of the lowest budgets in a decade.
Following these events, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch announced his resignation last week.
Written by urgent.news from Hyperallergic's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
