About NARM

The North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association® began in the 1980s in Florida when a small group of museums decided they would like to offer their members extra benefits. The NARM member list and guidelines were sent to each member organization by a volunteer coordinator who was typically the membership staff person of one of the member museums.

In 2006, the volunteer coordinator from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico retired and NARM changed hands again. NARM coordination moved to Greenville, South Carolina and numerous enhancements were undertaken; the official name of the NARM organization was established, NARM lists appeared online for the first time in 2007, and by 2010 an official NARM logo was created.

The NARM Association had grown to over 500 institutions at the start of 2012 and member organizations were requesting a more professional NARM presence. The organization, no longer manageable by a volunteer coordinator, was incorporated in 2013 and began designing a professional website, brochures, and decals.

Today, there are more than 1,300 member institutions in six different countries for people with NARM-level benefits to explore. The NARM Association boasts an array of top-notch institutional members from arts and history museums to botanical gardens, children’s museums, science centers, and more.