Has your museum outdone itself in some creative way? Enter AAM’s Brooking Paper on Creativity in Museums competition and tell us about it! The Brooking Paper recognizes innovative accomplishments that produce new ways of thinking and seeing within the museum field. Papers can describe examples of creativity in any aspect of museum operations, from collections, programs and exhibitions to finance, marketing and administration—or anything in between. If you can imagine your peers saying, “What a great idea—I’ve never heard of anybody doing that!” it’s a sign you’re headed in the right direction.

The first-prize paper will be published in Museum magazine, and its author will receive $1,000 plus $500 toward travel expenses to the 2009 AAM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, April 30–May 4. Two honorable mentions will also be awarded. We will publish all three winning papers on the AAM website in May. Museum professionals and volunteers worldwide may enter. Papers should be approximately 2,500 words; previously published pieces will not be accepted.

Deadline: Feb. 2, 2009. E-mail submissions and questions to brooking@aam-us.org.

A few suggestions and guidelines: Visit www.aam-us.org and click on “Publications,” then “Brooking Paper on Creativity.” Check out winning papers from previous years for a better sense of basic aspects of the competition. Be sure to convey the impact of the project.

Format: Submit a Word document—double-spaced, Times New Roman 11-point font, with page numbers—that includes your name, title, institution and contact information at the end.

Funding is provided through the generosity of Dolores Brooking, retired professor of arts administration at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and former director of education at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas.

2008

• First-Prize Winner:Susan Glasser, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh: "The Forgotten Audience"
• Honorable Mentions:Amy B. Baldonieri with Judith H. O'Toole, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pa.: "Little Museum, Big Ideas"
• Honorable Mentions:John Anderson, Susan Thompson and Amanda Trainor; New England Aquarium, Boston: "Same Exhibits, New Eyes"

2007

• First Prize:Amy E. Herman, Frick Collection, New York: "The Art of Observation: How the Long Arm of the Law Is Reaching the Frick Collection"
• Honorable Mention: Jessica Bicknell and Sonal Bhatt, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo, New York: "The Eco-Restroom: Inspiring Visitors to Think When They Flush"
• Honorable Mention: David M. Tanner, Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington: "Innovation and Teamwork: A Modest Ticketing Project Yields Accurate Attendance Figures"

2006

• First Prize: Maggie Russell-Ciardi, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York: "Immigrant Voices: A New Language for Museums"
• Honorable Mention: Benjamin Filene, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul: "Small Stories in the Big Picture—Open House: If These Walls Could Talk"
• Honorable Mention: Heather DeGaetano, Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga: "A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Collaboration Among Museums in Chattanooga"

2005

• First Prize: Marcia Semmes, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore: "Vital Visionaries: The Museum Cure"
• Honorable Mention: Burt Logan, U.S.S. Constitution Museum, Boston: "Rethinking Admission Fees: How a Museum Freed Itself"
• Honorable Mention: Susan M. Glasser, Boyden Gallery of Art, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, Md.: "A Different Kind of Visitor Study"