For Immediate Release

June 4, 2020 – Nine museum exhibitions have gained accolades in the 32^nd annual Excellence in Exhibition Competition, presented by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Top exhibitions included:

Overall Award Winners

• Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario – “Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches”
• National Geographic Museum, Washington, DC – “Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall”

Special Achievement

Special Achievement – Storytelling Supported by Collections

• American Civil War Museum, Richmond, VA – “A People’s Contest”

Special Achievement – Excellence in Community Empowerment

• Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI – “Finding Our Voice: Sister Survivors Speak”

Special Achievement – Personal Relevance

• Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA – “Self, Made: Exploring You in a World of We”

Special Achievement – Informed by Community Voices

• Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR – “Experience Oregon”

Special Achievement – Interactivity

• Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA – “New River Alive”

Special Achievement – Visual Engagement

• National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC – “David H. Koch Hall of Fossils: Deep Time”

Special Achievement – Authentic Representation of Content

• Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN – “Hearts of our People”

“It was an enormous pleasure to see the wide range of stellar entries that came in for the 32nd annual Excellence in Exhibitions Competition,” said Becky Menlove, Deputy Director, Director for the Visitor Experience at the Natural History Museum of Utah, who served as the competition coordinator. “With thirty-nine submissions from across the US and Canada, we reviewed exhibitions from large and small organizations representing the full spectrum of museum types, from fine arts museums to botanical gardens, children’s museums to historical sites. It was inspiring to see the degree to which museums are striving to create relevant and meaningful exhibitions that not only engage, but in many cases also reflect the audiences served by these projects.”

Judges for the contest represented four AAM Professional Networks (CurCom, EdCom, CARE, and NAME). The awards were presented virtually on June 4 at the AAM 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo.

About the American Alliance of Museums

The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

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Media Contact:

Natanya Khashan
Director, Marketing & Communications
American Alliance of Museums