Museums Win Awards in Graphic-Design Competition

Nearly 180 publications from museums and galleries have won honors in the 18th annual Museum Publications Design Competition.

Sponsored by the American Association of Museums, the contest honors graphic excellence. This year’s competition drew 1,117 entries in 15 categories such as annual reports, invitations to events, newsletters, and posters. In each category, judges made two sets of awards: one to groups whose annual budget was at least $500,000 and another to groups that operated on less.

The prizes were awarded by six judges selected for their experience in publishing for arts organizations.

Among this year’s winners is an annual report from the Japanese American National Museum, in Los Angeles. Officials used a standard paper size and dropped color photographs to keep costs low. For the same amount of money spent the year before, they sent the new report to 10,000 people, up from just 2,000.

A more lavish publication that also won was a booklet to help recruit corporate sponsors for a Smithsonian Institution exhibit on the Hubble space telescope. It features a shiny, silvery page to illustrate the telescope’s reliance on powerful mirrors.

Following are the winners:

Annual Reports

First prize: Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles), Annual Report, 7/1/96-6/30/97

Second prize: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Annual Report 96/97

Books

First prize: The Library of Congress (Washington), Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States

Second prize:
— The Art Institute of Chicago, Italian Drawings Before 1600 in The Art Institute of Chicago
— The Detroit Institute of Arts, Splendors of Ancient Egypt

Calendars

First prize: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), “Haute Couture Wall Calendar 1998″

Second prize: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), “Tiffany Executive Diary 1998″

Calendars of Events

First prize: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (Providence), “Members Calendar of Events, January/February 1998 and March/April 1998″

Second prize: The New York Public Library, “The New York Library for the Performing Arts Seasonal Brochure”

CD-ROM’s

First prize: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) (Washington), “Earth 2U, Exploring Geography”

Second prize:
— Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles), “Executive Order 9066: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans During WWII”
— Powerhouse Museum (Sydney, Australia), “Real Wild Child! Australian Rock Music 1950s-90s”

Educational Resources

First prize: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), “China: 500 Years Curriculum Guide for Educators”

Second prize: Autry Museum of Western Heritage (Los Angeles), “The Spirit of Community”

Exhibition Catalogues

First prize:
— Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, Cut and Paste
— Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective

Second prize:
— The New York Public Library, The Hand of the Poet
— Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), Bill Viola

Fund-Raising and Membership Campaign Materials

First prize: American Visionary Art Museum (Baltimore), “Very Baltimore, Very Visionary, Saints and Sinners Mardi Gras Fund Raiser Ticket”

Second prize: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) (Washington), “The Hubble Space Telescope” (corporate sponsor solicitation)

Invitations to Events

First prize: Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington (Seattle), “The Polished Coral Pestle” (invitation to events marking reopening after major exhibit installation)

Second prize:
— Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, “Monet Press Event”
— The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (Santa Fe, N.M.), “Opening Invitation Pack”

Magazines

First prize: Gilcrease Museum (Tulsa, Okla.), Gilcrease Journal

Second prize: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, MFAH Today, January/February 1998

Newsletters

First prize: San Jose Museum of Art (Cal.), Frameworks, Winter 1998

Second prize: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) (Washington), Siteline, No. 40

Posters

First prize:
— J. Paul Getty Trust (Los Angeles), “Clocks”
— Philadelphia Museum of Art, “India: A Celebration of Independence (Muslim Women Praying)”

Second prize: Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington (Seattle), “Pacific Voices”

Press Kits

First prize: National Gallery of Art (Washington), “Thomas Moran”

Second prize: National Gallery of Art (Washington), “Mark Rothko”

Scholarly Journals

First prize: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (Washington), The Confusion Era: Art and Culture of Japan During the Allied Occupation, 1945-1952

Second prize: The Art Institute of Chicago, African Art at The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2

Supplementary Materials

First prize: National Trust for Historic Preservation (Washington), “A National Trust Historic Site: Chesterwood, Cliveden, Pope-Leighey House” (series of three commemorative books)

Second prize: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (Washington), “Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon” (exhibition brochure)

Exhibition Catalogues

First prize: Gallery of Art & Design, North Carolina State University (Raleigh), Mark Hewitt: Potter

Second prize: Rose Art Museum (Waltham, Mass.), Robert Farber: A Retrospective

Invitations to Events

First prize: Paul Robeson Cultural Center, Rutgers University (Piscataway), “Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen” (exhibition opening)

Second prize: The Octagon (Washington), “Swags, Urns, and Eagles: Details of the Federal Period. Photographic Prints by Victoria Cooper”

Magazines

First prize: Americas Society (New York), Review: Latin American Literature and Arts, Issue 56

Posters

First prize: Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, University of California at Los Angeles at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art, “Picturing Childhood: Illustrated Children’s Books from the University of California Collections, 1550-1990″

Scholarly Journals

First prize: Fine Arts Gallery, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Issues in Cultural Theory: Minimal Politics

Supplementary Materials

First prize: Heritage Farmstead Museum (Plano, Tex.), “Welcome Home” (general-purpose brochure with inserts)

Second prize: Gallery of Art & Design, North Carolina State University (Raleigh), “Fabulous Furniture: Rosanne Somerson, Jenna Goldberg, Eck Follen” (exhibition brochure)