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SEMC is pleased to announce the 2020 Winners of the

Exhibition, Publication and Technology Competitions and

Student Work in Museums

Congratulations to all! 

Under $10,000 Budget 

Gold: Orange County Regional Historical Center - The Accidental Historian

Silver: LSU Museum of Art - Adore/Adorn: The Elsie Michie Contemporary Jewelry Collection

Bronze: McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture - Debut: Recent Acquisitions

Under $25,000 Budget 

Gold: Western Carolina University Fine Arts Museum - Resounding Change: Sonic Art and the Environment

Silver: Emory University Libraries - Framing Shadows: Portraits of Nannies from the Robert Langmuir African American Photograph Collection

Silver: Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage - Beyond the Oaks: Lowcountry Plantations

Bronze: Vulcan Park and Museum - Right or Privilege? Alabama Women and the Vote

Honorable Mention: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia - Mary Lee Bendolph: Quilted Memories

Over $25,000 Budget 

Gold: The Florida Holocaust Museum - Beaches, Benches, and Boycotts: The Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay

Silver: Hunter Museum of American Art - Noel W. Anderson: Blak Origin Moment

Bronze: Emory University Libraries - Speak What Must Be Spoken

Bronze: Telfair Museums - Suzanne Jackson: Five Decades

Honorable Mention: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia - Material Georgia 1733 - 1900: Two Decades of Scholarship

Over $100,000 Budget 

Gold: Knoxville Museum of Art - Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin: Through the Unusual Door

Silver: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art - Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today

Bronze: The Mint Museum - Classic Black

Many thanks to the 2020 Exhibition Competition Co-Chairs:

  • Ann Rowson Love, PhD, Associate Professor, Director, Museum Education & Visitor-Centered Curation, Liaison to The Ringling  Department of Art Education, Florida State University
  • Emilie Arnold, Exhibition Developer, Dalton, Georgia 

And 2020 Exhibition Competition Judges:

  • Rebecca Bush, CurCom representative, Curator of History/Exhibitions Manager, The Columbus Museum
  • Jeremy Underwood, NAME representative, Building Four Fabrication
  • Michelle Schulte, EdCom representative, program chair, and Gallery Director/Chief Curator at the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for the Visual Arts, Pensacola State College


Category: Annual Reports

Gold: Gibbes Museum of Art

Silver: Florida Museum of Natural History

Bronze: Wiregrass Museum of Art

Category: Book & Catalogues

Gold: Vitus Shell: 'Bout It 'Bout It, The Political Power - Hilliard Art Museum - University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Silver: Appalachia Now! An Interdisciplinary Survey of Contemporary Art in Southern Appalachia - Asheville Art Museum

Bronze: Envisioning the Future - Asheville Art Museum

Honorable Mention: Material Georgia 1733 – 1900: Two Decades of Scholarship - Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia

Category: Brochures and Rack Cards

Gold: Live at the Mint Brochure - The Mint Museum

Silver: Asheville Art Museum

Bronze: Never Abandon Imagination Rack Card - The Mint Museum

Honorable Mention: Site Brochure - Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site 

Categorgy: Campaigns

Gold: Grand Opening Celebration - Asheville Art Museum

Silver: Adore Adorn Exhibition - LSU Museum of Art

Bronze: Never Abandon Imagination Campaign - The Mint Museum 

Honorable Mention: L'Amour du Vin - Knoxville Museum of Art

Category: Gallery Guides

Gold: Immersed In Light: Studio Drift at The Mint Gallery - The Mint Museum

Silver: Frederick Douglass: Embers of Freedom curriculum guide - SCAD Museum of Art

Bronze: Form & Function: Shoe Art by Chris Francis curriculum guide - SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

Category: Invitations

Gold: Telfair Ball Invitation - Telfair Museum

Silver: Celebrate Reynolda invitation - Reynolda House Museum of American Art

Bronze: Classic Black Opening Invitation - The Mint Museum

Honorable Mention: 2020 Coveted Couture Save the Date - The Mint Museum

Category: Magazines & Newsletters

Gold: Art Talk/LSU Museum of Art Newsletter - LSU Museum of Art 

Silver: Binder Magazine - Columbia Museum or Art

Bronze: History Matters - Atlanta History Center 

Honorable Mention: Time Travelers' Gazette - Orange County Regional History Center

Category: Mailers & Calendars 

Gold: Telfair Museums 

Silver: Marco Island Historical Society 

Bronze: Muscarelle Museum of Art at William and Mary 

Category: Posters

Gold: 15th Anniversary Poster - LSU Museum of Art

Silver:  Yard Party for Art hand screen-printed souvenir - Wiregrass Museum of Art

Category: Best in Show

Gold: Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi - Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia

Many thanks to the 2020 Publication Competition Chair:

  • Monty Fields, Curator of Exhibits, Kentucky Derby Museum, Louisville, Kentucky

And 2020 Publication Competition Judges:

  • Scott Erbes, Curator of Decorative Arts and Design The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky

  • Michael Herbert, Creative Director, Solid Light, Louisville, Kentucky

  • Chelsea Niemeier, Senior Graphic Designer Kentucky Derby Museum, Louisville, Kentucky


Did you miss the October 2020 Virtual Technology Showcase which featured projects from Technology Competition GOLD Winners? No worries! We have the video! Click the link below to see what you missed!

View Recording

Category: Applications  

Gold: Appleton Museum of Art - Appleton Museum of Art App

Silver: Wiregrass Museum of Art - Museum App Launch

Bronze: Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center  - Explore Helen and Sautee Nacoochee Phone App

Category: Campaign  

Silver: Hunter Museum of American Art - Glenn Ligon Campaign

Category: Digital Education 

Gold: Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennesaw State University - Digital Education Resources for the Pandemic Pivot

Silver: Orange County Regional History Center - Museum App Launch

Bronze: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art  - Virtual Programs - Virtual Art By The Glass & Studio at Home

Honorable Mention: Northeast Georgia History Center - Free Livestream History Programs for the Public

Category: Digital Marketing 

Gold: Wiregrass Museum of Art - Yard Party for Art website and related digital marketing campaign

Silver: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art - Trails & Grounds Takeover with Clay Bakker

Bronze: Georgia Museum of Art  - Daily Inspirations on Instagram

Honorable Mention: North Carolina Museum of  History - History at Home

Category: Gallery Installations 

Gold: Riggs Ward Design - Mercer Music At Capricorn

Silver: Hunter Museum of American Art - Glenn Ligon Interactive 

Category: Media Production

Gold: Orange County Regional History Center - Curating a Tragedy: Documenting the PULSE Nightclub Shooting

Silver: Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston - Colin Quashie : Linked

Bronze: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art  - CVBR

Honorable Mention: Wiregrass Museum of Art - One Night Only - A Virtual Event for Members 

Category: Student Projects 

Gold: Muscarelle Museum of Art at William & Mary  - Rising: The American Indian Movement and the Third Space of Sovereignty

Silver: Northeast Georgia History Center - Glass to Digital: Restoration of Early Twentieth Century Negatives

Many thanks to the 2020 Technology Competition Co-Chairs:

  • Anna E. Tucker, Curator, Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Scott Warren, Historic Site Manager II, President James K. Polk State Historic Site, Pineville, North Carolina 

And 2020 Technology Competition Judges:

  • Scotty Almany, Digital Media, Programming & Exhibit Logistics Manager, Birthplace of Country Music

  • Lizz Biswell, Associate Director, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina

  • Alexander Brooks (Jury Chair), Education Manager, Gaston County Museum, Dallas, North Carolina

  • Kate Daly, Visual Culture Archivist, Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, Georgia  

  • Dana-Marie Lemmer, Director and Curator, Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, Alabama

  • Ainsley Powell, Curator of Collections, City of Raleigh, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, Historic Resources and Museum Program, Raleigh, North Carolina                                                                 


2020 Student Work in Museums Award Winners

Student: Lesley Jones

Project title: Starting Anew: Restoration of Collections Storage at the NE GA History Center, Northeast Georgia History Center

School: University of North Georgia

Degree: M.A.,  History

Student: Rebekkah Watkins

Project title: Exhibit Lesson Plans for Underrepresented Subject Areas & Grade Levels, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts

School: Appalachian State University 

Degree: Ed.D, Educational Leadership

Student: Naomi Edmondson 

Project title: Cartographic Countering: Encouraging Productive Dialogue Between the Charleston Renaissance Artists and African American contributions to "Historic Charleston", Gibbes Museum of Art

School: Virginial Commonwealth University 

Degree: M.A., Art History 

Student: Devon Vander Voort

Project title: Immigration Brochure, SCAD Library, Special Collections

School: Savannah College of Art and Design

Degree: B.F.A., Art History 

Student: Sommer Martin 

Project title: Into the Exhibits: Research and Modification of NE GA History Center Exhibits, Northeast Georgia History Center

School: Illinois Wesleyan University 

Degree: B.A., Anthropology

Student: Ruth Moreno Carpio

Project title: In For a Penny and Out For a Pound: Accessing Currency from 1849-1950, Northeast Georgia History Center

School: University of North Georgia

Degree: B.A., History Eduation 

Many thanks to the 2020 Student Work in Museums Co-Chairs:

  • Pam Meister, Director,  Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina
  • Patricia A. Hobbs , Senior Curator of Art Museums at W&L, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia