Nov

2023 Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Awards

It is time once again to celebrate staff achievements in exhibition excellence! Award applications are being accepted through JANUARY 16, 2024. This awards program, inaugurated in 2017, recognizes outstanding work in the field of exhibitions and acknowledges the dedication and creativity of exhibition staff throughout the Smithsonian.

Eligible exhibitions need to be open to the public during Calendar Year 2023. Please plan to submit an application to recognize exhibit excellence at your unit no later than noon Eastern time on Tuesday, January 16, 2023. If the exhibition you would like to nominate is short-term or is located outside of the Washington, DC, or New York City metropolitan areas, please consider creating a video walkthrough of the experience. Judging will likely be a mixture of in-person and via photo/video documentation.

Exhibitions will be evaluated based on their ability to engage all audiences with Smithsonian collections or research by means of design and interpretation. The award recognizes innovative techniques and clear communication of exhibitions’ big ideas and main messages. As in past years, there will be one overall Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Award and then there may also be special achievement awards for design and interpretation.

New for 2023: The Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Awards committee is excited to announce a new area of consideration: Special Achievement in Sustainability. The award honors exhibitions that demonstrate strong commitment to sustainability and advancing the field of sustainable exhibition design and production. This special achievement award (NOTE: it will be separate from the overall award judging) assesses and celebrates sustainability across five categories: reduction of new material consumption, use of local resources, reduction of waste, reduction of energy consumption, and reduced toxic emissions.

Guidelines and application forms are available at this SharePoint site: https://sinet.sharepoint.com/sites/SI-collab/exhaward/Pages/default.aspx

We will announce and celebrate winners in Spring 2024; date, time, and location TBA.

Last year’s winners:

The 2022 Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Award went to the National Museum of the American Latino for Presente! A Latino History of the United States (on display in the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the National Museum of American History).
Three teams received Special Achievement Awards. Winners of Special Achievement in Interpretation were the National Museum of the American Indian for Native New York and the National Museum of Asian Art for A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur and Special Achievement in Design to the National Air and Space Museum for Exploring the Planets.

This program is coordinated by Smithsonian Exhibits (SIE) and PEEPS (Promoting Excellence among Exhibit Professionals at the Smithsonian). Steering Committee members: Monica Smith, Lemelson Center, NMAH; Saul Drake, SITES; Julia Garcia, NMAH; Matthew O’Connor, SIE.

For further information on this message, please contact Julia Garcia, National Museum of American History, x3-3696 (VoIP) or 202-633-3696 (non-VoIP), garciaj@si.edu AND ExhibitAward@si.edu