American Alliance of Museums recognizes outstanding work for posters, exhibition materials, and exhibition catalogues
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (October 9, 2019) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has been honored with three awards in the 2019 American Alliance of Museums Publications Design Competition. The Museum won:
First Prize in the Posters category for a poster created for the exhibition Rose Ocean: Living with Duchamp, designed by Jean Tschanz-Egger, Head of Design at the Tang Museum. The 2- by 3-foot poster features screen-printed text on clear mylar with the letters of the exhibition title made of orange circles with white dots in homage to the typography on a 1934 artist book by the legendary Dada artist Marcel Duchamp. (In the Posters category, second prize went to the Seattle Art Museum and an honorable mention went to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.)
Second Prize in the Exhibition Collateral Materials category for an interactive project produced in conjunction with the Tang exhibition Give a damn. Also designed by Tschanz-Egger, the project includes four 6- by 10-foot banners that announced the project and invited visitors to write to their federal, state and local elected representatives about a variety of topics on specially-designed postcards that were mailed by the museum during the run of the show. (In the Exhibition Collateral Materials category, the Tang shares second prize with Claremont Museum of Art in Claremont, California; first prize went to Princeton University Art Museum in Princeton, New Jersey, and Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston Salem, North Carolina; honorable mention went to Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut.)
Innovations in Print for the exhibition catalogue Sixfold Symmetry: Pattern in Art & Science, designed by Barbara Glauber, principal of the New York City design firm Heavy Meta. The 128-page catalogue features new scholarship by Skidmore faculty members, contributions from Skidmore students, and a translucent dust jacket and open binding. The book was also honored earlier this year in the 50 Books | 50 Covers competition, presented by AIGA, the professional association for design. (Innovations in Print awards also went to Getty Publications, Los Angeles, and National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia.)
“Congratulations to Jean and Barbara for their fantastic and collaborative design thinking,” said Dayton Director Ian Berry. “These awards emphasize the central importance of design in the work we do at the Tang, as we explore how to communicate complex ideas through art and exhibitions. Our books are a key platform for scholarship by faculty from across Skidmore’s disciplines, and help share innovative ideas with audiences on campus and beyond. We thank AAM for this wonderful recognition.”
Jean Tschanz-Egger has been the Head of Design at the Tang Teaching Museum since 2015, soon after earning her MFA at Cranbrook Academy. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Smith College. Glauber has been a frequent collaborator with the Tang, designing numerous AAM award-winning exhibition catalogues, including Fred Tomaselli, which won first prize in 2010 and Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress, which won second prize in 2003.
The three new AAM awards continue the Tang’s impressive record of publication honors. Last year, the Museum won a first prize in the Magazines/Scholarly Journals category for Accelerate: Access & Inclusion at The Tang Teaching Museum (No.1), the first of three volumes documenting a three-year project called Accelerate: Access & Inclusion at The Tang Teaching that uses the Tang collection to support academic research and build broader and more diverse museum audiences.
Other previous Tang Museum AAM awards include:
First prize in the Press Kits, Marketing, and Public Relations Material category in 2016 for the viewbook A teaching museum is…, designed by Linked by Air;
Innovation in Print Design award in 2016 for Everything is Connected, a book documenting the history of the Tang Teaching Museum, designed by Glauber;
First prize in exhibition catalogs in 2010 for Fred Tomaselli, designed by Glauber;
Second prize in exhibition catalogs in 2003 for Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress, designed by Glauber;
Honorable mentions in exhibition catalogs for Nancy Grossman: Tough Life Diary (2013); Twice Drawn: Modern and Contemporary Drawings in Context (2012), Dario Robleto: Alloy of Love (2009), Hair: Untangling a Social History (2004), which were all designed by Glauber; and Work: Shaker Design and Recent Art (2001), designed by Bethany Johns; and,
Honorable mention in the posters category for a series of posters related to the 2012 exhibition We the People, designed by Patrick O’Rourke.
About American Alliance for Museums
The American Association of Museums (AAM), established in 1906, represents nearly 3,000 institutions spanning the full spectrum of museum activity—from art, history, and science to zoos, botanical gardens, arboretums, and historic sites. The AAM helps to develop standards and best practices, gathers and shares knowledge, and provides advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. The annual Museum Publications Design Competition is the only national, juried competition of its kind.
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance, and physics to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. Admission to the museum is free (donation suggested). Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. http://tang.skidmore.edu.
Media Contact
Michael Janairo
Communications and Strategic Initiatives
Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College
mjanairo@skidmore.edu
518-580-5542