SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (October 6, 2016) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has been honored with two awards in the 2016 American Alliance of Museums Publications Design Competition, extending the museum’s reputation for design leadership among museum colleagues.
Everything is Connected, the first book to document the history of the Tang Teaching Museum, won the Innovation in Print Design award, the museum’s eighth award from AAM in the books category. Other museums receiving the Innovation award include Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Bard Graduate Center Gallery, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center — SUNY Buffalo State.
A teaching museum is…, a 36-page view book, won first prize in the Press Kits, Marketing, and Public Relations Material category, the museum’s first ever award in that category. The second prize award went to the Sackler and Freer Galleries, the National Museums of Asian Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Both Tang publications competed with museums with annual budgets of more than $750,000.
“These awards are such a tremendous honor, especially considering the great institutions we were competing against,” said Tang Teaching Museum Dayton Director Ian Berry. “Both Everything is Connected and A teaching museum is … emerged as our fifteenth anniversary approached, when we were thinking about what we’ve accomplished and our goals for the future. These were all-hands-on-deck projects, and I’m so pleased to be able to share these honors with all the Tang staff and with the designers, photographers, writers, administrators, faculty, students and alumni who contributed to these great publications.”
Everything is Connected tells the story of how the Tang evolved as an idea on the Skidmore campus and become a reality — and a national leader among college and university museums. This well-researched history was written by Barbara Kahn Moller ‘78, a Skidmore Trustee, Vice Chair of the Tang’s National Advisory Council, and a parent of two Skidmore alumni. The book also includes a foreword by Skidmore College President Philip Glotzbach; an introduction by Ian Berry; and an archive of exhibitions, publications, major events, outreach to schools, and more. Stunning photography throughout enlivens the history with images of artwork, exhibitions, and people. The book is the seventeenth to be designed by the New York City-based firm Heavy Meta for the Tang. Heavy Meta is run by principal Barbara Glauber and includes graphic designer Kellie Konapelsky.
A teaching museum is… pairs vibrant photography with a dozen key phrases that complete the title. For example, “a crossroads” is printed over an image of two dancers, eyes on each other, arms almost touching, but their backs leaning far back, suggesting an intriguing relationship as they perform in an installation of colorful abstract designs on wall hangings and video monitors by the artist Kamau Amu Patton. Another unique aspect of the view book are a series of fold-out sections that feature testimonials from faculty, artists, students, and alumni about the impact the Tang has had — and continues to have — on their lives. The view book was designed by the New York City-based firm Linked by Air, which is run by the principals Dan Michaelson and Tamara Maletic, with Christopher Roeleveld the lead designer on the project.
These two new AAM awards continue the Tang’s strong track record of publication honors. Previous AAM book awards include a first prize for Fred Tomaselli (2010); a second prize for Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress (2003); and honorable mentions 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), and Work: Shaker Design and Recent Art (2001). In 2013, the Tang also earned an honorable mention for its first-ever entry in the posters category for a series of posters related to the 2012 exhibition We the People.
About Heavy Meta
Heavy Meta is a design studio that focuses on the design of publications, exhibition and information graphics, identities, and other projects for clients in the arts and entertainment industries. Heavy Meta has designed many of the exhibition catalogues for the Tang, including the AAM award-winners Fred Tomaselli (2010) and Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress (2003). http://heavymeta.com
About Linked by Air
Linked by Air is an internationally renowned graphic design studio specializing in the creation of design systems and technological platforms that grow with institutions. The studio specializes in the production of public spaces and other networked structures, both online and in the world. The Linked by Air team also designed the Tang’s new website at http://tang.skidmore.edu, which launched in October 2015. http://www.linkedbyair.net
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. http://www.aam-us.org
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 institution’s approach has become a model for university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs and series that bring together the visual and performing arts with fields of study as disparate as history, astronomy, and physics. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, the Mellon Seminar, and robust publication and touring exhibition initiatives that extend the institution’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of ideas and exchange the institution catalyzes. 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.