The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums Announces its 2024 Award Recipients

 The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) is pleased to announce its 2024 award recipients, honoring excellence in the museum field. The award ceremony will take place as part of the Association’s upcoming Annual Meeting at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from October 8-10, 2024. This year’s theme is “Optimism, Outrage & Outcomes” with sessions exploring how museums can address and overcome inequality, social division, and other challenges facing our world today. MAAM is honored to recognize these leaders and to bring together thoughtful voices from across the Mid-Atlantic region.

MAAM presents the Katherine Coffey Award in recognition of years of distinguished achievement in the museum field. This year, MAAM is pleased to recognize Ann Trowbridge for her exemplary work in project management and museum architecture.

Trowbridge has played key roles in the design of many museums in the Mid-Atlantic region, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), and the Smithsonian Institution’s South Mall Campus Project. At the Smithsonian, her participation ensured the preservation and revitalization of the historic Arts and Industries building and the Castle. Her work consistently exemplifies the principles of sustainability and inclusion, ensuring that her museum projects are enduring spaces of positive change.

This year’s Emerging Museum Professional Award goes to Michael Colon for his work at King Manor Museum in Jamaica, Queens. The Emerging Museum Professional Award celebrates rising stars in the museum field who have made outstanding contributions to their institutions. 

Colon’s relationship with the King Manor Museum started as a visitor in 2016. Subsequently serving as a volunteer and intern, he has since joined the staff to become Site Manager. His research and management have resulted in robust community engagement and programs which have made the Museum a pillar of local activism.

MAAM acknowledges that Museums are made up of strong and active teams that work together to achieve lasting impact in their communities. To that end, the Making an Impact Award honors museums and institutions as a whole for developing either a program, exhibition, or special project that displays responsiveness and resourcefulness and have resulted in creative change for their organizations and a positive impact on their communities. MAAM is pleased to recognize three such institutions at this year’s annual meeting.

In the seven years since its conception, the Digital Scholarship in Museum Partnerships Project at Washington College has revitalized several volunteer-run museums in Kent County by increasing accessibility to their collections both online and in person. So far, over 150 students have aided these sites in telling the story of rural America.

Also receiving the Making an Impact Award is the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh for its partnership with Hosanna House, Inc. Together, they developed a revenue-sharing program which helped launch the Center for Aviation Technology and Training. Additionally, their joint collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Travelling Exhibition Service made possible “Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight,” which tells the story of African Americans who overcame racial barriers to become key figures of American aviation. The exhibit is scheduled for a national tour in spring of 2027.

The third recipient of the Making an Impact Award is the Tudor Place Historic House and Garden for its guided tour program: Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent in Tudor Place. The tour brings into focus the lives of enslaved people and laborers, who are so often misrepresented in historical narratives or omitted altogether. The program has successfully expanded and diversified the Museum’s visitor community, bringing in people eager to experience the history being explored and to participate in dialogue around race and social justice.

MAAM is pleased to celebrate all of its award recipients.