Gibbes Museum of Art receives Southeastern Museums Conference publication award
October 12, 2021
The Gibbes Museum of Art is pleased to announce they are a recipient of the 2021 Southeastern Museums Conference Gold Award in the Annual Reports Category for the publication of their 2020 Annual Report. The SEMC Publication Design Competition showcases the best in graphic design and provides benchmarks for regional publication efforts in southeastern museums. The Gibbes’ 2020 Annual Report was edited by the museum’s Director of Development, Jennifer Ross and designed by the museum’s Creative Director, Erin Banks.
“A lot of work goes into creating our Annual Report every year, so we are very pleased to be awarded this honor by the Southeastern Museums Conference,” says the Gibbes Museum of Art’s Executive Director & Chief Curator, Angela Mack. “We are proud of our success in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that’s what we were able to share in the Annual Report.”
The Gibbes’ 2020 Annual Report, recapping the institution’s successes and struggles from July 2019 to June 2020, summarized an unprecedented year for the museum. Following successful, transformational special exhibitions like Black Refractions: Highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem; Influence and Inspiration: The Art of Jill Hooper, Ben Long and Frank Mason; A Return to the Grand Tour: Micromosaic Jewels from the Collection of Elizabeth Locke and Central to Their Lives: Southern Women Artists in the Johnson Collection, the museum was forced to close in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum pivoted and successfully rearranged the spring exhibition schedule, developed virtual programming and opened a new art sales gallery. See the Gibbes’ 2020 Annual Report here: https://bit.ly/3DkmGlM.
Museum publications play a vital role in an institution’s educational mission, documenting exhibitions and collections through high quality design and production while showcasing depth of scholarship. With expectations and standards exceptionally high for this year’s competitions, the 2021 SEMC Publication Design Competition received a record-breaking number of applications from a wide variety of museums across the southeast.
The SEMC Publication Design Competition recognizes and rewards excellence in graphic design in Southeastern Museum publications. The competition encourages communication, effective design, creativity, pride of work, and recognition of institutional image and identity. Recipients of the awards were judged by an appointed jury of museum professionals across the region who specialize in graphic design.
Award winners will be celebrated at the 2021 Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony on October 27, 2021 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as in the Fall 2021 Edition of INSIDE SEMC, a digital publication of the Southeastern Museums Conference. This designation recognizes the Gibbes Museum of Art’s contribution to professional standards in Southeastern museums.
