PA Museums has announced the winners of its 2022 Special Achievement Awards. Since the 1980s, PA Museums has invited nominations from its membership and chosen institutions, projects, and individuals to be recognized. This year, thirteen (13) organizations from every region of Pennsylvania have won Institutional Awards of Merit. Two (2) organizations are receiving PA Museums’ prestigious S.K. Stevens Award, and three (3) individuals, including a Carol Wickkiser Award recipient, being honored for their contributions to the field with Individual Awards.
PA Museums’ awardees are being celebrated at a safe distance this year with a multi-platform social media campaign in April 2022.
This year’s award winners are:
Institutional Achievement Awards
Ephrata Cloister – 2020 Holiday Programming, Ephrata
Stenton Museum – Virtual History Hunters Program, Philadelphia
Heinz History Center – American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith, Pittsburgh
Heinz History Center – Portraits of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
Jefferson County Historical Society – Pollywogs & Pollinators: Creating an ADA Accessible Garden Landscape & Education Area, Brookville
Science History Institute – Downstream Exhibition, Philadelphia
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum – Remembering 9/11 and Honoring Our Fallen Exhibition, Pittsburgh
Museum of the American Revolution – When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story, 1776-1807, Philadelphia
Bradford House Historical Association – Whiskey Rebellion Education and Visitor Center, Washington
Chester County History Center – Becoming Chester County Exhibition, West Chester
Westmoreland Historical Society – Penn’s Woods Plenty for the Use of Man Exhibition, Greensburg
Christ Church Preservation Trust – Digitizing the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations, Philadelphia
Centre County Historical Society – Centre County Encyclopedia of Culture & History, State College
Individual Awards
Madison Flaherty, Discovery Space of Central PA, Carol Wickkiser Award, State College
Mark Sheffield, Fulton County Historical Society, McConnellsburg
Tracie Liberatore, Bradford House Historical Association, Washington
S.K. Stevens Awards
Pittsburgh, Virginia (exhibit), Fort Pitt Museum, Pittsburgh
Cost of Revolution: The Life and Death of an Irish Soldier (exhibit), The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia
PA Museums’ Special Achievement Awards Campaign is leading up to the PA Museums virtual conference in April 2022. The upcoming campaign includes details about the people, museums, and projects PA Museums is recognizing with awards and will feature posts on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Pennsylvania-Federation-of-Museums-and-Historical-Organizations-109132959231/and Twitter @PA_Museums, as well as in direct emails to members.
“PA Museums’ annual awards are meant to inspire the museum field and impress visitors to museums,” said Rusty Baker, executive director of PA Museums. “Pennsylvania’s museums and historical organizations are star performers, and we are proud to recognize the great work being done throughout the Commonwealth.”
About PA Museums
PA Museums is Pennsylvania’s statewide museum association with 360 members across the Commonwealth. PA Museums’ membership includes museums and historical organizations of many types and sizes, and in addition to providing professional development opportunities for museum professionals, the organization also leads advocacy campaigns on behalf of the museum community.
Contact: Rusty Baker, PA Museums, rusty.baker@pamuseums.org
