Alumni and students of NIU’s Interdisciplinary Certificate of Graduate Study in Museum Studies continue to receive awards from the Illinois Association of Museums (IAM), bringing recognition to the program and their museums.
The recognition came at the IAM’s annual conference, held in Naperville from Wednesday, Nov. 3, through Friday, Nov. 5, when the organization announced the winners of its 2010 awards for the state’s museums.
The Geneva History Center earned a Superior Achievement Award in the Exhibits Category for “Scouting: A Century of Values.” The exhibition was curated by Jessica McTague, curator at the Geneva History Center and a student in NIU Museum Studies and art history at the master’s degree level. The Superior Achievement Award goes to exhibitions that are a model for the profession and reach a greater audience than is normally reached by the institution.
The Biermann-Schuette Farmhouse Museum in Elk Grove Village received an IAM Award of Excellence in the Exhibits Category for “From Recipe to Formula: The Tasty Tale of Elk Grove’s Jarosch Bakery.” Sandy Denninger, who is the museum’s director and the exhibition’s curator, is a current student in the NIU Interdisciplinary Certificate of Graduate Study in Museum Studies.
“It is gratifying to see our students earn these prestigious awards that bring recognition to their institutions and our Interdisciplinary Certificate of Graduate Study in Museum Studies program,” said Peter Van Ael, coordinator of NIU’s Jack Olson Gallery and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate Program in Museum Studies.
“This recognition by the museum profession in the state of Illinois underscores the strength of our program.”
IAM is the independent, non-profit, statewide organization of museums and historical societies. Through its awards, the association celebrates and draws attention to the highest accomplishments within the museum profession in the state of Illinois.
