For Immediate Release: 8/14/2012
Contact:
Kathy Dickson,
MPMA Awards Chair
405-522-5231
kdickson@okhistory.org
Monta Lee Dakin
MPMA Executive Director
303-979-9358
mountplains@aol.com
The Mountain-Plains Museums Association (MPMA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012
Publications Design Competition and the Technology Competition. Established in 1953, MPMA is a
regional museum association that provides services to museum professionals in ten states: Colorado,
Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
MPMA is one of six regional associations in the United States that work in conjunction with the
American Association of Museums.
For institutions with operating budgets of $250,000 and over:
In the Books and Exhibition Catalogues category, The Fort Caspar Museum, Casper, Wyoming, took top
honors for Natrona County: People, Place, & Time. The book was written by Rebecca Hunt and
designed by Donning Publishing.
The Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, received first place in the Brochures and
Rack Cards category for Folk Art to Go, designed by Monica Meehan.
Best design in the Magazines, Newsletters, Quarterly or Biannual Publications went to the Ulrich
Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas, for Ulrich Update: Fall 2011 Newsletter. The Ulrich Museum of Art
also received first place for the Invitation, Development or Promotional Package for “Quixotic Party
Invitation.“ The project team for both projects included: Patricia McDonnell, director; Teresa Veazey,
project manager; and Shawn Money, designer.
For institutions with operating budgets under $250,000:
Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, David, Nebraska, received two first place awards. In the Books
and Exhibition Catalogues category the museum received the top honor for Robert Lougheed: Before
Cowboys, Fields of the Heart. The publication was designed by Amanda Mobley Guenther and written
by Guenther and Claire Thayer. In the Magazines, newsletters, quarterly or biannual publications
category the museum received the award for Agrarian Art Newsletter. The newsletter was produced
by Amanda Mobley Guenther and designed by Ashley Cameron.
In the technology competition, the Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center, Lawton,
Oklahoma, received the multi-media award for interactive “Buffalo Kill using a Weapon.” The
Comanche are known as the Lords of the Plains for their expertise in horsemanship. This is exemplified
in the hunting of buffalo, but few have the opportunity to experience this cultural practice. The
Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center developed Tasiwoo?a u Wutokwenu (Buffalo Kill Using
a Weapon) as a learning tool to inform visitors about the Comanche way of life through language,
culture and knowledge. The museum contracted with BeanCreative, an interactive design and
development firm based in Alexandria, Virginia, to take the game concept from idea to reality. The
Museum wanted an original game that integrated Comanche language and culture, presented the
culture in a respectful and accurate manner, and provided a fun educational experience for children
and adults. Comanche elders fluent in the Comanche language translated the interactive script from
English to Comanche. Cultural specialist provided additional linguistic phrases to complete the
experience. The oral cultural knowledge that has been passed down from generation-to-generation is
depicted throughout the game.
The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula took top honors for Online Presence for the online exhibit,
“United We Will Win.” This online exhibit was developed in conjunction with an in-house exhibit of the
museum’s World War II propaganda poster collection. The online exhibit is available by a direct link on
the museum’s website, and is also available within the physical exhibit. QR Codes are placed on text
panels to link the viewer to a specific part of the online exhibit via a smartphone. The museum has
over 600 posters, and the online exhibit serves as a database of the museum’s poster collection. The
exhibit includes scanned images of all the posters in the collection, and when the information is
available it also includes title, date, size, artist, artist biography, and publisher information. Since
there are very few comprehensive WWII poster databases online the online exhibit extends the
collection to a greater audience. Museum staffer, Nicole Webb, was responsible for the content
development, and Becca Sayre with Windfall Technologies designed and installed the online exhibit.
Serving as judges for the publication design competition were: Nicholas Traub, Traub Design
Associates, Spring Hill, Kansas, and Cody Jacobson, Graphic Artist, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North
Dakota. The technology judges were David Kennedy, Curator of Collections, Cherokee Strip Regional
Heritage Center, Enid, Oklahoma; George Laughead, Independent Computer Networking Professional,
Wichita, Kansas, and Daniel Lay, Preparator, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, Oklahoma.
MPMA President Joe Schenk will announce the awards which will be presented during the association’s
annual conference in Corpus Christi, Texas, October 1-5.