Museum Wins Award For Exhibit

Historic Cane Hill Museum recently was recognized statewide for one of its exhibits presented in 2019.

The museum received a 2020 award for Outstanding Achievement in Exhibition Design from the Arkansas Museums Association in the category of exhibitions with a budget under $150,000.

The association’s annual competition recognizes excellence within Arkansas museums and celebrates the accomplishments of their work, according to a news release issued by Historic Cane Hill Museum.

The award was for a exhibition last fall titled “Men of Earth: 19th century potters of northwest Arkansas.” The exhibition was held at The Museum Gallery, located next to the museum.

“We were pleasantly surprised to learn of the award,” said Lawrence McElroy, director of arts and culture.

McElroy said competition is stiff each year in a state with so many excellent museums.

“Men of Earth” required more than one year of research to develop and was made possible by generous temporary loans of pottery from the collections of a number of Arkansas museums and private collectors, including the Historic Arkansas Museum, Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Fort Smith Museum of History, University of Arkansas Museum, the Washington County Historical Society, and Mars Hill University.

The exhibition documented the life and work of 15 rural potters who once called Arkansas home.

Visitors were able to learn about Arkansas’ rich history of pottery production, the interconnectedness of Arkansas’ rural potters and Northwest Arkansas’ links to internationally acclaimed pottery and the American art pottery movement.

Museum professionals from across the state served as judges for the AMA competition and were involved in the process of selecting the winners. Winning entries were expected to demonstrate outstanding achievement in four areas including: education, exhibitions, media and personal.

McElroy said the award recognizes Historic Cane Hill Museum’s contribution to professional standards in Arkansas museums. The award winners were announced during the 2020 Arkansas Museums Association Annual Meeting held Sept. 15 via the Zoom app.

The AMA is a non-profit membership organization of museums and museum personnel. It is dedicated to the promotion of professional standards in Arkansas museums, the encouragement of interaction between members and the development of public support for and interest in Arkansas museums.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Lawrence McElroy, director of arts and culture for Historic Cane Hill Museum, displays an award recently received by the museum, a 2020 AMA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Exhibition Design for an exhibit on 19th century potters of Northwest Arkansas.

FILE PHOTO An exhibit on 19th century potters of Northwest Arkansas featured J.D. Wilbur, a master potter who arrived in Boonsboro (now Cane Hill) in 1868. The pottery in the foreground are some pieces that were on display in the exhibit.