Congratulations to the winners of our inaugural Excellence in Art Interpretation Competition! View the winning submissions here.
We are grateful to everyone who submitted; we received over 100 entries from 31 institutions. Information about next year’s competition will be posted in the coming months.
The call for submissions for the 2025 competition is below:
Eligibility:
Submissions may include authored content that will have appeared in an exhibition or installation open to the public at any time since January 1, 2021.
Interpretation in English* written for the general public and created for exhibitions and installations related to art, design, and material culture is eligible for consideration. Presentations can be permanent or temporary, gallery-based or online. Organizations and individuals from around the world—whether nonprofit, private, or commercial—are encouraged to submit.
*Multilingual submissions are allowed as long as one language is English.
Each organization may submit up to six entries. Jurors’ institutions are ineligible and AAMI board members may not submit as individual contributors.
Prizes will be awarded in each of the following three categories: installed text, digital media, and printed matter. A best overall submission will also be recognized.
The application form will gather information about the exhibition in which the submission appeared to provide jurors with necessary context, and submitters will be asked to identify their entries by type by selecting from a list that includes but is not limited to:
Installed Text:
Intro panel
Selection of exhibition text (maximum of 2,000 words)
Section panel (single or multiple)
Object/work label (single or multiple)
Prompt or framework for audience-generated content
Digital Media:
Web content
Scripted AV content
Audio descriptions
Printed Matter:
Brochure
Family guide or other self-guided materials
The Committee acknowledges that interpretation today has moved well beyond museum walls and that interpretive content may also be produced for the web, gallery interactives, handheld devices, audio, and video. To allow organizations and institutions of all sizes and kinds to compete, our jurors will evaluate all submissions, regardless of platform, against a rubric that includes appropriateness (for audience, topic, and platform); excellence of expression; and inclusion and accessibility.
How to Submit:
Submissions closed on June 1, 2025.
Formatting Guidelines:
Format manuscripts with 1″ margins, 12 point double-spaced Times New Roman. Manuscript should include the name and organization of the submitter, the name of the exhibition, the content type (from the list on the submission form). Separate manuscript for each entry.
For multimedia: include transcript and, optionally, the final file
For written material, include a manuscript and, optionally, the final designed version as a PDF.
Please reach out to artmuseuminterpretation@gmail.com with any questions.