Rewarding (and Awarding) the Spirit of MSA

May 1, 2017

Last week, hundreds of MSA members—museum store professionals and vendors alike—had the opportunity to come together to learn, buy, sell, network and explore at MSA Forward 2017, the 62nd annual Retail Conference & Expo.

We were able to catch up with old friends, grab lunch with new connections and discover products that are destined to be top-sellers in our stores. (Many of us even went for a River Cruise or took home a gift or two for ourselves from the Silent Auction.)

The MSA community is a vibrant one—an endless well of ideas and source of support. Chief among the words used to describe MSA members are “creative” and “passionate.”

At MSA Forward 2017, we were able to recognize several of the leaders within the community for that very creativity, passion, hard work and dedication that makes the MSA community so special.

Buyer’s Choice Awards

This year, we put all of the Buyer’s Choice Award nominees on display in the front of the Exhibit Hall to highlight the wide variety of merchandise available at MSA Forward 2017. With more than 30 products on the ballot, buyers were faced with hard decisions across all categories.

Five creative, eye-catching and forward-thinking products ended up taking home the coveted title of Buyer’s Choice.

• Books and Multimedia: “The Future Architect’s Tool Kit” from Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
  With this book, children have the opportunity to learn how to create their own drawings, build models and design homes for imaginary clients.

• Custom Design: Louis C. Tiffany Dragonfly Vases from MODGY
  These vases were inspired by a blue dragonfly shade from a collection within the New-York Historical Society that honors Louis C. Tiffany and his revolutionary design aesthetic.

• Education and Games: Wooden Stencil Rulers from Discoveries Egyptian Imports
  These wooden rulers have the hieroglyphic alphabet in them and are all made in Egypt. They come with a variety of differently shaped tops and can be customized with a museum’s logo.

• Fashion: Vibrant Chakra Glass Choker from KJK Jewelry, Inc.
  This high-quality piece, created from matte recycled glass and handcrafted in the U.S., is part of a larger collection.

• Paper Products: Pop-Up Cards from Imagine Cards
  Buyers can customize the cards by adding elements that showcase each individual museum, state or attraction. Each card is made of sturdy cardstock and assembled by hand.

Recognition Awards

Both vendors and museum store professionals wear many hats in their day-to-day tasks. In order to recognize excellence across a wide array of talents, MSA presents annual Recognition Awards. This year, we spotlighted winners and finalists in five categories.

• Product Development
  Winner: Japanese American National Museum, for its products printed with iconic images related to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
  Finalist: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which worked with Cynthia Gale on a jewelry collection inspired by the work of Karl Faberge.
  Finalist: National Gallery of Art, for its temporary tattoos based on images from the Modern Prints and Drawings Collection.

• Vendor of the Year
  Winner: Pomegranate Communications, a leading publisher of award-winning book and gift products (and longtime MSA member!)
  Finalist: KJK Jewelry, Inc., which creates handcrafted jewelry in the U.S.
  Finalist: Semra Ecer Collection, minimalist, romantic and poetic precious metal jewelry

• Visual Merchandising
  Winner: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, for its exit shop for the Rodin exhibition
  Finalist: National Gallery of Art, for its spring display highlighting the cherry blossom season
  Finalist: Filoli Historic House and Garden, for its spring display that brought gardening into the store

• Web Presence
  Winner: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which created a site to present products in a beautiful and visual way that ties everything back to the exhibitions
  Finalist: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which created a clean, ever-changing site that encapsulates the same look and feel as the museum

• Pop-Up Store or Store Special Event
  Winner: The New-York Historical Society, for its “Moseum Store,” which was created as an immersive retail experience coinciding with a Mo Willems exhibition
  Finalist: The Clark Institute, which created a pop-up store offsite during the museum renovation and expansion
  Finalist: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, for its collaboration with a milliner for a trunk show with shopping, modeling and hat-related festivities

Board Awards

Each year, MSA’s Board of Directors has the opportunity to recognize individuals within the Museum Store Association who exemplify the MSA spirit—leaving a lasting impact on MSA and paving the way for the association’s future. This year, these awards took four forms: the MSA Service Award, MSA Merit Award, MSA Next Award and M Award.

MSA Service Award

This award is given in recognition of outstanding service or a contribution to the association by a member or non-member. This year the MSA Board of Directors chose to recognize four individuals:

• Bill Miller, Galison/Mudpuppy
  As president of Galison/Mudpuppy, an MSA member since 1989, Bill’s “can do” attitude and action has led to many successful business partnerships with MSA members, including MSA itself—just look at this year’s suite of “I HEART MUSEUMS” products.

• Barry Bell, Found Image Press
  An MSA member since 1998, Barry Bell (and Found Image Press) has been a valued MSA partner for all of those years with his constant presence at MSA expos, sponsorship of MSA events, and fruitful collaborations with many MSA members on their product needs.

• Angelia Singleton and Sarah Jones, Las Vegas Market
  A strong supporter of MSA for years, Las Vegas Market continually offers support and makes numerous contributions to MSA on both a national and chapter level. Las Vegas Market is also a valued MSA partner in furthering our education- and advocacy-related strategic goals.

MSA Merit Award

In order to honor those who have significantly contributed to the improvement of MSA, the Merit Award can be given to those who are current members or sponsors for five years or more, have volunteered at the annual meeting, served on a committee or task force, and have been involved with MSA at the chapter level. This year the MSA Board of Directors chose to recognize three individuals:

• Ava Maxwell, Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
  A member since 1993, Ava has been a tireless volunteer serving in numerous capacities on both the national and chapter level. Currently, Ava serves as a member of the Board Development Committee. She also helped launch the Expo/Docent Tours last year and continued organizing them this year. Ava has presented at National Conferences, as well as in her Chapter at the Florida Association of Museums (FAM). In her Florida Chapter, Ava has served as Chapter President, Vice President and Secretary. She has chaired the Nominating Committee and organized numerous Florida Chapter Meetings.

• Michael Higdon, National Building Museum
  Michael, an MSA member for at least 20 years, has never stopped volunteering. His expert skills have been put to good use on multiple chapter committees and twice as Chapter President. At the national level, he served on the Program Resource Group, the National Program Committee, as a blog writer, a webinar panelist, and he is a 4-time session presenter. For the MSA Board of Directors, he has served on the Chapter Policies and Procedures and Governance committees, as Director at Large, and as Secretary.

• Phil Zuckerman, Applewood Books
  Since 1995, Phil has been an active participant and supporter of MSA, both at the chapter and national level. He has presented sessions, sponsored numerous functions, and served as Vendor Member Advisor on the Board of Directors. His most recent volunteer position is as a member of MSA’s Finance Committee. His energy and dedication has been essential to MSA’s progress.

MSA Next Award

Newly added this year, the MSA Next Award was created to honor a young and/or emerging professional whose efforts inspire future museum retail professionals.

• Kate Botelho, The Preservation Society of Newport County
  As a leader within one of MSA’s newest initiatives, MSA Next, Kate has already and will continue to motivate future leaders of the industry through her unique contributions to new initiatives and participation in creating dynamic programming to benefit all MSA members.

M Award

In order to receive the M Award, an individual must have shown outstanding dedication and loyalty to the association through creativity, effectiveness and spirit of volunteerism and support. It’s the highest award given in MSA—and it isn’t given out every year. This year, the Board of Directors thought one member was more than deserving of the honor.

• David Duddy, de Cordova Museum and Sculpture Park
  A member since 1994, David has tirelessly served MSA in a number of capacities.  As one of MSA’s recent past presidents and the current chair of the Education Advisory Group, David has demonstrated loyalty and enthusiasm, and resolves to make MSA better and better with each passing year.

Congratulations to all of the award recipients, finalists and nominees—and thank you for your dedication to the success and future of the Museum Store Association.