Congratulations to the Northern Illinois University Art Museum on being awarded a competitive Illinois Association of Museums (IAM) Award of Excellence!  According to IAM, The Award of Excellence “recognizes museums in the state that exemplify the best professional practices and standards in the field of museum curation at the professional organization’s annual conference.”  Assistant Director and Curator Peter Olsen received this award for last fall’s Embarrassment of Riches exhibition which illustrated different perspectives on humanity’s complicated relationship with earth and the environment.

The IAM Award of Excellence is decided by a panel of representatives from other professional museums in the state who noted that the Art Museum’s exhibition was a “very relevant topic with innovative execution.”  They also commended the associated programming, community engagement and collaboration with various university departments.  Curator Peter Olson commented, “The recognition from IAM for our original exploration of this intersection between visual arts and environmental sciences reaffirms our goal to illustrate the ability of the visual arts to heighten and bring attention to the current social issues we face today.”  Once again, congratulations to Peter Olson and the NIU Art Museum for receiving this prestigious award, we can’t wait to see your next engaging exhibit.

Assistant Director and Curator Peter Olsen accepting the award at the IAM annual conference.