MDAH Receives SEMC Award for The World of Marty Stuart Exhibit
The Two Mississippi Museums’ 2022 exhibit The World of Marty Stuart won the 2023 Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) Exhibition Competition’s Bronze Award in the ‘Over $100,000 Budget’ category. Awards in this category are given to museums that demonstrate a commitment to best practices and professional standards in museum exhibition design. The Exhibition Competition received twenty-nine entries from twenty-seven institutions.
“We are very proud of the staff who worked creatively and diligently to produce this beautiful exhibit that showcased a significant part of the amazing county music collection of musician and artist Marty Stuart,” said Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), which administers the Two Mississippi Museums. “MDAH is honored to be celebrated for sharing stories of the region’s culture and history.”
The World of Marty Stuart exhibit featured Stuart’s personal memorabilia collection, which he started collecting during childhood and has continued cultivating through his journey as a professional musician working with music legends like Johnny Cash and Lester Flatt. Stuart’s dedication to preserving the legacy of American music through his personal photography was also explored in the exhibit.
SEMC presented the award to staff of the Two Mississippi Museums at its annual awards luncheon on November 15, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. Award winners will be announced in the Fall 2023 edition of INSIDE SEMC, a digital publication of the Southeastern Museums Conference.
SEMC is a nonprofit membership organization, an association of museums, museum staff, independent professionals and corporate partners focused on the southeastern United States including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands.