OMA Award Spotlight -Massillon Museum
Recognizing excellence in Ohio museums during Arts and Humanities Month
To help celebrate October as Arts and Humanities Month, and to kick-off the call for nominations for this year's OMA awards, we'll be highlighting our 2019 OMA Award of Achievement winners throughout the month with our OMA Award Spotlight. We are featuring these Award Winner Spotlights during Arts and Humanities Month to help champion the amazing projects, programs and professionals that make Ohio's museum community strong.
The Awards of Achievement are presented to reflect the outstanding quality and caliber of work by Ohio museums and their professionals in two categories: Institutional Achievement Awards and Individual Achievement Awards.
Nominations for these awards are incredibly detailed. This in-depth process helps to illustrate how these institutions and individuals have gone “above and beyond” the normal call of duty to support their institution, serve their public and advance the cause of the museum community.
Each year, the review panel is overwhelmed by the outstanding projects, innovative programming and dedication to our field as exhibited in each of the institutional and individual nominations. Congratulations again to each of our 2019 award winners!
Today, we'll be finishing up the celebration of this year's award winners by featuring the recipient of the 2019 award for Institution of the Year.
Massillon Museum -MMX2: Massillon Museum Expansion Project
The Massillon Museum was already an award-winning institution before their $6 million facility expansion project that added 18,000 square feet – increasing its footprint by more than 60%.
Seven years in the making from feasibility study to completion, the project included purchase of three adjacent buildings to the main museum, with a plan to raze one to build a new addition and renovate the other two. As a result, the Massillon Museum added 47% more gallery space, 100% more classroom space, an auditorium, outdoor exhibition and green space, new collections storage room, and other improvements to help the museum better serve a broader audience.
These changes included the addition of the Paul Brown Museum and Library, ensuring the area’s rich tradition of football history is preserved and accessible.
Throughout the process, the museum remained open to the public so they could continue to serve their community. The MassMu team also viewed the expansion process as a way to be even more visible in their community than they already were, with outreach presentations and other community updates to share the wide-reaching impact of the project and the museum as a vital part of the community and an economic driver.
As one of their letters of support states, "Massillon Museum continually demonstrates its ability to innovate, inspire, and to lead." The recent expansion reflects a commitment to and an understanding of their community's needs, and places the museum in a better position to evolve to continue serving those needs.
Do you know an institution that embodies the best of what Ohio museums can be? Be sure to nominate
them for the 2020 award for Institution of the Year! Learn more here.
Alexandra Coon, Executive Director of Massillon Museum, Accepts the Award During the OMA 2020 Virtual Awards Ceremony
One of the fun features of OMA's 2020 Virtual Awards Ceremony was being able to recognize our honorees "accepting" their award via video message. See below for the acceptance video from the team at the Massillon Museum.