OMA Award Spotlight – Taft Museum of Art

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, the Ohio Museums Association is highlighting our 2016 OMA Award of Achievement winners throughout the month with our OMA Award Spotlight. 

Click here to see our previous award spotlight articles.

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 award winners! 

Today we'll be featuring our winner for the 2016 award for Best Exhibition Catalog over $500,000.

Taft Museum of Art – Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape

Full of important “firsts,” the Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape exhibit catalog provides a fundamental new assessment of a French landscapist’s career and influence.

For the first time in 40 years, an –up-to-date summary of Charles Daubigny’s career, methods, themes, and impact on Impressionism is available.

The catalogue celebrates the life and work of a lesser-studied, yet incredibly influential artist, to explore Daubigny’s contributions, subjects, development, technique, and influence on the Impressionists and Vincent Van Gogh.

This publication is also a beautiful tribute to the museum’s first exhibition of international collaboration, featuring all 96 exhibit paintings from the Taft and its two international partners: the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The Taft bookshop generally sells 35-75 copies of exhibition catalogues. At the time this nomination was received, over 900 copies of this book have been sold to buyers all over the United States.

Since receiving the OMA Best Exhibition Catalog award, the Taft Museum of Art has won several other recognitions in relation to this exhibit, including:

  • Ohio Museums Association, 2016 Visual Communications Award, Silver Award for Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape exhibition suite of materials
  • Ohio Museums Association, 2016 Museum Professional of the Year, Lynne Ambrosini, curator of Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape
  • Ohioana Library Association, 2017 Certificate of Recognition for Literary and Artistic Achievement, Lynne Ambrosini, curator of Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape
  • Association of Midwest Museums, 2016 Distinguished Career Award, Lynne Ambrosini, curator of Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape  

Congratulations again to the Taft Museum of Art for these accomplishments!


Did your museum have a spectacular exhibit catalog during the 2017 season? Be sure to nominate it for the 2017 award for Best Exhibition Catalog! Learn more here.

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