Museum Association
of Arizona

Your Museum Deserves a National Award and MAA Can Help 

AASLH Awards of Excellence
For over seventy-five years, the American Association for State and Local History has given  a variety of awards to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history and to make the past more meaningful to all people. By publicly recognizing superior and innovative achievements, these award winners serve as models and inspirations for others in the field. 

Awards of Excellence are presented to recognize excellence for projects including
            - civic engagement
        - special projects
            - educational programs
- exhibits
- public programming

How MAA Can Help
Nominations are due March 1st of each year, but it can take time to gather all the documents necessary for the application. That’s where MAA comes in. Starting this year, we are offering a coaching program for Arizona museums to help apply for the AASLH Awards of Excellence.

Beginning with an introductory webinar on November 30, previous AASLH award winners from Arizona will share their experience and provide information on the nomination process, what makes a good application, and why the award has made a difference for their museum.  The webinar will be recorded and posted on the MAA YouTube channel.

Next, we will provide coaching, either in a group setting or individually, to hlep  applicants work through their nominations.    

MAA is also putting together a list of potential reviewers - people who can fulfill the application requirement of a providing a critical review of the project’s scholarship - one of the more challenging parts of the application process.

More About the Awards of Excellence:
The awards program is non-competitive, meaning nominations are not in competition with others for a finite amount of awards. Each nomination is evaluated alone on its own merits.  Nominations are encouraged from small and all-volunteer organizations.   Organizations and individuals can nominate or self-apply.   A nominee does not have to be an AASLH member to apply.