Wolfsonian

WOLFSONIAN-FIU PLACES IN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS DESIGN COMPETITION

Miami Beach, FL (April 17, 2006)—The Wolfsonian-Florida International University was selected as a winner of the American Association of Museums (AAM) 2006 Museum Publications Design Competition in the “Books” category, placing with other institutions with budgets greater than $500,000.

The Wolfsonian won Honorable Mention for its publication Grand Hotels of the Jazz Age: The Architecture of Schultze & Weaver, co-edited by Marianne Lamonaca, associate director for curatorial affairs and education, and Jonathan Mogul, research associate for The Wolfsonian. The publication, which was designed and published by Princeton Architectural Press, contained contributions from the editors as well as Robin F. Bachin (University of Miami, Department of History), Kenneth J. Lipartito (Florida International University, Department of History), and Keith D. Revell (Florida International University, School of Policy Management). Museum photographer Silvia Ros photographed all the objects from The Wolfsonian collection, as well as those from several South Florida collections that were featured in the book. The publication was published in conjunction with The Wolfsonian’s exhibition In Pursuit of Pleasure: Schultze & Weaver and the American Hotel, which runs through May 28, 2006.

“We are very pleased to have had a Wolfsonian publication once again be distinguished for design by our peers,” commented museum director Cathy Leff. “We are very conscious of the role design plays in shaping the institution and in communicating who we are, and are delighted to be acknowledged by receiving this award.”

Previously, The Wolfsonian’s twenty-fifth edition of The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts: The American Hotel, designed by Peter Roman, was the first-prize winner of the 2005 AAM Museum Publications Design Competition in the “Scholarly Journals” category. In 2002 the museum was also distinguished for two other AAM publications design awards. In the “Poster” category, it won Second Prize for a series of five posters designed by former Wolfsonian art director Anthony DiVivo for the touring exhibition Aluminum by Design: Jewelry to Jets. In the “Scholarly Journal” category, The Wolfsonian also won Honorable Mention for the twenty-fourth edition of The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts: Design, Culture, Identity: The Wolfsonian Collection, designed by Peter Roman.

The AAM Publications Competition, which acknowledges excellence in design of museum publications, is the only national juried event involving publications produced by museums of all kinds and sizes. This year’s contest drew more than nine hundred entries from museums across the United States and around the world.

About The Wolfsonian–Florida International University
The Wolfsonian is a museum, library, and research center that uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design, to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, historical, and technological changes that have transformed our world. It encourages people to see the world in new ways, and to learn from the past as they shape the present and influence the future. The collections comprise approximately 121,000 objects from the period of 1885 to 1945 – the height of the Industrial Revolution to the end of World War II – in a variety of media including: furniture; industrial-design objects; works in glass, ceramics, and metal; rare books; periodicals; ephemera; works on paper; paintings; textiles; and medals. While these objects can best be understood in the context in which they were created, they illuminate as much about our times as they reveal about their own.

The Wolfsonian is located at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Fla. Admission is $7 adults; $5 seniors, students, and children six-12; free for Wolfsonian members, State University System of Florida staff and students with ID, children under six, and Miami Beach residents with ID. The museum is open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday from noon-6pm; Thursday and Friday from noon-9pm; and is closed on Wednesday. Contact us at 305.531.1001 or visit us online at www.wolfsonian.org.

The Wolfsonian receives ongoing support from the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Crispin Porter + Bogusky; Continental Airlines, the preferred airline of The Wolfsonian; the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation; and Karla Conceptual Event Experiences.

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