International event honors PEM installation of Native American and American Art

SALEM, MA —The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) was honored to receive a prestigious Awards for Excellence prize from the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) on Sunday for On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America, the first major installation of its kind to combine significant collections of Native American and American art to help tell the complex story of the American nation. Vetted by a panel of distinguished museum curators from around the world, On This Ground was one of only 11 projects selected from a group of nearly 175 nominees to be recognized for its reflection of the values of inclusion, access, dialogue and engagement.

“This award reinforces the degree to which PEM's commitment to curatorial and interpretive innovation continues to be recognized as a forward-thinking exemplar for art museums,” said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, PEM’s Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO. “This award is especially significant as it builds on previous recognitions PEM has received from AAMC, most notably installation awards in 2020 for our Asian Export Art gallery and in 2019 for the exhibition T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America. We are so grateful to our remarkably talented staff from across the museum, as well as key external advisors, who helped make this project come to life.”

Located in PEM’s Nancy and George Putnam Gallery and Barbara Weld Putnam Gallery, On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America is an ongoing installation that helps us understand what it means to belong to family, community and country through 250 works dating from 10,000 years ago to the present. The works in this exhibition demonstrate a range of voices, worldviews, modes of expression and cultures as well as a rich array of media. The installation – curated by Karen Kramer, The Stuart W. and Elizabeth F. Pratt Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture; Sarah Chasse, Associate Curator; and Lan Morgan, Assistant Curator – responds to urgent themes and presents an opportunity to grapple with the continuities and disjunctions of our complex American histories in order to shape a more connected and empathetic present. By rethinking these histories, visitors are asked to consider how we might envision a better future together.

2023 AAMC Awards for Excellence
On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America, Peabody Essex Museum

Lead Curators:

• Sarah Chasse, Associate Curator, Peabody Essex Museum
• Karen Kramer, The Stuart W. and Elizabeth F. Pratt Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture, Peabody Essex Museum
• Lan Morgan, Assistant Curator, Peabody Essex Museum

Additional Project Leads:

• Rebecca Bednarz, Editor for Curatorial Initiatives, Peabody Essex Museum
• Mollie Denhard, Exhibition Preparator, Peabody Essex Museum
• Adrienne Lalli Hills, Independent Consultant
• Caitlin Lowrie, Senior Manager, Exhibition Planning, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
• David Seibert, Exhibition Designer, Peabody Essex Museum
• Kathryn Smith, Associate Registrar, Peabody Essex Museum
• Jackie Traynor, Exhibition Graphic Designer, Peabody Essex Museum
• Chip Van Dyke, Associate Director of Media Production, Peabody Essex Museum

ABOUT AAMC & AAMC FOUNDATION
Founded in 2001, the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) & AAMC Foundation celebrate the curatorial narrative by supporting and promoting the work of art curators at all stages in their careers through opportunities for networking, collaboration, professional development and career advancement. With a network of over 1,500 members from over 500+ institutions around the globe, the organization is the leading organization and flagship voice for curators in the nonprofit sector. The organization ensures that the curatorial perspective on art, museums and educational issues is furthered and advanced in critical issues within the art community.

ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Over the last 20 years, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) has distinguished itself as one of the fastest-growing art museums in North America. Founded in 1799, it is also the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. At its heart is a mission to enrich and transform people's lives by broadening their perspectives, attitudes and knowledge of themselves and the wider world. PEM celebrates outstanding artistic and cultural creativity through exhibitions, programming and special events that emphasize cross-cultural connections, integrate past and present and underscore the vital importance of creative expression. The museum's collection is among the finest of its kind, including superlative works from around the globe and across time — American art and architecture, Asian and Asian export art, maritime, Native American, Oceanic, and African art, fashion and textiles and photography, as well as one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. PEM's campus offers a varied and unique visitor experience with hands-on creativity zones, interactive opportunities and performance spaces. Twenty-two noted historic structures grace PEM’s campus, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese home that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture in the United States. HOURS: Open Thursday–Monday, 10 am–5 pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. ADMISSION: Adults $20; seniors $18; students $12. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission. INFO: Call 866-745-1876 or visit pem.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Whitney Van Dyke | Director of Marketing & Communications | whitney_vandyke@pem.org | 617-259-6722