Entries include Web sites, online collections, online image databases, and online exhibitions. Entries should present and interpret museum collections and themes, and provide a rich and meaningful virtual experience. Projects should demonstrate effective use of multiple media formats, innovative ways of complementing physical exhibitions or providing surrogates for physical experiences in online only exhibitions.
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Jury Chair: Rachel Craft
Communications & Web Manager, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
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GOLD: We Choose the Moon
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum and Domani Studios & The Martin Agency
Judges said: We Choose the Moon is an immersive and mesmerizing website that links content with audience in engaging ways. The depth of research informing the interactive content is impressive and compelling to a wide array of audiences. The technology is well-integrated, and enhances the core mission of the website. The use and production quality of the multimedia was exceptional throughout the experience.
Producers said: WeChooseTheMoon.org went live on July 16, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. At 9:32 a.m.—exactly 40 years to the minute after the historic launch. The site recreated Apollo 11′s lunar mission, minute by minute, with an interactive experience that let visitors experience the mission as it happened, using archival audio, video, photos and “real-time” transmissions on the site and via Twitter.
Highlights:
- Over 3 million unique site visits during the first 3 weeks.
- Configured Support for 1 Million Concurrent Audio Streams
- The site aggregated 400 photographs and 44 archival videos from NASA and the JFK Library for the first time in one location.
- A widget was developed which also tracked the mission. Users could load it on desktops or embed it in personal blogs.
- A spectrum analyzer dynamically parsed the live-audio wave form providing another compelling visual to capture the user’s attention.
- Once the live mission ended the site transitioned to an archived experience where users can move freely between the separate stages.
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SILVER: Lincoln Memorial Interactive
National Mall and Memorial Parks and Bluecadet Interactive, VideoArt Productions, Lightspeed Media, & Joshua Cogan Photography
Judges said: This website did an incredible job of speaking to its audience and telling its story. The focus on the rangers’ perspectives was a unique approach to the content, building a compelling narrative. The design is gorgeous, and mirrors the experience of visiting the actual location. The quality of the multimedia is exceptional throughout the website. One juror stated that she had no interest in the Lincoln Memorial previously, but this site made her want to visit.
Producers said: What makes a great museum experience? At the Lincoln Memorial, the power comes from both the grandiosity of the surroundings and the personalities of the park rangers who work there. The National Park Service sought to replicate those strengths online for the Lincoln Bicentennial. For those who can’t make the trip to Washington, D.C., this interactive offers an immersive virtual tour experience. For those who have visited the Memorial, or who are planning a trip, the website allows them to supplement their experience with videos, audio, and descriptive information.
The park rangers’ stories were captured through intimate videos that highlight their unique experiences and perspectives. To put these stories in context, spherical panoramic photography captures every inch of the memorial. Virtual visitors can “walk” around the grounds, stopping at any one of 21 vantage points to engage with the memorial as if they were actually there. Visitors can explore notable hot-spots to read inscriptions and view statues and murals. The entire experience is downloadable, perfect for educators, and anyone else who wants to take a piece of the memorial with them.
The interactive was produced for the National Mall and Memorial Parks by Bluecadet Interactive, www.bluecadet.com (interactive production company), VideoArt Productions, Inc, www.videoartproductions.com (video production), Lightspeed Media, www.lightspeedmedia.biz (Panoramic Photography) and Joshua Cogan Photography, www.joshuacogan.com (Still Photography).
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BRONZE: Redesign of MoMA.org
The Museum of Modern Art and For Office Use Only, Cogapp, ShiftSpace, & Tender Creative
Judges said: This was a hotly debated website among the jurors, stirring up the most extreme reactions of any site presented. However, all felt that this was because it pushed the boundaries of what we’re used to seeing in a museum website. One juror stated that the site almost creates the same debate as modern art itself. The ability to organize that amount of content, the opportunity to tailor it to your needs, and the seamless integration of multimedia makes the site informative, compelling and engaging.
Producers said: Reinforcing its commitment to engaging the public and providing global access to MoMA and its collections, The Museum of Modern Art launched a completely redesigned website at MoMA.org in March 2009. The new site integrates dynamic features that offer visitors a more personal online experience, enhanced navigation, and access to MoMA’s collection, exhibitions, and resources through a highly visual and fluid new interface. Highlights of the new site include the integration of MoMA’s online communities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes U, and Flickr, and the ability to set up personal online accounts that provide tools to customize, share and save groupings of favorite works or any content throughout the site, including events, films, and exhibitions. A new multimedia section showcases MoMA’s audio and videos, and INSIDE/OUT: A MoMA/P.S.1 Blog offers insider views on exhibitions, artists, and special projects that can be viewed on the site, shared, and discussed. The design of the new site brings visitors’ experiences directly in by featuring photos taken by the public and uploaded to the Museum’s Flickr group. And for those who want to learn more about MoMA’s unparalleled collection of modern and contemporary art, the Museum’s online collection area has been completely revised.
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HONORABLE MENTION: The Bath House: Trenton Jewish Community Center designed by Louis Kahn
Mercer County Division of Culture and Heritage and Ducat Media LLC
Judges said: A simple, well-designed website that proves that size does not matter. This site is executed beautifully and shines next to its much larger counterparts. It does an excellent job of incorporating technology, without allowing it to overwhelm the content. Elegant and engaging.
Producers said: In November 2007, as part of the historic preservation planning for the Ewing Township senior and community center in Ewing, New Jersey, a former Jewish Community Center designed by American Modernist architect, Louis Kahn, the Mercer County Planning Division recognized the need to create a tool that could be used to educate the general public about why the site should be preserved. That tool became www.kahntrentonbathhouse.org for which the County Planning Division partnered with the County’s Division of Culture and Heritage to solicit funding and proposals for the project.
Ducat Media received the commission. Lead, Vivian Ducat working with writer, Howard Green, designer and information architect Ana Velez, archival researcher, Ray Segal and the developer, Red Design Systems in ongoing consultation with Mercer County Planning Division and the Division of Culture and Heritage, created the site in 2009. The web site traces the place of the Bath House in the oeuvre of Louis Kahn, presents Kahn’s original plans for the site and provides information on the County’s restoration plans. The web site includes a podcast tour of the location with a map, and interpretative material for the many especially international visitors who come to see the Bath House.
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Jurors:
Kelly Shindler, Director of Special Projects, Art21
Karla Loring, Director of Media Relations, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Meg Liffick, Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Melissa H. Kinkley, Manager of New Media & Family Interpretation, Smart Museum of Art
Elizabeth Neely, Director of Museum Information Systems at The Art Institute of Chicago
Allyson Meyer, Web Manager, Field Museum
Matt Gipson, Web/Interactive Designer, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Jen Meyers, Web Coordinator, Wexner Center for the Arts
