Reynolda House Wins ‘People’s Choice Award’ for Best of the Web at International Museum Conference


"Reynolda House Museum of American Art’s new website, reynoldahouse.org, was honored recently with the “People’s Choice” Award at the Museums and the Web 2014 conference in Baltimore. Museum professionals from around the world voted for the Reynolda House site among 59 nominated sites eligible for the award.

Voting for the “People’s Choice” award was open to members of the Museums and the Web online community from March 23 to April 2, 2014. More than 600 museum professionals in the fields of marketing, information systems, digital strategy, education, and curatorial attended the conference.

“Our staff is focused on doing exceptional work here in North Carolina, and it’s rewarding and affirming to receive national and international attention for our efforts,” said Allison Perkins, Reynolda House executive director. “Our new website has been a museum-wide initiative to which we have devoted significant focus and effort, all to share the collections of Reynolda with the world.”

Reynolda House staff also presented a paper at the conference, “Building a New Wing: The Digital Engagement Project.” The museum’s Digital Engagement Project included digitizing the museum’s American art, historic house, and estate archives collections; cataloging detailed records and photography for each object; redesigning the museum’s website to facilitate access to collections; and creating new opportunities for people to interact with the museum online. The museum was awarded a total of $260,000 in federal grants for the overall project, from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Additional funding for the Digital Engagement Project was received from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County, the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation, the Cannon Foundation, and a number of individuals. The site was designed by Interactive Knowledge, a web design and strategy firm in Charlotte.

As part of the launch of the new site, in February, Reynolda House debuted “Museum Hack Hacks the Collection,” an online gallery curated by Museum Hack, a New York-based museum-tour company that describes its experiences as “un-highlights museum adventures.” Reynolda House also announced in February that it had created a new staff position for its new “digital wing.” Trish Oxford was named Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications, a position that focuses on creating synergy between on-site experiences and virtual experiences through management of the museum’s new website, email, social media, and other digital platforms.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through grant making, policy development, and research, we help communities and individuals thrive through broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage, and lifelong learning. To learn more about IMLS, please visit www.imls.gov."
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