Award Winners

Award Recipients for 2025

New Iceland Heritage Museum

Award of Excellence (Exhibits)

“Centennial Celebrations New Iceland / Aldarafmæli Nýja Ísland 1975”

In 2025, the Icelandic community in Manitoba marked an important anniversary: the sesquicentennial of the founding of New Iceland in 1875. In its planning for “New Iceland 150,” the board of directors of the New Iceland Heritage Museum (NIHM) decided that the museum’s primary contribution to the anniversary would be a new, temporary exhibit distinct in content from the museum’s permanent galleries. Board member Dr. Ryan Eyford, an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Winnipeg, was tasked with developing the concept and content of the exhibit. NIHM executive director Julianna Roberts oversaw the project, and Anikó Szabo was hired as the exhibit designer. Dr. LK Bertram from the Department of History at the University of Toronto also made contributions during the research phase. The project began in Summer 2024, and the exhibit opened on May 1, 2025.

The exhibit, “Centennial Celebrations New Iceland / Aldarafmæli Nýja Ísland 1975,” explores the questions of what anniversaries mean and the legacies that they leave. It provides a brief introduction to the history of New Iceland, and the anniversary events held in 1925 (50th) and 1950 (75th). The main focus, however, is on the 1970s; rural economic development, Canada’s new multiculturalism policy, and renewed interest in community history all set the stage for the unprecedented scale of the New Iceland centennial celebrations. In August 1875, more than 50,000 people crowded into Gimli (population: 7,000) for the centennial year Íslendingadagurinn (Icelandic Festival of Manitoba). This number included more than 1,400 visitors from Iceland who were billeted by local Gimli residents. The exhibit reveals how the commemorations of New Iceland’s history in 1975 were also about the Manitoba Icelandic community’s present and its future.

An important component of the exhibit, largely absent from earlier New Iceland anniversaries, is the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ presence and histories. The exhibit includes a territorial acknowledgement specific to the Interlake region, and a section, “Settler Anniversaries,” that reflects on the issue of celebrating anniversaries related to colonialism: “Canada in 2025 is very different from Canada in 1975. Colonization is no longer celebrated, and Indigenous histories are being reclaimed. Canadians are engaged in the difficult process of reckoning with the truths of their history.”

“Centennial Celebrations” is designed to create a visitor experience that is accessible to a wide audience, and which connects people across generations. The exhibit’s vibrant colour palette and unique collection of art, photographs, literary works, fashion, ephemera, music, and film provide an engaging window into a period of the Icelandic community’s history that has not previously been explored in a museum exhibit. For younger visitors, 1975 is a distant historical period half a century ago. Older visitors, by contrast, remember the 1970s well, and are often eager to reminisce about that period of their lives. This was particularly evident this August, when folk musicians Len and Karen Vopnfjörð visited the exhibit and, alongside their children and grandchildren, watched film footage of themselves performing at the 1975 Íslendingadagurinn for the very first time.

Award Recipients for 2024

Mennonite Heritage Village

Award of Excellence (Exhibits)

"Leaving Canada: The Mennonite Migration to Mexico" Travelling Exhibition

Photos

Based on a temporary exhibit that was on display at MHV in 2022, “Leaving Canada” tells the story of the emigration of 8000 Mennonites from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s. It explores the history of an ethnoreligious community’s determination to preserve its faith and culture. This flexible, modular exhibit features artifacts from MHV’s collection, historical photographs, and original interpretive content through display crates, pop-up banners, and wall panels.

The goal of the travelling exhibit was two-fold: (1) to bring this history to the communities it relates to, so that the story might become more widely known; and (2) to make this history available to as broad an audience as possible. On that last point, the exhibit was provided at low-cost to hosting organizations and was designed to be very flexible for a multitude of spaces.
The exhibit is a collaboration of Mennonite Heritage Village, the Plett Foundation, and the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada. In addition to the original exhibit showing at MHV, the travelling exhibit has been displayed at several host locations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.

Transcona Museum

Award of Excellence (Collections Care)

"CN2747 Protective Enclosure"

Photos

CN 2747 was constructed in 1926 at the Canadian National Railway Shops in Transcona. It was the first steam locomotive to be constructed at the Transcona Shops, and it was also the first steam locomotive built for the Western Region. In 1960, it was placed on permanent outdoor display in Transcona after many years of service. The TM acquired the steam locomotive in 2015, and since then has worked to repair and preserve the engine.

In 2021, a capital campaign was launched with the goal to build a protective enclosure over CN 2747 to help protect the locomotive from the elements, increase security, and provide more opportunities for the public to see and appreciate the engine. After almost 3 years, the TM was able to raise over $620,000 for the structure. Construction on the protective enclosure began in late 2022 and was completed in April 2024. This past summer, the TM welcomed about 200 visitors to CN 2747 during their “open-gate hours” at the enclosure.

This project is an example of what a small, community museum can accomplish with limited staff, a team of dedicated volunteers, and support from their community. The structure is sponsored by CN, funded by grants from the Province of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg, and The Winnipeg Foundation, and donations from the community.

Award Recipients for 2022

Awards of Excellence were presented to:

Canadian Museum of Human Rights
Carey Newman, artist
Manitoba Museum
Transcona Museum

Awards of Merit were awarded to:

Thomas Heine
Scott Young

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, artist Carey Newman, and the Manitoba Museum were awarded an Award of Excellence for their collaboration on the Witness Blanket installation. The Blanket is made up of over 800 items gathered from sites and survivors of Indian residential schools from every region in Canada. The items were cared for under a shared stewardship agreement between artist Carey Newman and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. The project was led by the Manitoba Museum.

(More on the Witness Blanket)

Every year the Transcona Museum creates an exhibit for a week long display at Kildonan Place Shopping Centre in honour of Remembrance Day. This year the Museum received an Award of Excellnce for creating Stories of Remembrance: from Hometown to Frontlines. Each of the 20 banners making up the exhibit are illustrated with firsthand quotes, historical context, photographs, and images of archival documents and artifacts.

Scott Young is an astronomer and informal science educator at the Manitoba Museum and the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Firchburg, Massachusetts. Scott was awarded an Award of Merit for creating Dome@Home, a weekly, live-streamed program open to anyone with an internet connection. Star gazers could listen and watch as Scott talked about a current cosmic event and they could also make comments or ask questions using a chat function. People from all over the province, Canada, and even overseas tuned in to watch, enjoy, participate, and learn.

(More on Dome@Home).

Thomas Heine received an Award of Merit for creating a collaboration between seven museums and creating a guidebook promoting the museums and offering an interesting weekend tour for visitors. A few years ago, Thomas Heine had an idea. There were seven museums within 100 km of each other in his area that would make a nice weekend tour for visitors. Thomas then put together a travel guide with maps and information on the museums.

Award Recipients for 2021

AMM Awards for 2021 were presented virtually during our Annual General Meeting (December 12, 2021) as COVID meant we couldn't hold our annual Awards Banquet. Regardless of the changed circumstances, we are very pleased to announce the winners of an AMM Award for 2021-2022:

Award of Excellence

Fort Garry Horse Museum & Archives (FGHMA) and Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) for their collaboration on the Mennonites at War exhibit.

Mennonites at War, a temporary exhibit created for display at MHV in 2021, explores the ways war, violence, and the threat of military participation have affected Mennonites over their nearly 500-year history. The exhibit was created by MHV in partnership with the FGHMA, who offered curatorial expertise, research resources, artifact loans, and countless hours providing contextual information for the military-themed sections of the exhibit. In this way, the exhibit provides a model for how museums with very different mandates and constituencies can successfully partner together on a project. The exhibit features artifacts from both MHV’s and FGHMA’s collections, as well as other private and public collections. All together, the exhibit brings together the individual stories of over 30 individual Mennonites and their complicated responses in the face of war and violence.

Award Recipients for 2020

AMM Awards for 2020 were presented virtually during our Annual General Meeting (December 16, 2020) as COVID meant we couldn't hold our annual Awards Banquet. Regardless of the changed circumstances, we are very pleased to announce the winners of an AMM Award for 2020-2021:

Awards of Excellence

Manitoba Electrical Museum & Education Centre -
Relocation Project.
The Museum was challenged with a double move for their warehouse of extra exhibits. The Shop volunteers, under the direction of Wayne DeJaegher, moved all the items to the first warehouse, only to be told to again relocate. The efforts were completed by less than 20 workers. After organizing the new premise with shelving, each item was accessioned, catalogued, photographed and organized, to the standards as set out by the AMM. This was performed behind the scenes and with minimal attention. The results are a well organized warehouse that could be the envy of any museum.

Musetoba (Manitoba Collective Access Database)
The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library, Dalnavert Museum and Visitors' Centre, Ogniwo Polish Museum Society Inc, Transcona Museum and the Association of Manitoba Museums, participated in the creation of a new collections management database for museums to use utilizing Collective Access. Although started in 2018, this project completed Phase one this year. With a program that can be customized to the individual museum, it is hoped that it can be offered to all Manitoba Museums at a reasonable cost.

If you know of a museum, person or people who deserve recognition for the work they're doing nominate them for an Award of Excellence or Award of Merit.

Alexandra Kroeger, Jenna Klassen and Andrea Dyck accepting an Award of Excellence on behalf of the Mennonite Heritage Village from Randy James

Suzanne Wastle and Colleen Kruchak accepting an Award of Merit from Randy James

Alanna Horejda accepting an Award of Excellence on behalf of the Transcona Museum from Randy James

Monique Brandt presenting Rachael Erickson with an Award of Merit.

Here's more on the this year's award recipients:

Congratulations to the Award Winners of 2018!

Award winners from 2017

Award of Merit

Inés Bonacossa, Winnipeg Art Gallery and Dalnavert Museum & Visitors’ Centre, Winnipeg

In recognition for her outstanding volunteer work at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Dalnavert Museum and Visitors’ Centre.

At the Winnipeg Art Gallery Inés has hosted and led hundreds of public tours as well as many educational youth and adult programs. She has also played an integral role on their extended education team; as an avid researcher, a committed team player and an outstanding tour guide. Her tours were consistently well received with written and verbal praise or accolades from their guests. Inés works hard at delivering well-researched tours to make the exhibitions more accessible to visitors.
Read more...

Award of Excellence

Medd House Museum, Winnipegosis

For the work that went into preserving and maintaining this important piece of Winnipegosis’s history.

The Medd House is one of the last two-storey houses in Winnipegosis that were built prior to the inception of Winnipegosis in 1915. It was built in 1900 for George Bellamy and was purchased by Dr. A. E. Medd in 1914, when he married Mary Agnes McArthur. They raised five children in the house, but it also served as a doctor’s office and the town’s first hospital with operations being performed on the family dining or kitchen table.
Read more...

Award winners from 2016

Grand Marais Heritage Committee for their East Beaches Heritage Wing Exhibition.

Manitoba Agricultural Museum for Harvesting Hope: a World Record to Help the Hungry

East Beaches, Grand Marais Manitoba Agricultural Museum, Austin

Grand Marais Heritage Committee for their East Beaches Heritage Wing Exhibition

This exhibition is an excellent example of meticulous research, innovative community engagement, and is accessible and appealing to visitors.

The exhibits tell the unique story of the people of the East Beaches and how they adapted to the changes in the local economy from subsistence resource use, to a service industry economy. At the centre of what became a thriving tourism industry, was Grand Beach, a resort built by the railway. The railway left in 1961, taking much of the community’s fame and fortune with it.

Winners from 2014!

Congratulations to Pauline Riley, Interlake Tourism Association, and The Manitoba Museum for being this year's Award recipients.

Award of Merit

Pauline Riley - for her relentless efforts in fundraising, and other activities, on behalf of the Winnipegosis Museum.

Pauline Riley accepting the Award of Merit from Heather Beerling

Award of Excellence

Interlake Tourism Association

for their assistance in helping 10 museums in the Interlake Region

to put together the successful traveling exhibit Unlocked: Stories from the Interlake

Gail McDonald accepting the award from Matthew Komus on behalf of the Interlake Tourism Association.

The Manitoba Museum - for their incredible school programs during Wrapped: The Mummy of Pesed exhibit.

Anya Moodie-Foster accepting the award from Heather Beerling on behalf of The Manitoba Museum.

Please see the M ed ia Release for more information.