OMA Award Spotlight - Artists Archives of the Western Reserve
On Sunday, April 19, the Ohio Museums Association held our Annual Awards dinner to recognize the winners of our 2025 Awards of Achievement and 2025 Visual Communication Awards, in conjunction with the 2026 Annual Conference in Columbus.
During the ceremony, OMA celebrated the outstanding achievement of Ohio museums in Visual Communications, individual and institutional achievement, and the tireless work museum professionals undertake to help to advance Ohio’s museum community both locally, and on a national level.
Over the next few weeks, we will be highlighting our 2025 OMA Award of Achievement winners with our OMA Award Spotlight.
OMA Award Spotlight - Awards of Achievement
The Awards of Achievement are presented to reflect the outstanding quality and caliber of work by Ohio museums and their professionals in two categories: Institutional Achievement Awards and Individual Achievement Awards.
Nominations for these awards are incredibly detailed. This in-depth process helps to illustrate how these institutions and individuals have gone “above and beyond” the normal call of duty to support their institution, serve their public and advance the cause of the museum community.
Each year, the review panel is overwhelmed by the outstanding projects, innovative programming and dedication to our field as exhibited in each of the institutional and individual nominations. Congratulations again to each of our award winners!
Today, we'll be featuring our winner for the 2025 award for Best Community Partnership (organizational budget under $500,000).
Artists Archives of the Western Reserve - Common Currents
The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve initiated a collaboration with the Burchfield Penney Art Center located in Buffalo, NY to develop a joint exhibition of work by Western New York and Northeast Ohio artists. After three years of planning, the result was an exhibition called Common Currents, which debuted in Cleveland in April 2025 and later in Buffalo in July 2025.
The collaboration included two curators, Grace Chin, Executive Director of the Sculpture Center in Cleveland and Kyle Butler, Assistant Professor of Fine Art at Villa Maria College in Buffalo. To ensure a fresh perspective, the curator from Cleveland reviewed first round art submissions from Western New York and the curator from Buffalo evaluated those from Northeast Ohio. The curators then worked together to make final decisions on which artists would be included in the exhibit based on studio visits in both states. The final exhibition of fifty-three works was composed of eleven artists from each city. Themes of exploration, transformation, reinvention, and the use and impact of technology infused the exhibition, expressing through a variety of mediums the work of both regions to move beyond their common Rust Belt pasts while also being mindful of how that past informs our perception and experience of the present.
To complement the exhibit, a community program in the form of a roundtable discussion was held in Cleveland. The panelists represented various factions of the Northeast Ohio arts community. Ideas were discussed between panelists and audience that supported and expanded the themes of partnership and collaboration. The program was designed to focus on how to better promote and celebrate the pluralism and diversity of these regions through its abundant and impressive art.
Without this project, these artists’ markets, audiences, and curatorial eyes likely would not otherwise have intersected. Great Lakes cities like Cleveland and Buffalo are both engaged in a 21st century reboot with the visual arts playing a key role in this renewal. This collaboration helped redefine and foster a richer cultural dialogue than individual efforts alone, which greatly benefited each region’s artistic communities, and recontextualized the cultural idea of a “Rust Belt” city.
Did your museum have an innovative and impactful collaboration during 2026 season? Be sure to nominate it for the 2026 award for Best Community Partnership! Learn more here.