National Buildy Award
Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums recognizes jackson hole history museum
The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Building Museums™ Symposium Buildy Award: the Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, D.C.) and the Jackson Hole History Museum (Jackson, Wyoming). In addition, three projects have received Honorable Mentions: the Joslyn Art Museum (Omaha, NE); the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY); and the Cylburn Arboretum Friends Nature Center (Baltimore, MD).
These projects were selected from a competitive national pool and represent a wide range of museum types, scales, and approaches, reflecting excellence in museum planning, design, and innovation.
The Buildy Award is MAAM’s highest recognition for completed museum building projects and honors institutions that demonstrate exemplary leadership in the planning, design, and construction process, as well as transformational organizational impact following project completion. Award recipients were formally recognized on March 13, 2026, during MAAM’s 20th Building Museums™ Symposium. The award celebrates museum directors, staff, trustees, and the design and construction teams whose collaborative efforts result in sustainable, mission-driven cultural facilities that serve their communities for generations to come.
Jackson Hole History Museum
The Jackson Hole History Museum earned a Buildy Award for its deeply collaborative, community-driven approach to museum expansion and interpretation. Emerging from a grassroots effort to “Save the Block” for public use, the project reimagines the museum as a civic and cultural hub that centers local history, Indigenous partnerships, and shared public space. The new campus integrates preserved historic cabins, contemporary galleries, outdoor gathering areas, and a highly visible mural by an Indigenous artist. Exhibitions and programs foreground underrepresented voices and regional narratives, while providing universal accessibility, sustainable site strategies, and flexible, well-planned public and back of house spaces that strengthen the museum’s role as a community anchor in a rapidly changing region.
The Jackson Hole History Museum project team included HGA (lead architect), Prospect Studio (local architect), Gallagher & Associates (exhibit design), ACM (contractor), Berning Project Management (owner’s representative) and extensive collaboration with the Eastern Shoshone and Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Working with Jackson Hole Public Art, a large mural was painted by Nanibah Chacon in partnership with Eastern Shoshone educator, Lynette St. Clair. Nina Simon, Alissa Rupp, and Michele Pacifico provided strategic planning guidance and museum expertise.
The Buildy Award is unique in its emphasis on leadership, collaboration, and institutional impact. Projects of all sizes and budgets are eligible, with evaluation focused on how effectively museum leadership guided complex stakeholder interests—including staff, trustees, donors, designers, contractors, and visitors—to create lasting, financially sustainable assets that advance mission and serve the public.
The 2026 Buildy Award Selection Committee included:
- Ann Trowbridge, Smithsonian Institution (retired), Chair
- Lauren Aaronson, Exhibit Developer, Liberty Science Center
- Adam Bridge, Principal, Ayers Saint Gross
- Melissa Kiewiet, Executive Director, Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
- Martha Morris, Associate Professor Emerita, George Washington University
- Monika Smith, Principal, DLR Group
- Sandra Vicchio, Principal, Sandra Vicchio Associates
- Nancy Walsh, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
About the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums
The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1947 to represent museum professionals, organizations, institutions, museum service providers, and industry partners in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. MAAM provides a forum to enhance the image of museums and educate individuals on an array of field-specific study and programs.
MAAM’s sparks dialogue among museum and industry professionals to build sustainable and inclusive museums for their communities. MAAM brings together the resources of the Mid-Atlantic’s museum community and makes them available to its members through conferences, symposia, and workshops. MAAM’s programming evolves with the needs of the field, with two major events each year. MAAM’s Annual Conference is a member-driven forum to share ideas and allow for opportunities to network and connect. MAAM’s Building Museums ™ Symposium is unique among museum conferences in offering programming tailored for those who plan or implement new construction, renovation, or expansion projects for museums.