Feel Like Your Museum has Done Something Really Creative?

AAM's Brooking Paper on Creativity in Museums recognizes innovative accomplishments that produce new ways of thinking and seeing within the museum field. Papers can describe examples of creativity in any aspect of museum operations, from collections, programs and exhibitions to finance, marketing and administration—or anything in between. If you can imagine your peers saying, "What a great idea—I've never heard of anybody doing that!" it's a sign you're headed in the right direction.

The first-prize paper will be published in Museum magazine, and its author will receive $1,000 plus $500 toward travel expenses to the 2009 AAM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, April 30–May 4. Two honorable mentions will also be awarded. We will publish all three winning papers on the AAM website in May.

Museum professionals and volunteers worldwide may enter. Papers should be approximately 2,500 words; previously published pieces will not be accepted. Deadline is Feb. 2. E-mail submissions and questions to brooking@aam-us.org.

A few suggestions and guidelines:

• Visit AAM's website and check out winning papers from previous years for a better sense of basic aspects of the competition.

• Be sure to convey the impact of the project.

• Format: Submit a Word document—double-spaced, Times New Roman 11-point font, with page numbers—that includes your name, title, institution and contact information at the end.

Funding is provided through the generosity of Dolores Brooking, retired professor of arts administration at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and former director of education at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas.