CSA Richard Martin

Exhibition Awards

Richard Martin Exhibition Awards recognize outstanding costume exhibitions presented by both small and large institutions. Award-winning exhibitions demonstrate excellence and innovation in the interpretation and presentation of costume, providing a transforming experience to both students of costume and the public. Up to two awards are given annually to exhibitions of differing sizes and funding.


The award-winning institutions each receive a certificate and a $750 award, funded by the CSA Endowment. A representative of each award-winning exhibition is invited to speak at the CSA National Symposium the following year and receives a $600 travel stipend and day-of-presentation registration fee, also funded by the CSA Endowment, to help defray travel and symposium expenses.


Richard Martin Exhibition Awards, first given in 2002, are named for Richard Martin (1947-1999), curator of costumes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Fashion Institute of Technology. An outstanding scholar, lecturer, author, and the curator of many critically acclaimed costume exhibitions, Richard Martin was a Fellow of the Costume Society of America, and served on its Board of Directors, as editor of CSA’s scholarly journal Dress, and as president of the Mid-Atlantic Region.

  • Eligibility

    To be eligible for an award an exhibition must:


    • be mounted at a museum, historical society, historic house, academic department within an institution of higher learning, or at a site where museum standards are applied
    • at least sixty percent of the objects on display must be costume
    • have at least one person on the exhibition team who is a CSA member
    • have been presented in the fifteen months prior to October 15, 2023
    • the curator must not have received the award in the past three years

    The Costume Society of America recognizes that exhibition size is not necessarily an indicator of excellence. It also acknowledges that large institutions with large exhibition budgets may have an unfair advantage over smaller institutions with less funding. In order to balance competition between exhibitions of differing sizes and budgets, up to two Richard Martin Exhibition Awards may be given each year.


    Exhibitions will be evaluated on:


    • excellent and innovative exhibition concept and design
    • quality of research, scholarship, and interpretation presented in the exhibition
    • innovative, appropriate, and engaging use of objects, media, and design elements
    • adherence to good conservation standards for mounts, light levels, climate control, etc.
    • awareness of the exhibition’s target audience, with demonstrable planning and implementation to reach given audience
    • overall excellence, encompassing the ability to serve as a model for other exhibitions and to evoke a transformative response from viewers

  • Nomination Procedure

    Nominations should be made by the CSA Member of the exhibition team and uploaded as one(1) pdf document under 100MB  using this online submission form. A complete nomination document should include the following information in listed order: 


    1) A cover page with exhibition team’s contact information 

    2) A paginated table of contents

    3) A brief description of the institution that presented the fashion exhibition, including a brief summary of the institution’s annual budget. Note, if a larger institution with multiple departments, please provide the annual budget for the department that generated the exhibition.

    4) A written and visual walk-through of the exhibition, including no more than 20 images or photographs that give a sense of the exhibition as a whole.

    5) A brief summary of the exhibition’s target audience, such as geographic location, age, racial and ethnic backgrounds, education level, interests, etc. If evaluations occurred, please include a brief statement of audience feedback.

    6) A brief outline of the exhibition budget. 

    7) A brief description of the physical exhibition space, including a floor plan to scale.

    8) A brief statement detailing the conservation methods used in the exhibition, including object care, mounting practices, gallery lighting and climate, and so on.

    9) Label text, including all text if possible, but at least the major concept labels, subordinate labels, and several examples of object labels.

    10) Include other material as desired, such as examples of catalogues, gallery guides, brochures, videos, or handouts, or information about related public programs and online content.

  • Award Schedule

    The nomination deadline has been extended to November 1, 2023.  Nominees will be notified of the results by January 31, 2024. Award results will be announced at the CSA National Symposium. A designated representative of each award-winning exhibition is invited to present an overview of the exhibition at the following year’s CSA National Symposium.

Please Contact the Committee Chair

Annette Becker, for more information.

Contact Annette Becker

Recipients

2023

Parachute: Subversive Fashion of the ’80s

Curator: Alexis Walker

McCord Stewart Museum

Montreal, Canada

and

Uncut Attire: How Weaving Informs Wearables

Curator: Addison Nace

Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison


Commendation:

Venus & Diana: Fashioning the Jazz Age

Curator: Clare Sauro

Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection at Drexel University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2022

Made It | The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion

Curators: Petra Slinkard and Paula Bradstreet Richter

Peabody Essex Museum

Salem, MA

in partnership with the originating curator Madelief Hohé

Kunstmuseum Den Haag

The Hague, Netherlands

and

Powwow! Ohcîwin the Origins

Curators: Patrick Mitsuing, Marrisa Mitsuing, and Kim Verrier

Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery

Red Deer, Alberta, Canada


Commendation:

Engaging Communities, Empowering Students: Fostering Cross-Cultural Connections Through Dress, 1936-1958

Curators: Lynda Xepoleas and Emily Hayflick

Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection

Ithaca, NY

2021

No award given

2020

Contemporary Muslim Fashions

Curator in Charge: Jill D’Alessandro; Associate Curator: Laura L. Camerlengo

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

and

Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats from the David and Elizabeth Reisbord Collection

Curator: Clarissa M. Esguerra

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Los Angeles, CA

2019

Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

Curator: Andrew Bolton; Assistant Curator: Mellissa Huber

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York, NY

and

Queer Fashion and Style: Stories from the Heartland

Curators: Kelly L. Reddy-Best, Dana Goodin, and Eulanda Sanders

Iowa State University, Textiles and Clothing Museum

Ames, IA


Commendation:

Glamour on Board: Fashions from Titanic the Movie

The Biltmore Company

Asheville, NC

2018

Fashioning Expo 67

Curator: Cynthia Cooper; Curatorial Assistant: Alexis Walker

McCord Museum

Montreal, Canada

and

The Biggest Little Fashion City: Ithaca and Silent Film Style

Curator: Denise Nicole Green

Cornell Costume and Textile Collection with Wharton Studio Museum

Ithaca, NY


Commendation:

Force of Nature

Curator: Melissa Marra-Alvarez

The Museum at FIT

New York, NY

2017

Eyewear: Fashion with Vision

Curator: Anne Bissonnette

University of Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

and

Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715-2015

Co-curators: Sharon Takeda, Kaye Spilker, and Clarissa Esguerra

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Los Angeles, CA

2016

Native Fashion Now

Curator: Karen Kramer

Peabody Essex Museum

Salem, MA

2015

Charles James: Beyond Fashion

Co-curators: Harold Koda and Jan Reeder

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York, NY

and

Fashion Follows Form: Designs for Sitting

Curator: Alexandra Palmer

Royal Ontario Museum

Toronto, ON, Canada

2014

Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair

Co-curators: Joy Bivins and Virginia Heaven

Chicago History Museum

Chicago, IL

2013

Certificates of Commendation:

60 Years Designing the Ballet

Curator: Caroline O’Brien

The Design Exchange

Toronto, Canada


Tying the Knot: Cleveland’s Wedding Fashions, 1830-1980

Co-curators: Colleen Callahan, Susan Neill, and Newbie Richardson

Western Reserve Historical Society

Cleveland, OH

2012

No award given

2010

High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture

Co-curators: Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson

FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

Los Angeles, CA

2009

Reveal or Conceal?

Curator: Cynthia Cooper

McCord Museum

Montreal, Quebec Canada


Certificate of Commendation:

Gothic: Dark Glamour

Curator: Valerie Steele

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology

New York, NY

2008

Late 18th & Early 19th-Century Fashion Series

Curator: Anne Bissonnette

Kent State University Museum

Kent, OH


Poiret: King of Fashion

Co-curators: Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton

Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Costume Institute

New York, NY 

2006

No award given

2005

Modesty Died When Clothes Were Born: Costume in the Life and Literature of Mark Twain

Curator: Lynne Bassett

Mark Twain House and Museum

Hartford, CT

2004

What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America

Curator: Linda Baumgarten

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Williamsburg, VA

2002

Fashion Stores of the South: Thalheimers, Miller & Rhoads & Montado’s

Curator: Colleen Callahan

The Valentine Richmond History Center

Richmond, VA


London Fashion

Curator: Valerie Steele

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology

New York, NY

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