CSA Richard Martin

Exhibition Awards

Richard Martin Exhibition Awards recognize outstanding costume exhibitions presented by small and large institutions and by student members. 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 three awards are given annually to exhibitions of differing sizes and funding:

  1. Large exhibition: defined as having a budget over $100,000 
  2. Small exhibition: defined as having a budget of $100,000 or less. 
  3. Student-led or student-driven exhibition: defined as an exhibition led or driven by student(s). The exhibition may or may not have a professional or faculty mentor.


The award winners each receive a certificate. A representative of each award-winning exhibition is invited to speak at the CSA National Symposium the following year and receives a $900 travel stipend and day-of-presentation registration fee, 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 physically or virtually 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 relate to or be costume artifacts
    • 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, 2025
    • the curator must not have received the award in the past three years. This stipulation does not apply to professional or faculty mentors of student-led exhibitions.

    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 three Richard Martin Exhibition Awards may be given each year. Applicants may only apply under one category and are encouraged to select the category that best represents their work . 

  • 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 (available summer  of 2025). 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. Institution information (maximum 500 words): Description of the institution or institutions responsible for the exhibition’s creation, including: the institution mission(s); staffing associated with the exhibition; and the budget for the exhibition. Note the appropriate category for the application: large budget, small budget, or student-led. 
    4. A brief overview of the exhibition, including its scope and goals that shaped its creation. Maximum 500 words and up to 20 images or photographs to give a sense of the exhibition as a whole.
    5. A brief summary of the curatorial research process (e.g. artifact selection, artifact labels, didactic texts). Maximum 500 words and up to 5 pages of image examples of labels, wall texts, and other interpretive materials. For large exhibitions, please select a representative sample of these materials to ensure the committee’s understanding of the breadth and depth of the exhibition’s curatorial research.
    6. A brief summary of the exhibition’s communication plan, programming, and audience engagement (e.g. planned events, community outreach, promotional materials). Maximum 500 words and up to 5 pages of image examples of advertisements, promotional materials, event photographs, and other materials.
    7. A brief description of the exhibition design (e.g. exhibition layout, floorplan, graphics, label design). Maximum 500 words and up to 5 pages of image examples of gallery schematics, graphics, label layout, and other materials.
    8. A brief description detailing artifact handling (e.g. conservation, mounting, lighting). Maximum 500 words and up to 5 pages of image examples of conservation treatments, mounting plans, lighting schematics, and other materials.

  • Rubric

    Each criterion is rated on a scale from 1 (developing) to 5 (exceptional).

    1. Exhibition Concept
    2. Curatorial Innovation
    3. Exhibition Design
    4. Artifact Handling
    5. Audience Engagement

  • Award Schedule

    The nomination deadline is October 15, 2025.  Nominees will be notified of the results in mid-January 2026. 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

2025

Gilding Northeast Ohio: Fashion and Fortune, 1870-1900, Brian Centrone, The Massillon Museum, Ohio

and

Fashion After Dark, Patty Edmonson, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

and

Harlem Noire: Fashion Movement, Moment, & Memory, Student Curator: Dyese L. Matthews, Faculty Advisors: Denise N. Green and Catherine Blumenkamp, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

2024

Lee Alexander McQueen and Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous

Barrett Barrera Projects

St. Louis, Missouri

and

Past and Present Lives of Upcycled Fashion

Curator: Kat Roberts

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York 


Commendation:

Woven Identities: Ghanaian and Guatemalan Textiles in the Face of Globalization

Curators: Anne Bissonnette, Siming Guo, Elsie Osei, and Chiara Power

University of Alberta

Edmonton, AB, Canada

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