We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2026 AMM Awards! We look forward to celebrating these outstanding individuals and institutions during the annual conference in Chicago next week and virtual events taking place this fall.
Best Practices Award
Illinois State Museum
Springfield, IL
With a desire to reimagine meaningful collaboration while engaging previously underserved audiences, the Illinois State Museum (ISM) engaged with the Spanish Club at Beardstown High School to develop a temporary exhibition titled Mi Casa es Tu Casa, exploring the lived experiences of immigrant and first-generation Latin American families in rural Illinois.
The relationship between the staff of ISM, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), and the high school students from this diverse rural community went beyond mentorship and collaboration to co-creation, inviting the students to the table as peers in the planning and implementation of Mi Casa es Tu Casa. The students shaped every stage of the exhibition design process: generating the concept, collecting oral histories, selecting objects for display, creating the exhibit’s visual identity, drafting label text, and hosting the exhibition for their peers and families. The end product was a beautiful example of inclusive storytelling, but it is the thoughtful and humble approach to engaging students as co-creators that makes this project a model for all museums.
AMM is pleased to present the Illinois State Museum with the Best Practices Award and to have the opportunity to celebrate and learn from their student collaborators and community partners!
Groundbreakers Award
Minnesota Museum of American Art
Saint Paul, MN
Since 2023, the Minnesota Museum of American Art (the M) has been engaged in a deeply collaborative, community-centered process with artist and cultural leader Penny Kagigebi (White Earth Ojibwe) to develop Queering Indigeneity—a multi-year, multi-generational exhibition and programming initiative that centers 2-Spirit, Native queer, and gender-expansive voices.
Queering Indigeneity, now open through August 16, 2026, offers representation that is not only visible, but affirming, celebratory, and grounded in Indigenous worldviews. By reclaiming traditional understandings of 2-Spirit people as leaders, healers, and visionaries, the project reconnects contemporary communities to cultural knowledge disrupted by colonization—and insists on a future shaped by resilience and belonging. Developed over multiple years in collaboration with 15 regional artists and Kagigebi, the project has already fostered meaningful relationships, professional growth, and intergenerational dialogue.
AMM is excited to celebrate the intentional approach of Minnesota Museum of American Art on this bold and much-needed project through this year’s Groundbreakers Award!
Distinguished Career Award
Sherry D’Asto Peglow
Indianapolis, IN
Sherry D’Asto Peglow is the most tenured staff member at Newfields in Indianapolis, IN, with 36 years of service in registration roles, from exhibitions registration to permanent collections. Sherry’s staff describe her as their “Gold Star Registrar” and “fearless leader.” Her vast knowledge of policy and procedure—not just at Newfields, but many institutions globally—and the artistry of her hand-drawn condition reports are alone worthy of recognition.
While Sherry has exemplified the highest standards of the museum registration profession, it is through her leadership and mentorship of each new generation of registrars that she has had the most profound impact. Sherry recognizes and nurtures individual strengths, creating opportunities for others to grow as leaders and contribute meaningfully to the field. Her mentorship has shaped the careers of countless museum professionals, many of whom have gone on to lead registration departments of their own.
AMM is thrilled to honor Sherry D’Asto Peglow and her “unwavering dedication to art, to the museum, and to those around her” through the Distinguished Career Award!
Distinguished Career Award
Peter James Ward Richie
Minneapolis, MN
In his fourteen years of volunteer service on the Board of Directors for the Robbinsdale Historical Society (RHS), Pete Richie has helped to advance the organization’s mission through programs, multimedia communications, collections stewardship, and exhibitions.
Among his accomplishments at RHS, Pete secured and completed 3 collections management grants to support the development of a Collections Management Policy, implementation of a new collections database, and completion of a three-dimensional object inventory—all part of a long-range plan to bring RHS up to speed with fieldwide best practices. Pete’s “warm leadership and creative problem-solving” were essential in the success of the museum’s internship programs and reimagining of museum displays. His tenacity and unwavering passion for local history have also reached beyond the museum—from writing and publishing two books for Images of America to engaging in preservation and advocacy efforts for local landmarks.
AMM looks forward to celebrating Pete Richie’s outstanding volunteer service through the Distinguished Career Award!
Promising Leadership Award
Marissa Ulie
Indianapolis, IN
Marissa Ulie is the Training and Professional Development Assistant at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Marissa began her career at TCM in 2019 as a Gallery Interpreter before transitioning to the training team in 2023.
Among Marissa’s earliest accomplishments was the development of a self-care toolkit, which has been described by museum staff as “an oasis in the desert” and has since evolved into monthly self-care workshops for staff. Marissa has also supported the museum’s efforts to center diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion through service on their internal task force. Most recently, as part of the Children’s Museum’s 100th anniversary celebrations, Marissa went above and beyond to fill a gap in programming by partnering with a local historian to create walk and talk tours focused on themes from the museum’s Memories, Wonders and Dreams: Stories from 100 Years exhibition.
As her nominator described, Marissa Ulie “leads quietly with empathy, compassion, and understanding.” AMM is thrilled to present her this year’s Promising Leadership Award!