Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum Wins Ohio Museum Association Award

The Ohio Museum Association held its awards dinner April 15, 2018, where the Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum won the Best Exhibit in Ohio in the class of institutions with a budget less than $500,000.

The $460,000 exhibit project was completed in September 2017. The museum worked with the firm Exhibit Concepts of Vandalia over a 4 year period to interpret the artifact collection. The exhibits take on a trade focus to describe the position of the railroaders that manned the trains through Bradford. They also cover the birth to the decline of the railroad and are consistent with K-12 standards in math, science and social studies.

The museum will be open to the public between now and the last Saturday in October from 10 am- 3 pm for visitors to view this outstanding exhibit.

Below is the statement the Ohio Museum Association read when announcing the award:

The Ohio Museums Association’s Awards of Achievement are presented to reflect the outstanding quality and caliber of work by Ohio museums and their professionals. The Awards of Achievement are divided into two categories: Institutional Achievement Awards and Individual Achievement Awards.

Nominations for these awards are incredibly detailed. This in-depth process helps to illustrate how these institutions and individuals have gone “above and beyond” the normal call of duty to support their institution, serve their public and advance the cause of the museum community.

This year’s review panel was overwhelmed by the outstanding projects, innovative programming and dedication to our field as exhibited in each of this year’s institutional and individual nominations. The Ohio Museums Association is proud to recognize this year’s award winners as exceptional examples of the amazing work being done by Ohio’s museum community.

2017 marked the end of a four-year project for the Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum, to do a complete interpretation of the museum’s artifact collection and tell the story of the area railroad from 1855 to 1985.

With an annual operating budget of less than $25,000, the museum worked with Exhibit Concepts to develop the plan, and secured state funds and private donations to transform a former bank building into a new exhibit hall.

This highly interactive exhibit is full of sights and sounds, and presents the 130 history of the Bradford Railroad Junction in a format that connects their local story to the larger, national history of the railroad – all while fulfilling the Ohio K-12 school standards in math, science and social studies.

The significance of this exhibit, as stated in their nomination packet, transformed Bradford’s artifacts from just a “collection of things into an educational, railroad museum.”

The Ohio Museums Association is pleased to present the Bradford Ohio Railroad Museum with the 2017 award for Best Exhibition under $500,000.

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