Coral Gables Museum Wins 2014 Diamond Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Organization

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Dec. 16, 2014 - PRLog -- The Coral Gables Museum, which celebrates, investigates and explores the civic arts of architecture and urban and environmental design and fosters an appreciation for the history, vision, and cultural landscape of Coral Gables, has received the 2014 Diamond Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Organization from the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce.

“We are thrilled to receive this prestigious award, which recognizes our innovative programs, our partnerships with community organizations and the hard work of our dedicated staff, volunteers and Board of Trustees,” said Christine Rupp, Director of the Coral Gables Museum. “We are a young and growing institution that brings people together and consistently promotes and advocates for the greater Coral Gables community.”

The Diamond Award program is the signature award program for top companies in the Coral Gables community, established in 1997 to recognize organizations that exhibit business excellence, including economic stability and growth, corporate citizenship, outstanding customer service, community outreach and provide a nurturing workplace environment.

Opened in 2011 and celebrating its third anniversary, the Coral Gables Museum has welcomed more than 75,000 people with its award-winning exhibits, programs, lectures, tours and special events.  Its presence in downtown Coral Gables has helped activate a nascent cultural corridor along Aragon Avenue. The Museum’s lobby opened on October 2, 2014 as the City of Coral Gables’ Official Visitors Center.

Over the past year, the Museum has presented several major exhibits, including Concrete Paradise: The Miami Marine Stadium, which won an Honorable Mention in the Preservation/Media category from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation in April 2014. The exhibit explored Miami’s iconic Ralph Munroe Marine Stadium through film, videos, site-specific graffiti murals and antique hydroplanes. Produced in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the exhibit attracted national attention for the Marine Stadium, which preservationists are fighting to save.

Marking the Millennium: Miami Architecture in the 21^st Century, curated by renowned architecture critic Beth Dunlop, featured architectural photography, plans, models and videos representing a selection of post 2000-Greater Miami buildings on display. The exhibit engaged architects and developers to participate in showcasing the best of Greater Miami’s architecture.

This past summer, in conjunction with the Centro Cultural Brasil-USA, the Museum presented 12 Stadiums | 12 Cities: Brazil 2014 World Soccer Destination, which showcased the architecture of the new stadiums of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the culture of the host cities where the matches took place. Exhibit highlights included presentations by the stadium architects, the Museum Plaza, which was transformed into a soccer field and two highly successful game day viewing parties on the Plaza sponsored by ESPN.

In October, the Museum, in collaboration with Florida International University, presented Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges. This race-prejudice exhibit tells the little-known story of Jewish academics, who were dismissed from their teaching positions in Germany and Austria by the Nazis and came to the United States, where they formed lifelong bonds with African Americans at historically Black colleges and universities in the Deep South during the Jim Crow era.

The Museum engages and educates children and families throughout Greater Miami with its annual programs, such as Capture Coral Gables, the Museum’s annual photography contest; author events in partnership with its neighbor, Books & Books; preservation workshops, City Trekker Camps, Saturday morning walking tours, monthly bike tours, the monthly Gallery Night Live! and Jazz on the Plaza.

About The Coral Gables Museum

The Museum’s mission is to celebrate, investigate and explore the civic arts of architecture and urban and environmental design, including fostering an appreciation for the history, vision, and cultural landscape of Coral Gables; promoting beauty and planning as well as historic and environmental preservation for a broad audience, including children, families, and community members, as well as local, regional, national and international visitors. The Museum optimizes its mission by cultivating effective partnerships, and providing programming that includes exhibitions, collections, educational offerings, lectures, tours, publications and special events. The Museum is the Official Visitors Center of the City of Coral Gables. For more information about educational programs or volunteering, visit www.coralgablesmuseum.org.