CLARKSVILLE, TN – Customs House Museum & Cultural Center is pleased to announce they are a recipient of the 2025 Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) Gold, Silver, and Bronze Technology and Publications Awards, recognizing the museum’s excellence in creative marketing, digital storytelling, and print design. The SEMC Publication Design Competition showcases the best in our profession and provides benchmarks for regional publication efforts in southeastern museums.

Frank Lott, the Executive Director of the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center, said, “The museum is always honored to receive awards for its work from peer organizations such as the Southeastern Museums Conference. It is an indication that we are producing important work that shares our mission with our constituents and with those who help us bring our mission to fulfillment.”

In the Technology Awards category, the Customs House Museum earned three Gold, two Silver, and one Bronze distinction for outstanding digital marketing campaigns:

Gold

  • I Heart My Museum Campaign (Golly G’s ice cream reveal)
  • Rockin’ Clarksville Development Campaign (video and PSA)
  • Museum Blog

Silver

  • Invisible Art for April Fool’s Day
  • Art in Bloom E-invite

Bronze

  • Pop the Bubbly Development Campaign

In addition to these achievements, the Customs House Museum received five awards in the SEMC 2025 Publications category, recognizing the institution’s excellence in print materials and design:

First place

  • Juneteenth Poster (Posters Category)
  • Exhibitions Brochures (Brochures and Rack Cards category)
  • Exhibit Reception Invitations Bundle (Invitations Category)

Third place

  • Snowflake Special Poster (Posters category)
  • Sundays at 3:00 Mailers (Mailers & Calendars of Events Category)

Museum publications play a vital role in an institution’s educational mission, documenting exhibitions and collections through high-quality design and production and showcasing the depth of scholarship. Expectations and standards were exceptionally high for this year’s applicants. The 2024 SEMC Publication Design Competition received a record-breaking number of applications from a wide variety of museums across the southeast.

The SEMC Publication Design Competition recognizes and rewards excellence in graphic design in Southeastern museum publications. The competition encourages communication, effective design, creativity and pride in work, and recognition of institutional image and identity. Recipients of the awards were judged by an appointed jury of museum professionals across the region who specialize in graphic design.

Award winners will be celebrated at the 2025 Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon on Oct. 22, in Montgomery, Alabama as well as in the Winter 2025 Edition of Inside SEMC, a digital publication of the Southeastern Museums Conference. This designation recognizes the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center’s contribution to professional standards in Southeastern museums.