Museum Association
of Arizona

Individual Award of Excellence 

Michael Brescia
Over the last 20 years Michael Brescia has used his position as Curator of Ethnology at the Arizona State Museum and as a University of Arizona professor as a perfect base from which to undertake research and publication, and develop exhibits and programming that share his work on the Borderlands.  His deep commitment to Arizona, the Southwest and Mexico has made him an invaluable addition to the Arizona State Museum and to the museum community of Arizona.

Institutional Award of Excellence

Amerind Museum
Long known for its incredible collection of Western and Native American art and archaeology, the Amerind Museum has expanded our understanding of the desert Southwest.   Its research programs now include a wide range of visiting scholars and advanced research seminars, while centering Indigenous voices in it exhibits and public programming.   A wide range of programming - from the annual Texas Canyon Trail Runs and Mountain Bike Races to the regular guided hikes with museum CEO Eric Kaldahl - provides innovative ways to bring the visitors and the community closer to the local  environment.

Center for Archaeology and Society Repository - NAGPRA Learning Track
The NAGPRA Learning Track provides a unique hands-on program that  addresses the relatively new, but critical, need for formal training for museum professionals with a multi-semester program.   Truly innovative, the learning track moves students beyond the theoretical, providing experience in collections care and consultation preparation.

Mesa Historical Museum - Restoration of the 1939 Lehi Auditorium
The Mesa Historical Museum launched a two-year capital campaign to restore and repurpose this architectural and cultural landmark building, originally constructed to serve as the Lehi School’s auditorium, to create a permanent exhibition space and community venue.   The restored auditorium now houses the first Arizona Baseball Museum, using collections gathered from avid collectors, the historic Buckhorn Baths Motel, and actual participants in the events themselves. 

Phoenix Trolley Museum
From a small display in the “backyard” of the Ellis-Shackleford House, the Phoenix Trolley Museum has become an important site for the preservation of an important and increasingly relevant aspect of Phoenix history – its first public transportation system.  In addition to consolidating its collection of historic street cars to its location in the Grand Avenue Commercial Historic District, it has inaugurated a number of new programs, including Games Days and Streetline Bike Tours.  A new interactive website was developed in partnership with Valley Metro that tells the Phoenix streetcar and light rail story from 1887 to the present day. 

Verde Valley Archaeology Center
The Verde Valley Archaeology Center has pushed the boundaries of the physical museum space by inviting institutional collaborations, conducting research, and offering  a wide range of engaging programs.  These range from presentations on the contributions of African American workers in shaping Arizona’s history, to participation in a Smithsonian research project with Desert Botanical Garden, to the annual Pecos Conference, an outdoor gathering of professional and avocational archaeologists. 

African American Museum of Southern Arizona
The African American Museum of Southern Arizona has redefined what community service looks like for a museum.   Through collaboration with a wide range of partners, the Museum has engaged in building bridges across cultures and promoting civil justice, including participation the City of Tucson’s Juneteenth Celebration, collaborative programming the the Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center, and a letter-writing campaign supporting the CROWN Act, which addresses discrimination based on natural hair and protective hairstyles.

American Association for State and Local History
The American Association for State and Local History is being honored for their amazing - and frankly revolutionary efforts - to ensure that museums of all sizes across the entire country were able to participate in the America250 celebrations.   They have single-handedly provided a weath of information for local history organizations,  including guidebooks, webinars, technical leaflets, conferences, symposiums, and a national online network for the individual State Commissions, creating a space for sharing projects and developing grassroots participation.

Friends of the Tubac Presidio
The Friends of the Tubac Presidio serve as representatives of a community that has ensured the continuity of 2000 years of history.  The Tubac Presidio State Historic Park was dedicated in 1958, growing over time to from a single temporary museum to five buildings.    ​A series of budget cuts threatened the park’s existence over the last 30 years, but each time the community rallied to ensure that it would be preserved.  Ultimately, in 2023 the Friends of the Tubac Presidio and Museum was formed as an Arizona corporation to partner with the State of Arizona, and officially took over management of the park.  Since then, the Friends have been responsible for the funding and management of the park, with a corp of  dedicated volunteers working tireless to develop programs and events and continue to improve the site.  In 2025 the Friends of Tubac Presidio were the recipients of an American Association for State and Local History Award of Excellence.

Sarah Matchette
Sarah Matchette, the Director of Visitor Engagement at The Square Phx, serves as the Marketing Director for the Central Arizona Museum Association (CAMA). In this position she has significantly enhanced communication and engagement between members and throughout the Phoenix area museum community. Her creative and thoughtful marketing strategies ensure members remain informed, inspired, and connected throughout the year.    Her dedication to accessible, innovative programming and inclusive outreach makes her a standout young leader in the museum field.

JoAnne Martinez-Gilgore
JoAnne Martinez-Gilgore was the Conservator at the Arizona State Library brought together a group of museums, archives and libraries to formally address issues relating to disaster planning and response tools for cultural sites.   Funding was obtained from the National Endowment for the Humanities to bring together over 60 representatives from both Arizona cultural organizations, and state and county emergency managers, resulting in thecreation  the Arizona Alliance for Response.   A little over a year later the group is holding its first state-wide workshop and will soon be creating an online communications space to share information, and further develop the cultural community’s ability to respond to disasters that threaten our irreplaceable collections.

Paul Fees
Paul Fees, is an Arizona native who has dedicated his career to preserving and interpreting the rich history of the American West, focusing on the cultural heritage of Arizona and Wyoming.    Following his work at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, he returned to Arizona in 2023 and became Interim Director of the Sharlot Hall Museum and Prescott Historical Society.   He played a pivotal role in stabilizing and advancing the institution’s mission during a time of significant transition, and rebuilt relationships within the community, fostering partnerships that increased engagement and support.  Operationally,  the museum successfully addressed deferred maintenance challenges, and enhanced its educational offerings.   He continues to serve as Deputy Director for Museum Programs.

Pamela Levin
Pamela Levin was first awarded the Distinguished Service Award in 2014, when she retired after many years as an educator at the Desert Botanical Garden and MAA Board and Committee member.   Since then, she has not only continued to serve as a volunteer at the Desert Botanical Garden, but has added involvement with the Arizona Jewish Historical Society, serving on its Board, and advocate for the development of its new Hilton Family Holocaust Center.   MAA has been the fortunate recipient of her ongoing dedication, where she has been an active member of the Professional Development Committee for over 25 years.   With  years of experience, she continues to advocate for the inclusion of new ideas in our programming and is always looking for ways to reach out to students and early museum professionals.    

Tom Walsh
After retiring from Chase Bank, Tom Walsh relocated to Phoenix, where he entered the PhD program at ASU while volunteering at numerous museums, including the SRP Archives, Cave Creek Museum, Southwest Oral History Association, Tovrea Castle, and S’edav Va’aki Museum.  He guided Rosson House (now The Square PHX) through critical reform, positioning it for long-term sustainability. Later relocating to Green Valley, he worked with the Presidio State Historic Park and Museum, where he has helped navigate leadership challenges, strengthen programming, and update exhibits, both as a member of the Friends of the Presidio Board and Interim Director. At all times and places he has devoted himself to strengthening Arizona’s museums and cultural institutions, stepping in wherever and whenever needed.

Kenneth  Zoll
Ken Zoll is generally considered an icon in the Verde Valley, and indeed across Arizona.  He moved to Oak Creek in 2004 after a career working for the federal government.  His second career in avocational archaeology began as a volunteer with the US Forest Service, which led him to record the petroglyphs at the Crane Petroglyph Heritage Site, then to active participation in the Verde Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society, to founding and leading the Verde Valley Archaeology Center to ensure that the rich archaeological collections of the Verde Valley stayed “home”, to moving the Center to a new site, four times larger than the original building, with greatly expanded interpretive, educational, and storage space, before retiring, only to become Director Emeritus of the Center in 2024. He is a prolific author on astroarchaeology, and continues to share his knowledge as a guest lecturer through Northern Arizona University’s Roads Scholar program.