Kristin Glomstad-Yoon, Curator of Historic Collections at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, has been selected as a recipient of the 2023 Iowa Museum Association (IMA) Rising Star Award. The IMA Rising Star Award is intended to recognize individuals who have worked or volunteered in the Iowa museum field for 3-5 years and have helped their museum broaden its audience through engagement activities. Nominees may be employed or volunteer in an Iowa museum of any type. Nomination must show how the nominee’s work has helped their museum broaden its audience, specifically citing engagement activities, how activities were evaluated, and their impact.
Glomstad-Yoon began her museum career with short term projects as she worked toward her 2017 graduate degree in History and Museum Studies at Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. She became Curator of Historic Collections at the River Museum in 2019 where she not only cares for the collection and leads research, but also curates and leads educational programming. In 2022-2023, she helped produce four temporary exhibits on the main campus as well as managing the rotating exhibits at the historic Mathias Ham House.
In her nomination, Emma Sundberg, Director of Curatorial Services, said, “Kristin is a tireless advocate for historic collections. In an organization that can be swallowed up by the fishes of its aquarium half, she is the "squeaky wheel," as she says herself, for the importance of object care and importance of history in our lives.” Sundberg went on to share that Kristin is passionate about accessible collections and actively works to find opportunities to bring objects and history to the public. In collaboration with other departments, she worked to interpret historic collections for programs like Party for the Planet, Captain's Ball, and Who Works the River. Glomstad-Yoon also plays a leading role in ensuring that historic collections are incorporated with living collections to tell a complete story of the region.
Kurt Strand, President and CEO, said, “Kristin regularly works with our education team on programming and provides interpretation for new exhibits, signage and our historic collections. She also works closely with our exhibits and living collections teams to connect our collections with our mission of providing educational experiences where history and rivers come alive.”
Marketing & Communications Manager Emily Adlfinger noted that Glomstad-Yoon has worked diligently to engage visitors, members, and the community with after-hours events such as Museum X and special behind-the-scenes tours of the collection during events. "Museum X highlights different museum professionals engaging with the community. As Kristin spoke about the process of putting together an exhibit, she tied in tidbits about the artifacts, many of which had guests laughing and smiling while hanging on her every word. The feedback from the event was tremendous."
Glomstad-Yoon will be honored at the 2023 Iowa Museum Association Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 3. For more information about the conference or the Iowa Museum Association, visit IowaMuseums.org.