BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (October 16, 2025) — CT State Housatonic proudly announces that the Housatonic Museum of Art and Interpreting Sports have received two prestigious awards recognizing the exceptional exhibition, The Making of an Icon: Walter Iooss and Sports Photography.
The exhibition earned the 2025 Award of Merit from the Connecticut League of Museums (CLM) and the Award of Excellence from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)—a rare dual recognition. Remarkably, this marks the second consecutive year the museum has earned both the Connecticut League of Museums (CLM) and American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) awards—four honors in just two years. Following the 2024 recognition for “The Practice of Democracy: A View from Connecticut,” this year’s dual awards for “The Making of an Icon: Walter Iooss and Sports Photography” reaffirm the museum’s sustained excellence and leadership at the intersection of art, history, and culture.
The CLM Awards Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, where the Housatonic Museum of Art will be honored alongside other exemplary institutions advancing the state’s cultural heritage.
“This double recognition highlights Housatonic’s leadership in arts education and community engagement,” said Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye, Director of the Housatonic Museum of Art. “We are thrilled that AASLH recognized the importance of Walter Iooss’ contributions not only to sports history, but also to the larger stories of humanity throughout the twentieth century. We are grateful to our partners at Connecticut Humanities and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, who understood the vision and carried this project to the finish line.”
The exhibition examined the visual and cultural language of sports photography, revealing how imagery shapes collective memory, identity, and representation in American culture. It underscores the museum’s commitment to presenting exhibitions that are both intellectually rigorous and publicly engaging—inviting audiences to see familiar subjects through new artistic and cultural lenses.
“Knowing that our museum has won four awards in two years makes me proud to go here,” said Tania Alfonso, student at CT State Housatonic. “The awards show how important the museum is for the state and the country. I am grateful to be part of a community that is constantly working to make art more accessible.”
About CT State Housatonic
CT State Housatonic, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is part of the CT State Community College system. The college provides accessible, high-quality education that prepares students for careers, transfer, and lifelong learning. The Housatonic Museum of Art is recognized statewide for its diverse permanent collection and dynamic exhibitions that promote critical engagement with art, culture, and society.
About the Housatonic Museum of Art
The Housatonic Museum of Art is located on the Connecticut State Community College Housatonic campus, located at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in Bridgeport. It is home to one of the premier college art collections in the country, spanning the history of art from ancient to contemporary, and is on continuous display throughout the 300,000 square foot facility. The museum also hosts changing exhibitions in the Burt Chernow Galleries, and engaging lectures, workshops, films, special events and programs throughout the year, both in-person and online. Visit www.HousatonicMuseum.org to learn more.
About Interpreting Sports
Interpreting Sports is a museum consulting firm that offers historical and curatorial services - helping organizations create socially responsible and culturally responsive sports content. They work with a mission of re-centering the international sports conversation around empathy, balanced humanity, and authentic connection, one interpretive project at a time. Their principal consultants bring 30+ years combined field experience and are the co-editors and contributing authors of Interpreting Sports at Museums and Historic Sites, a groundbreaking contribution that provides a roadmap, their 'Game Plan,' for the future of sports interpretation in public spaces.
About the American Association for State and Local History
The American Association for State and Local History is a not-for-profit professional organization of individuals and institutions working to preserve and promote history. From its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides leadership, service, and support for its members who preserve and interpret state and local history to make the past more meaningful to all people. AASLH publishes books, technical publications, a quarterly magazine, and maintains numerous affinity communities and committees serving a broad range of constituents across the historical community. The association also sponsors an annual meeting, regional and national training in-person workshops, and online training.
About the Connecticut League of Museums
The Connecticut League of Museums (www.ctleague.org) unifies and strengthens our state’s museums and cultural resources to expand their capacity and community impact. Since 1950, the League has supported its member museums, historical societies, libraries, and other cultural heritage institutions across the state through professional development, networking and community, workshops and training, and an annual conference and awards program. The League also runs Connecticut Collections (www.ctcollections.org), an open-source collections management system and online portal that makes Connecticut’s museum and archival collections accessible to researchers worldwide.
