Barona Cultural Center & Museum Wins 2022 AASLH History in Progress Award and Award of Excellence
June 19, 2023
Nashville, TN – The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has selected Barona Cultural Center & Museum as a recipient of the History in Progress (HIP) Award and Award of Excellence for Nya’waap Illyuw Uuchyuwp: Our Way of Knowing.
Developed in close collaboration with the Barona community, Nya’waap Illyuw Uuchyuwp: Our Way of Knowing is dedicated to sharing the origin story of the Barona people with a new generation of visitors. The theater immerses visitors in a one-of-a-kind storytelling experience: as the smell of sagebrush fills the air, visitors are invited to sit on sculpted logs under a starry sky of Kumeyaay constellations, hearing Barona’s creation story directly from an elder via a life-sized, custom film.
Created from a combination of live-action filming and stunning custom animations, the film represents the first of several pieces of Barona’s creation story, one that has been painstakingly reassembled over time by the community. While aimed at educating a younger generation of community members, the Nya’waap Illyuw Uuchyuwp: Our Way of Knowing experience impacts visitors of all ages and backgrounds.
Services Performed: Schematic Design, Design Development, Exhibit Text, Graphic Design & Production, Themed Environments, Film Production, Theater Integration, Installation
The AASLH Leadership in History Awards is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
The HIP Award, given at the discretion of the AASLH Awards Committee, is an additional award for an Award of Excellence winner whose nomination is highly inspirational, exhibits exceptional scholarship, and/or is exceedingly entrepreneurial in terms of funding, partnerships, collaborations, creative problem solving, unusual project design, or inclusiveness. Only 5% or fewer of the total number of Award of Excellence winners can be given the HIP Award.
