Mingei International Museum Website Recognized By The Webby Awards - The Oscars Of The Internet

Mingei International Museum has announced that its dynamic new website, www.mingei.org, has been recognized by the 2008 Webby Awards, the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, the Webby Awards this year included nearly 10,000 entries from 60 countries and all 50 states competing in more than 100 categories. Mingei International’s website, designed with San Diego-based Teneleven Interactive, is an “Official Honoree” in the Cultural Institutions category. Other honorees in this category include websites from the Guggenheim Museum/Bilbao (Spain), the Tate Museum/London and MOMA – the Museum of Modern Art/New York City.

Now in its 12th year, Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures and visionaries working to advance the electronic medium. “The Webby Awards honors the outstanding work that is setting the standards for the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “Mingei International’s Official Honoree selection is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators.”

Mingei International’s Director of Marketing & Planning Charlotte Cagan headed the Museum’s website development team. “Our goal was to create an elegant website that reflected the Museum’s mission and aesthetics and was also well-organized and easy to navigate,” stated Cagan. “It is encouraging to know that in the eyes of astute Internet critics we’ve achieved our goal.”

Teneleven Interactive president David Kunze added, “We found it tremendously rewarding to create a site that met the exacting aesthetic standards of Mingei International Museum while at the same time incorporating state-of-the-art functionality.”

Mingei International Museum Director Rob Sidner emphasized the importance of the website. “Our website is our third museum – a portal that allows visitors worldwide virtual access to Mingei International in addition to visiting our museums in Balboa Park and Escondido.”

Teneleven Interactive, based in San Diego, is a web design and Internet marketing company whose clients include Procter & Gamble, Toyota and General Electric and locally, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa. The new website was made possible by a generous grant from the San Diego-based Parker Foundation.

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is dedicated to the creative, technical and professional progress of the Internet and interactive media. Its members consist of leading experts and luminaries in diverse fields such as musician David Bowie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, political columnist Arianna Huffington and The Weinstein Company’s Harvey Weinstein.

Mingei International Museum exhibits art of the people (mingei) from all eras and cultures of the world. Featuring furniture, vessels, tools and utensils, ritual and ceremonial objects, adornment, dolls and toys, Mingei International highlights the creativity and skill of artists unknown and renowned, local and international. The Museum features collections from 141 countries and regions including India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, Africa, the Middle East, China and the U.S., all reflecting a joy in making by hand useful objects of timeless beauty.