The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded
$20,000 to Maryland ArtSource to expand the Web site's
resources on Maryland artists and broaden its reach to
include the state's photographic heritage.
This is the first NEA grant to the university's
Sheridan
Libraries, where Maryland ArtSource, a
multi-institutional collaboration, is based.
"The enhancements made possible by this award will
enable us to expand the riches of what has become a
national model for Web-based art resources," said Winston
Tabb, dean of university libraries at Johns Hopkins.
One of the federal agency's Heritage/Preservation
grants for 2004, the award illustrates the NEA's commitment
to encouraging and supporting artistic creativity and
preserving the nation's diverse cultural heritage through
scholarly projects such as Maryland ArtSource.
Currently, Maryland ArtSource features comprehensive
descriptions of art resources in the region and nation,
links to art library catalogs, hundreds of artist profiles
and more than 2,000 images from the painting collection of
the Maryland Historical Society. The NEA funds will broaden
the content by supporting research for more artist
biographies and the addition of photography as a medium in
the Art Collections Online feature.
Photographs by Maryland artists and of Maryland
subjects held in the photography collections at the Albin
O. Kuhn Library of the University of Maryland, Baltimore
County, will be added to the site.
African-American artists Roland Freeman and Irving
Phillips Sr. as well as renowned documentary photographer
Lewis Hine will be featured. Among other photographers
included will be A. Aubrey Bodine, Edward L. Bafford,
Jaromir Stephany, Jack Teemer, Ralph Bonwitt, Jan Faul,
Richard Jaquish and the photographers of the East Baltimore
Photographic Documentary Project and the Equitable Trust
Co. Photographic Survey of Maryland.
Tom Beck, UMBC chief curator, said, "Maryland
ArtSource is becoming a magnificent means by which to
access photography related to Maryland. This NEA grant adds
significantly to the holdings of the Maryland ArtSource
databases."
Launched in September 2002, Maryland ArtSource is a
collaboration among library professionals from leading
cultural institutions in the region, including Johns
Hopkins, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland Institute
College of Art, the Maryland Historical Society, the
Division of Library Development and Services of the
Maryland State Department of Education, UMBC and the
Walters Art Museum.
Other support for Maryland ArtSource has come from the
Institute of Museum and Library Services, the ALH
Foundation, the William G. Baker Jr. Memorial Fund, the
France-Merrick Foundation and the Hecht-Levi Foundation.
GO TO