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MHCAM Awarded $150K from IMLS Grant to Support Digitization

July 19, 2012

Mount Holyoke College Art Museum received notification today of a $150,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). IMLS announced 152 awards from among 470 applications.

Representing Phase II of the Museum’s efforts to digitize its collection, the award will fund the continued photographing and cataloguing of approximately 4,000 objects in three of its most frequently studied and noteworthy collections: works of art on paper, objects of American material culture, and American and European silver.

"This undertaking will provide college faculty and students with access to an increased array of objects to include in teaching, and learning," said John Stomberg, Florence Finch Abbott Director of the Museum. "The database will also help make the collection more broadly available to a wider public and offer a first level of research support for scholars."

A new K-12 module created as part of this project will be instrumental in bringing object-based teaching into the classrooms of area primary and secondary schools.

"Congratulations to the Museums for America grantees," said IMLS Director Susan Hildreth. "This year’s funded projects reflect the wide array of museum types in the country. In every .the benefit of the community it serves."

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through grant making, policy development, and research, IMLS helps communities and individuals thrive through broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage, and lifelong learning.

The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in South Hadley is a leading collegiate art museum. Its comprehensive permanent collection of 17,000 objects features Asian art, 19th- and 20th-century European and American paintings and sculpture, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art, Medieval sculpture, early Italian Renaissance paintings, and an extensive collection of works on paper. For more information, visit www.mtholyoke.edu/artmuseum or call 413-538-2085.