NARM Quarterly Winter 2022 | Page 17

Explore Our Collection Online

Presented by the Asheville Museum of Art

Virtual programming

The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce that people world-wide can now explore more of the Museum’s diverse Collection of 20th- and 21st-century American art online from the comfort of their homes, on the go with their smart phones, or from their favorite coffee shop. 

“This was a massive undertaking, and it’s a tremendous accomplishment,” says Executive Director Pamela Myers. “I cannot express my gratitude to the Museum’s talented curatorial team. They’ve dedicated so much time, energy, and thought to enable these artworks to be experienced and enjoyed on an easily accessible, international platform.” 

To date, the curatorial team has meticulously digitized approximately 20 percent of the Museum’s Collection and uploaded it to the online database. “Our evolving Collection has grown to nearly 7,500 works, with 1,500 of them already available online,” says Associate Registrar and Project Lead Chris Whitten. “We’ve already devoted several years to reach this point in the process,” he says, “and plan on regularly adding hundreds more each quarter until the entire Collection is online.”

Associate Curator Whitney Richardson says the Museum’s Collection has experienced dramatic growth in the past five years. In fact, it has almost doubled in size and keeps expanding. “Like most museums, we have more art in our Collection than we can show at any one time. With the Collection growing at the rate that it is, this digital platform allows us to share more of what is in our holdings.

“With our Collection online, the Museum is able to touch a much broader audience—increasing education, access, and engagement. It also enables us to better meet our mission of transforming lives through art.”

View the collection here: https://collection.ashevilleart.org

Image courtesy the Asheville Museum of Art