The List Visual Arts Center has received a prestigious grant for $98,908 from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. With this grant, the LVAC will launch "Beyond Ames Street," a multifaceted approach to using web-based technology to connect with audiences more deeply.
The effort to increase online projects to enhance public participation is an integral part of the LVAC's mission. It parallels MIT's OpenCourseWare, which distributes MIT course content online.
The project's centerpiece will be an interactive online guide to MIT's collection of modern and contemporary art, which includes works by Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Jennifer Bartlett, Louise Nevelson, Jorge Pardo, Dan Graham, and Matthew Ritchie. The guide will feature video tours of buildings and art projects that allow the web user to move through rooms or around a sculpture, and view public works such as Alexander Calder's "Great Sail" and lesser-known works such as Frank Stella's "Loohooloo," which is located in a conference room not open to the public.
The online guide will include a description of each work, artist/architect biographies and essays by critics and curators. Users will have access to the LVAC's past programs, including talks by artists, curators and critics, exhibition tours and interviews.
"We are delighted that this major grant will help to make our materials, exhibitions and collections available to people everywhere," said Jane Farver, director of the LVAC.
List earns accreditation
The List Center has again achieved the highest recognition for a museum: accreditation by the American Association of Museums. AAM Accreditation signifies excellence within the museum community. Of the nation's nearly 16,000 museums, only about 750 are currently accredited.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on January 12, 2005 (download PDF).
