Gardner Museum Inc

THE AVA GARDNER MUSEUM WILL CONDUCT A COLLECTIONS STEWARDSHIP AND MANAGEMENT PROJECT. A COLLECTIONS MANAGER AND COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT/ARCHIVIST WILL INVENTORY, PHOTOGRAPH, CATALOG, AND STORE THE COMPLETE COLLECTION OF MORE THAN 20,000 OBJECTS, INCLUDING TEXTILES, ARTWORK, PHOTOGRAPHY, MEDIA, AND OTHER ARTIFACTS. THEY WILL ADDRESS HUMIDITY AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL, HANDLING AND STORAGE OF TEXTILES, AND OTHER ISSUES RELATING TO CARE AND STORAGE OF THE COLLECTION. THE MUSEUM WILL PHOTOGRAPH AND DIGITALLY STORE EACH OBJECT. ONCE THE ENTIRE COLLECTION IS CATALOGUED, SCANNED, AND DIGITIZED, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL UPLOAD THE IMAGES TO USE IN AN EXHIBITION DISPLAY, ALLOWING VISITORS TO ACCESS THEM THROUGH AN INTERACTIVE KIOSK.

THE AVA GARDNER MUSEUM WILL DIGITIZE AND REHOUSE ITS COLLECTION OF OVERSIZED PAPER-BASED MATERIALS INCLUDING FILM POSTERS, LARGE-FORMAT PHOTOGRAPHS, AND SCRAPBOOKS THAT DOCUMENT THE ICONIC FILM LEGEND. THE MUSEUM IDENTIFIED THIS COLLECTION IN NEED OF IMPROVED PRESERVATION AS PART OF A PREVIOUS IMLS INVENTORY AND CATALOGING PROJECT. THIS DIGITIZATION AND REHOUSING PROJECT WILL SUPPORT MUSEUM STAFF TO MANAGE AND OVERSEE THIS IMPROVEMENT AND PURCHASE CAMERA EQUIPMENT, A FLAT-FILE STORAGE CABINET, AND ARCHIVAL SUPPLIES. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL PARTNER WITH THE JOHNSTON COUNTY HERITAGE CENTER TO DIGITIZE A PORTION OF THE COLLECTION USING THEIR LARGE-FORMAT SCANNER. THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT WILL BE IMPROVED PRESERVATION AND ACCESS TO THE COLLECTION THROUGH VIRTUAL EXHIBITIONS AND AN ONLINE CATALOG, BENEFITING RESEARCHERS, FILM HISTORIANS, AND THE PUBLIC.