Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Airborne


Flying on Facebook - a cartoon by F. Lennox Campello c.2009

Heading to Miami to see my mother...

Last Friday the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) launched a new eMuseum that makes the District's fine art and public art collections available to the public in digital format for the first time.
 
The site will catalogue more than 2,800 pieces of the District's Art Bank fine arts collection, as well as public artworks commissioned by the DC government. Users will be able to search by different criteria, including artist name, media and year of creation.
 
"Using technology in this way allows us to make these artworks accessible to a larger group of the population," said Arthur Espinoza, Jr., Executive Director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. "The District has acquired an impressive collection of works by local artists over many years, and we want to make sure that our residents and visitors have the opportunity to see and engage these pieces."
 
The new site is part of innoMAYtion, Mayor Muriel Bowser's month-long initiative that showcases DC's innovation ecosystem.
 
The Art Bank is the District's fine art collection, managed by DCCAH. Each year, DCCAH takes submissions from local artists to be included in the collection. Submissions are reviewed by an independent panel that makes purchase recommendations. The artworks are then displayed in public areas of District government buildings.
 
Currently, 40% of the collection is available to view online. The total collection will be online by the end of 2016. Public artworks commissioned by the District will also be viewable online.
 
Visitors to the site will have the option to register for a free account to save their favorite works, as well as share artworks on social media networks.
 
For more information, visit: www.dcarts.dc.gov.