art and technology

Open Access Initiatives & Its Impact on the Art World

Open Access Initiatives & Its Impact on the Art World

According to the Western Museum Association, Open Access refers to efforts made by museums to provide high-resolution downloadable images free of charge to maximize the ability of the user to interact with, share, and reuse the images. In 2018, Douglas McCarthy, Collections Engagement Manager at Europeana, and Dr. Andrea Wallace, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Exeter, set out to see how many cultural heritage institutions make their digital collections available for free use, as well as how they do it. The pair created a Google Sheet survey that has listed over 1,200 international institutions, including Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums. Over one-third of these records name specific Museums. While Open Access encompasses numerous industries, this article focuses Open Access technology and usage in the context of Museums and Artists.

An Introduction to RFID Technology

An Introduction to RFID Technology

Radio Frequency identification technology (RFID) is nothing new, and many museums are already using it for inventory and security of their pieces. If organizations already have the technology, there are boundless opportunities as to how they can use it to increase efficiency and enhance the visitor’s experience. But how does this new technology work?

Intro to Beacons for Arts Managers

Intro to Beacons for Arts Managers

Connecting the real and digital worlds, beacons will prove to be excellent pieces not only for marketing and general propaganda about your specific location, but as informational tools in your local museum or performing arts company. Beacons focus on the consumer, the integral part to any organization regardless of industry. So far, beacons are most common in the retail world, but they can easily be transferable into other industries, like the arts. That’s why you’re here today. Beacons could transform your organization, and I’m here to navigate you through this process in an understandable way.

STEAM Learning at the Carnegie Science Center

STEAM Learning at the Carnegie Science Center

Moving the conversation around public education from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) has long beleaguered arts managers and arts educators alike.  Defending the argument for arts programming and arts education can be difficult in the face of shrinking school budgets and a highly competitive grant environment.  Particularly in a country that increasingly favors the hard sciences above the humanities, cultural pursuits, and artistic studies.  Despite gains at the federal level with the new core arts standards, the STEAM caucus, and the first budget increase for the National Endowment for the Arts in years, it is still easy to feel defeated.  The question remains, what can arts leaders and community organizers do at the local level to push the conversation in a positive direction?