Grant from the Antinori Foundation launched Georgia’s art history on a digital platform
In January of 2015, MOCA GA received an exciting grant from Susan and Ron Antinori to accomplish a major goal—to process and launch Georgia’s contemporary artists on a digital, web-based platform. This goal stems from one of the major tenants of MOCA GA’s mission, which is to preserve the history of the artists and arts organizations in the state. Since its founding in 2000, MOCA GA has been collecting archives that document this history and now houses a treasure trove of hundreds of gigabytes of digital archives, and over 400 linear feet of physical materials available for research and study by students, scholars, and the community. The Museum has long seen the need to digitize this array of information in order to increase accessibility and remain on par with what scholars and researchers expect—a web-based, searchable database. Our goal is to share the wealth and scope of information available from MOCA GA to researchers around the world through both archival finding aids and digital images.
Over the past year, MOCA GA has been working with the Antinori Foundation to improve its technology infrastructure to a level that will allow this wealth of knowledge to be accessed and visible online. This includes a newly designed website and logo, designed by ArmChair Media, which is scalable and allows MOCA GA to continue to grow and evolve as a web presence and platform for local artists. The new logo is bolder and surer, declaring to the local and web-based community that the contemporary arts in Georgia are progressive, forward-thinking, and deserving of scholarly attention. The Museum’s mission has not changed, but a new visual presence will strengthen the community’s understanding of its goals and increase recognition of the services it provides for artists and the public.
With the infrastructure of this new website, MOCA GA’s permanent collection and archives will eventually all be available for research. Included in these collections are a complete archive of painter, Herbert Lee Creecy, Jr. donated by his estate, a complete group of the publications created by NEXUS Press, the archives of prominent art critic, Jerry Cullum, donated by the author, and numerous other collections that are detailed on this site. In the coming months, Collections & Exhibitions Manager (as well as trained Archivist) Stacey Savatsky will continue to work closely with a team of interns and volunteers, to process and digitize this wealth of information for future publication online.
In addition to publicizing the archives that are preserved on-site at MOCA GA, the Working Artist Project (WAP) section of this website will be dedicated to archiving the ongoing careers of the WAP Fellows at MOCA GA. Since 2007, MOCA GA has awarded 3 artists each year with a stipend and solo exhibition at the Museum through the Working Artist Project. Now, each of the 24 past WAP Fellows will have a dedicated space on the MOCA GA website to update viewers about new work, honors they receive, upcoming exhibitions, and the progression of their careers. Viewers will have the ability to stay up to date on their favorite artists and the careers of these Georgia talents will be archived on the MOCA GA website for the future. MOCA GA will also be able to create similar pages for artists from the permanent collection and rotating exhibitions, ensuring that visitors to the website can learn as much information as possible about the artists working in Georgia.
All of these exciting changes would not have been possible without the support of the Antinori Foundation and the wonderful creative team at ArmChair Media.
Annette Cone-Skelton, Director/CEO at MOCA GA stated,
We are sincerely grateful and indebted to the Antinori’s for making our vision a reality. The technology updates made possible through the grant will allow MOCA GA to continue to grow as an online platform, bringing increased global visibility to the talented artists working in our state as well as the art history of the past.