Since 2004, The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho has collected local artwork and well-known print pieces. Its permanent collection has grown throughout the years and with each rotation of the gallery, not every piece is displayed.
That wasn’t until Maya Peters-Greno, the registrar at the Museum, had an idea.
“I wanted to put the permanent collection online. I wanted to make it accessible to people to support our mission of making the arts more accessible to all,” Peters-Greno said.
The Art Museum relies heavily on funding, with a large portion provided by various grants. Peters-Greno needed funding for the project but wanted to search for foundations that had values similar to the Museum’s.
“The Luce Foundation has similar values and so I applied for one of their ongoing grants and they were happy to help,” Peters-Greno said.
According to its website, the Henry Luce Foundation provided 7,500 grants to the field of Asia studies, interfaith understanding and American art in museums and universities.
Peters-Greno feels that although the online collection provides the community with artwork, it shouldn’t replace going to the museum and witnessing the artwork there in person.
“I don’t think the online permanent collection is meant to replace the permanent collection,” Peters-Greno said. “I think it’s an additional resource we can use.”
She feels that you can’t compare artwork on a screen to in person. Intricate brush strokes, color hues and depth are taken away with photos. The online collection has a few different purposes, but all of them benefit the community.
“Let’s say you want to learn more about artists in the area. Instead of planning a trip to Idaho Falls, if you live in Rexburg or Rigby, or Pocatello or Sugar City, you can go online to decide if this is something you want to spend time with, then take the trip down here,” Peter’s Greno said.
The Art Museum hopes teachers can use the online collection as a resource. The website has lesson plans that educators can use in the classroom. The online collection helps them teach their students.
Peters-Greno also hopes researchers can use this online collection as a tool.
“What I’d like to do is have descriptions and contextual information of that artwork, especially artwork that represents areas in southeast Idaho that don’t exist anymore,” Peters-Greno said.
One example is the old water tower that was demolished last winter. There are art pieces in the museum of that old utility and landmark.
She wants to bridge the gap between researchers and the history of Eastern Idaho.
The permanent online collection is also a tool the museum uses to document all the artwork they hold throughout the building. That includes the pieces held in the climate-controlled storage room.
“Before we did the online permanent collection, we had an Excel spreadsheet that kept track of the permanent collection,” Peters-Greno said.
She says that wasn’t ideal. Now The Art Museum has in-depth documentation of their artwork and it’s available to everyone.
To check out the permanent collection, go to theartmuseum.org.