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Holy Cross and the Worcester Art Museum team up to bring
fine art into the digital age By
Phyllis Hanlon
 In
the past, students and teachers searching for art-related
information found the task time-consuming and sometimes frustrating.
Visits to a local museum or to the stacks of the nearby library
might prove semi-successful at best and completely unfruitful
at worst. Now with the speed of technology these previously
insurmountable gaps in learning are being closed. Recently,
Holy Cross teamed with the Worcester Art Museum, the area's
foremost cultural institution, to create "Bridges to
Art," an online program that offers an innovative approach
to the ways in which the arts and humanities can be taught,
studied, learned and appreciated.
In 1997, the College and museum entered a partnership on
a relatively small scale when work-study students assisted
the art institution's library in its daily operations. Kathy
Berg, then-librarian and now a museum archivist, and Dr.
James E. Hogan, director of library services at the Dinand
Library, sought an opportunity to take this initial successful
relationship one step further—into the world of high-tech
learning.
According to David Sjosten, the Museum's deputy director
of administration, the College applied for a Davis Educational
Foundation grant, which allowed Holy Cross and the museum
to bring the fine art library collection—a compilation
of 50 centuries of art from around the world assembled over
the last 80 years—up to current library science standards.
Thus was born "Bridges to Art."
During the beginning stages of the project, Berg coordinated
an intensive undertaking; the museum's entire card catalog—some
37,000 records—was converted into electronic form. Upon
completion of this phase, Holy Cross stepped in with its
technological know-how. With plenty of available cyberspace,
the College offered to host the Museum's database on its
library Web site, says Hogan. In addition to the catalog
information, two other critical pieces were included. Approximately
1,700 fully downloadable, graphical images of museum-owned
items, as well as some supplementary records, were placed
online. "Linking images with bibliographic records is
fairly revolutionary," says Hogan. "This is one
of the first, full-fledged scholarly efforts in this area." He
explains that a software program specific to library collections
was used to obtain the desired results.
Faculty, students and patrons of the arts now have access,
not only to a full color image of a piece of artwork, but
also to collateral information relating to that item, Hogan
says. For example, an individual looking for information
on a John Singleton Copley painting can go to the "Bridges
to Art" Web site and type in the artist's name. "Not
only will the person see the image, but he'll also see other
things related to that painting," he says. Supplemental
data could include the painting's place of origin, its size,
medium, composition and any correspondence by, to or about
the artist and the work. Additionally, any available curatorial
documents, conservation reports, cross-cultural references,
books, pamphlets and exhibition materials related to the
piece are displayed.
"Our goal was to create a scholarly tool that students
and faculty can retrieve from a desktop to get a substantial
amount of information on anything held in the museum," says
Hogan. In addition to accessing pieces currently on display,
viewers can see museum items that are in storage.
Jolene de Verges, museum librarian, and Davis Grant, project
coordinator, dub "Bridges to Art" a great research
tool that allows access to color images and much more. According
to de Verges, she and her staff conducted a "complete
subject inventory" of the artwork included. Details,
such as architectural and clothing styles—right down
to lace collars—landscapes, animals, food, lighting,
furniture, flowers, plants and almost every other imaginable
feature of a particular piece have been identified. "This
specificity enhances and enriches the study of art," she
says. "It makes the learning process more dynamic." She
notes that one search opens the door to the complete library
catalogs at Holy Cross and the Worcester Art Museum.
The institutions conducted focus groups in order to create
a title for the project that would clearly convey its intent
to students and teachers alike. "We brainstormed to
come up with a name," says Hogan. "We knew that
the word 'art' had to be in there somewhere." Taking
note of the prevalence of bridges in artwork from French
Impressionist paintings to modern art, the groups decided
to employ that image for the project. Hogan notes that "Bridges
to Art" signifies three significant concepts. "First,
the site is a bridge between the two institutions. It is
also a bridge between scholarly interpretation and the actual
images," he says. "Lastly, it serves as a bridge
between art collections and the greater world. Virtually
anyone can access the information."
So far, all indicators point to overwhelming success, even
at this early stage. Brochures were sent to numerous libraries
as well as to public and private schools to announce the
program, according to Hogan. Response has been even better
than anticipated. "We were hoping people would find
ways to link art to other subjects like history, music and
literature," says Hogan, "but we've had math teachers
call with questions." He notes that teachers in other
disciplines are finding sociological reasons to visit and
use the site. "Teachers are looking at ways to use the
site other than the way we originally intended," says
Hogan.
Additionally, a consultant created a teaching manual that
is being distributed in two forms: as a pdf on the Web and
in print. "There is a lesson plan in the manual that
teachers can use to incorporate Bridges into the classroom," says
Hogan. To date, the manual has received much positive attention
from Holy Cross faculty. In addition, faculty from "Assumption
College and Anna Maria College have discovered this site
on their own and are using it," he says.
An advisory committee comprising Hogan, Joanna E. Ziegler,
associate professor in Holy Cross' visual arts department,
David Brigham, the museum's head curator, Debby Aframe, head
librarian at the museum and James Welu, museum director,
is scheduled to meet in the near future. This group will
assemble periodically and offer recommendations as well as
advice. "The committee will act as a vehicle for opinions
and suggestions from the school's faculty and the museum's
curators," Hogan says.
As Sjosten notes, a "good synergy" has existed
between the museum and Holy Cross from the beginning. Hogan
adds that both parties have developed a strong sense of trust
and collegial respect. "This is a prime example of two
fine institutions coming together on an equal basis," he
says. "We are confident that we'll move down other roads
in the future." For now, the two entities are excited
to be crossing a technologically and cooperatively created
bridge to the arts.
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