Please accept this update on AMICO activities.  Also, you may read it on the
web at http://www.amico.org/docs/pr.000927.Pafa.Walt.html

Thank you,
Kelly Richmond

AMICO Press Release 
September 27, 2000 

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The Walters Art Gallery Join 
the Art Museum Image Consortium

AMICO Headquarters; Pittsburgh, PA

        The Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) is pleased to welcome The
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The Walters Art Gallery as new
Members. “The continued growth of AMICO through the addition of such
internationally renowned art collections is an essential to our mission of
enabling educational use of museum multimedia,” states Jennifer Trant,
Executive Director of AMICO.  “The fine collections of these two new members
will further contribute to the diversification and enrichment of the AMICO
Library.”
        
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, located in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, is the oldest art museum and school in the United States.  Since
The Academy’s founding in 1805, its importance as an art school and museum has
continually grown.  The Museum collects and exhibits the work of America’s
leading artists as well as distinguished alumni and faculty of its school. From
the paintings of the museum's founder, Charles Wilson Peale, to the works of
modern and contemporary artists, such as Richard Diebenkorn and Frank Stella,
the Academy presents an outstanding overview of American art.  Derek A.
Gillman, The Edna S. Tuttleman Director and Provost of the Pennsylvania Academy
of the Fine Arts, observes "our historical commitment to studio instruction, as
well as to the creation of a great collection, meshes well with the educational
focus of AMICO. As we approach our third century of existence, we intend to
play a role as both a provider and a consumer of digital multimedia resources."

        
The Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland boasts a comprehensive
collection of art ranging from the third millennium B.C. to the early 20th
century.  Considered to be one of the best privately arranged museums in the
nation, The Walters contains over 30,000 works of art, including ancient art of
Egypt, Greece and Rome, prehistoric armor and weapons, as well as Old Master
paintings and 19th-century decorative arts.  In addition, the Museum is well
known for its work in conservation research and education.  As Gary Vikan,
Director of The Walters Art Gallery notes, “promoting art education and the
enjoyment of art is fundamental to The Walters mission and so joining AMICO was
a natural step for us.”

The AMICO Library makes multimedia documentation of works from the collections
of leading museums across North America available to universities, colleges,
schools, and public libraries.  The 2000-2001 edition of the AMICO Library
documents over 65,000 different works of art, from prehistoric goddess figures
to contemporary installations.  More than simply an image database, works in
the AMICO Library are fully documented and may also include curatorial text
about the artwork, detailed provenance information, multiple views of the work
itself, and other related multimedia.  As Jennifer Trant, AMICO Executive
Director, notes, “subscribers find the AMICO Library valuable because it
combines the immediacy and accessibility of the Web with the persistence and
academic weight of traditional library reference sources.”

The AMICO Library is accessible over secure networks to institutional
subscribers including universities, colleges, libraries, schools, and museums,
and is now licensed to over 2 million users, including faculty, students,
teachers, staff, and researchers.  Educational institutions may subscribe to
the AMICO Library by contacting one of its distributors.  These include the
Research Libraries Group (RLG) and the Ohio Library and Information Network
(OhioLINK).  A subscription to the AMICO Library provides a license to use
works for a broad range of educational purposes.  Potential subscribers may
preview a Thumbnail Catalog of the AMICO Library and get further information at
http://www.amico.org.

The AMICO Library is a product of the Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO), an
independent non-profit corporation, with 501 (c) 3 designation from the IRS. 
Formed in 1997, the Consortium is today made up of over 30 major museums.  It’s
an innovative collaboration  not seen before in museums  that shares, shapes,
and standardizes digital information regarding museum collections and enables
its educational use.

Current List of AMICO Members
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Institute of Chicago
Asia Society Gallery
Center for Creative Photography
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
Cleveland Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College
Denver Art Museum
Detroit Institute of Arts
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Frick Collection and Art Reference Library
George Eastman House
J. Paul Getty Museum
The Library of Congress
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Gallery of Canada
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Philadelphia Museum of Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Jose Museum of Art
Smithsonian American Art Museum 
Walker Art Center
The Walters Art Gallery 
Whitney Museum of American Art
Contact Information:AMICO                               
Jennifer Trant, Executive Director
Art Museum Image Consortium                     Phone (412) 422 8533    
2008 Murray Avenue, Suite D                     Fax (412) 422 8594
Pittsburgh, PA 15217                            Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.amico.org


-------------------------
Kelly Richmond
Communications Director
Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO)
2008 Murray Ave, Suite D
Pittsburgh, PA  15217  USA
phone: +1 412 422 8533
fax: +1 412 422 8594
http://www.amico.org
[log in to unmask]
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