The Visual Resources Association Foundation is delighted to announce a second year of funding from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in support of its regional workshop program. Following the success of the pilot program’s first year, this grant will support several workshops organized by the VRAF and host institutions, to be held later in 2016 and in early 2017. The Kress Foundation’s generous funding will also greatly assist with the VRAF’s ultimate goal of making this program self-sustaining.

The VRAF regional workshop program provides an immersive experience on single topics, framed in a manner that is relevant to image management professionals, image users, and the broader information community. Two workshops were held in 2016: “Exhibit, Instruct, Promote: An Introduction to Omeka for Digital Scholarship” at Hunter College, City University of New York and “Learning to Look, Looking to Learn: A Workshop on Visual Literacy” at University of California, Berkeley.

To continue to improve and expand the program, the VRAF has convened a regional workshops working group that includes VRAF Directors Betha Whitlow, Steven Kowalik, and Ian McDermott; Anna Bernhard, Director, Stanley G. Wold Visual Resource Center and Library, Colorado State University; Maureen Burns, IMAGinED Consultant; Marlene Gordon, Visual Resources Curator at University of Michigan, Dearborn; and Shyam Oberoi, Director of Technology and Digital Media, Dallas Museum of Art. This diverse group is dedicated to ensuring that the regional workshops provide a high-quality and stimulating educational experience in the management of images and cultural heritage information, while reaching its broadest possible audience.

The Kress grant programs support scholarly projects that promote the appreciation, interpretation, preservation, study and teaching of European Art from antiquity to the early 19th century. We are grateful to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for their generous support of this important new opportunity.

For more information about the Visual Resources Association Foundation, and its mission, projects, and giving opportunities, please visit us at: www.vrafoundation.org.