“Cities” the theme for 2013 ARTstor Travel Awards

Each year ARTstor sponsors travel awards that provide $1,500 in funds for recipients to visit and photograph a site.  All UCSB instructors, students, and  librarians are eligible, as UCSB is an ARTstor-subscribing institution.  Read the application rules here – deadline for entries is May 17.    Good luck!

UPDATE: ARTstor images now delivered via zip files

Last month we reported that ARTstor was working to eliminate the need for Java to download single images from the Digital Library. This went into effect yesterday.  This change has advantages (no longer the need for seemingly-endless Java updates) and disadvantages (an extra step with your downloads and knowing how to unzip the file).  Visit ARTstor’s announcement for more information and recommendations or download the step-by-step guide (pdf).

ARTstor to add thousands of works by contemporary artists

Good news: ARTstor announced a new Online Art Agreement (OLA) has been signed with Artists Rights Society (ARS) on behalf of six international affiliates. This will translate into the addition of more than 10,000 modern and contemporary artists from Australia, Canada, Austria, Finland, Mexico and Brazil. No word yet on when this will happen, so stay tuned!

ARTstor mobile for Android, iPhone and iPad

You can now access the entire ARTstor library of over 1.4 million images anywhere you get internet service through your Apple or Android mobile device.Which means you can use that time in the supermarket line much more productively.

via the ARTstor blog

Now in ARTstor: Major works from Guggenheim’s permanent collection

ARTstor announced an addition of more than 750 images from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s permanent collections in New York, Bilbao, Venice, and Berlin. This is the first installment of a projected 7,000 total images from the Guggenheim Foundation, which will include not only works of art but also 5,000 installation views from the 1990s to the present from the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Frick Art Library Photoarchive digitization project

The Frick Art Reference Library is continually expanding the online profile of its Photoarchive — a study collection of more than one million photographs and other reproductions. While they are actively seeking digital images from museums and independent researchers, the Photoarchive has contributed almost 25,000 digital images to ARTstor.

New image downloading requirement for ARTstor users

As of August 22, all ARTstor users are required to log in before downloading images.  In the past, users in the IP address range of licensing institutions could download images without registering or logging in, but ARTstor has added this new restriction.  So, even if you’re at a campus computer, you will be faced with this small extra step when you try to download.

Most recent additions to ARTstor

These collections have been added to ARTstor’s Digital Library:

• Contemporary Architecture, Urban Design, and Public Art (ART on FILE Collection): 1,000 of contemporary architecture in Shanghai, including the Expo 2010 Shanghai (this last installment completes the total 13,033 images from ART on FILE)
• Smith College Museum of Art: 1,000 images of works from the museum’s permanent collection (33% of the 3,000 total that will be available)
• Dura Europos and Gerasa Archives (Yale University Art Gallery): 18,205 images of historical documentation of both expeditions as well as the artifacts and structures they uncovered
• Robert Winter Archive (Occidental College): 2,500 images of architecture and sites the architectural historian took throughout California for over 40 years
• Beverly Willis: 57 images of the work by the architect, artist, and author

Also, ARTstor is now collaborating with Rhizome to share approximately 3,000 images from the Rhizome ArtBase, an online archive of new media art.

Middle Eastern image resources on ARTstor

One of the ways ARTstor helps users find material relevant to their teaching or research is through their subject guides.  They have just published an excellent user guide on finding materials relevant to Middle East studies, covering the whole geographic/social/cultural region.  In addition to objects from museums and archives, the rich holdings include contemporary and historic photographs of archaeological sites, people, architecture, and events.

Latest images and agreements from ARTstor

ARTstor’s Digital Library now has these collections available:

• Shangri La, Honolulu, Hawaii (Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art): 400 images of Islamic and South Asian art from the collection at Shangri La, the former home of Doris Duke (1912-1993) [1/2 of the projected 800]
• Yao Ceremonial Artifacts Collection (Ohio University): 3,714 art works and objects created by the Yao people, an ethnic minority from northern Vietnam
• Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South (Library of Congress): 6,884 documentary photographs taken between 1933 and1940 by Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) of buildings and gardens throughout nine Southern states
• Contemporary Art (Franklin Furnace): 3,345 images and documentation of ephemera and events presented and produced by this renowned venue [2/3 of the 5,000 expected total]
• The Warburg Institute: 10,157 images of Renaissance and Baroque book illustrations from the Warburg Institute Library

ARTstor also anticipates additional images from these contributors:

• Columbia University: Architectural photography from Chicago and more than 150 QTVRs of architecture in Chicago and Peru
• Pre-Columbian Artifacts (Justin Kerr and Barbara Kerr): Still and rollout photographs of objects from the various cultures of Mesoamerica
• Via Lucis: High-resolution images of medieval Christian churches in France and Spain