The University Art Museum vault collections are now accessible through a new kiosk system, which allows the public to view and comment on a variety of art pieces either online from a personal computer or from the on site kiosk.
This new collections kiosk, which launched in February, contains works from various artists, such as Tina Barney, Ruth Bernhard, Walton Ford, Michael Goldberg, Candida Hofer, Bob Knox, Lee Krasner, Martha Rosler, Andy Warhol and Emerson Woelffer.
The collections kiosk was created to allow access to art that the University Art Museum (UAM) owns, but is “literally behind closed doors” in the UAM’s vault, according to Amanda Fruta, UAM spokesperson.
Fruta also said the kiosk will facilitate communication with the comment feature added to each piece.
“This website differs from others, because users are able to create community portfolios, and leave comments on all the artwork,” she said. “It really creates a social experience.”
The collections kiosk will be constantly updated with new art the UAM acquires, and can be viewed on the UAM’s website by clicking the collections tab, and scrolling to the “Collections Online” option.
The online database is meant to create awareness of the UAM’s collection to anyone that wishes to view it.
“The University Art Museum web collections kiosk provides a unique opportunity for our students and general public alike the chance to mine the museums holdings,” Chris Scoates, UAM director, said in a press release. “Due to the museum’s limited physical space, we can only exhibit a small fraction of our objects, but our new online kiosk allows visitors to search the entire collection with just a few key strokes.”
Sophomore art major, Thomesina Shaw said the collection kiosk is a step in the right direction.
“It is important for things to be translated to digital form, because that’s the direction society is going,” she said. “As a college student, anything that saves time and money is always a good thing.”
Kimberly Phou a junior studio art major said she is interested in seeing the new art that makes it on to the kiosk over time.
“I feel like it is beneficial to art students because we are always learning about new techniques, and it’s a new outlet to sample from.”
The kiosk contains nine collections, with over 1,100 pieces to view. The collections that are available are drawing, Long Beach photography, photography, recent acquisitions, Warhol foundation photographic legacy program, painting, printmaking, sculpture and the Gordon F. Hampton collection.