Coronavirus emergency relief to retain humanities staff [the proposed project will provide emergency relief to the applicant to enable IT to maintain and hire humanities positions that are in jeopardy…

The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a $230,269 Project Grant to the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens Trust Inc. under the Promotion of the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access program (CFDA 45.149). The funding will support the museum in retaining six staff members and hiring an additional curator from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023 to preserve archival records and collections related to James Deering and his estate. Key activities include ongoing cataloging, digitization, and interpretation of archival and collections materials. Specifically, staff will create finding aids for existing collections, digitize and develop metadata for 2,400 pieces of correspondence and financial records, photograph 260 collection objects, and conduct conservation treatment on four objects. The funding is also intended to support one public program and publishing at least ten web or video stories. No subawards are planned. The intended outcomes align with the museum's mission and will benefit an estimated 300,000 annual onsite visitors and over 74,000 monthly website visitors through improved access to research materials and collections.

Activities

  museum staff will & nbsp; participate in the ongoing cataloging, digitizing and interpretation of archival and collections information.  this will include creating & nbsp; finding aids of existing collections; digitizing and creating metadata for & nbsp; historic & nbsp; correspondence & nbsp; and financial records; cleaning and photographing objects; and publishing web content.    &nbsp

Expected outcomes

  the processing and digitization of collection items will result in & nbsp; digitizing & nbsp;2,400 pieces of correspondence and financial records,  creating & nbsp;16 finding aids, photographing 260 collections objects,  conducting & nbsp; conservation treatment of at least four objects in the main house courtyard or decorated room,  developing & nbsp; one public program, and publishing & nbsp; at least 10 web or video stories. Altogether the collections would further & nbsp; the & nbsp; museum's mission to support research and public programming in art history, architecture, and the labor and social history of miami, florida.&nbsp

Intended beneficiaries

  the ongoing collections care and archival digitization efforts will reach the museum's diverse audiences of researchers, students, and the public represented by approximately 300,000 visitors annually, 74,000 monthly visitors to the website, 45,000 email subscribers, and more than 61,000 social media followers.&nbsp

Subrecipient activities

  the recipient does not intend to subaward funds. ]