Fort Worth, TX, September 19, 2014—The Amon Carter Museum of American Art announces it has been awarded a Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The $150,000 grant supports the Amon Carter’s Connecting to Exhibitions digitization project, a two-year initiative that will create unprecedented access to the museum’s comprehensive exhibition history.

“Our grants are highly competitive,” says Susan H. Hildreth, IMLS director. “The Institute of Museum and Library Services enlists hundreds of library and museum professionals throughout the United States to review grant applications and make recommendations on projects most worthy of funding. Receiving a grant from IMLS is a significant achievement, and we congratulate the Amon Carter for being among the 2014 IMLS museum grantees.”

The project connects the Amon Carter’s collections and exhibitions to the larger field of American art by digitizing records and installation photographs from museum archives. It will repurpose existing digital exhibition records and installation images, and create a web-based resource with cross-referenced collection, exhibition and creator information.

“The tangible result of Connecting to Exhibitions will be a fully searchable, public-access database providing information for more than 650 exhibitions, along with the artworks included in those exhibitions and thousands of related photographs and documents,” says Jana Hill, collection information and imaging manager.

The goal of creating free access to exhibition records is a significant step toward increasing the Amon Carter’s transparency. For example, online visitors will be able not only to view records for several hundred exhibitions, but also see an object’s individual exhibition history and related documents. The information will be a valuable resource in the study of American art, compiling a diverse array of media, concepts and communities.

“This prestigious grant will extend the lifespan of temporary exhibitions so that even the museum’s installations from its inaugural year continue to serve today’s users as a valuable educational resource,” says Andrew J. Walker, director.

A complete list of museum recipients is available on the IMLS website.

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art offers outstanding exhibitions and public programs for adults and children and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday until 8 p.m., and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays and major holidays.