What’s it like to be a Google Cultural Institution?

The detail shows Jon Nalon at work photographing works from the collection.

Actually, we don’t know the answer to that just yet. If you go to Google Cultural Institution’s website, you will see splendid collections from museums all over the world. Ever since the Museum of Fine Arts was invited last February to join the website, we have been preparing the images and the curated exhibitions that we will upload to our site. The appetite for huge digital images is part of the appeal to web surfers and scholars. To be able to view a work of art with much more precision than you could even see it in person as a visitor is a feature of Google’s new-millennium technology.

Ming Dynasty, Chenghua period (1465-1487) porcelain cup from the Cressman Collection, 1 1/8 inches tall, base diameter 3/4 inch, mouth diameter 2 inches. Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts.

GOOGLE CULTURAL INSTITUTE, founded in 2011, describes its site and operations as a not-for-profit initiative that partners with cultural organizations to bring the world’s cultural heritage online, adding that the Institute staff “build free tools and technologies for the cultural sector to showcase and share its riches,” making the treasuries of culture widely accessible to a global audience. Once MoFA materials are uploaded on the Google website, we will be in magnificent company; other cultural institutions on the site are fabled museums in locations worldwide.

This summer we are selecting works from our Permanent Collection and recent curatorial projects to upload for scholarly analysis and public interest. We’ve worked from the smallest to the largest and have much left to do; we can “curate” exhibitions from the works in our Collection or showcase original exhibitions we have already mounted and published. It’s an exciting venture and the best part is, there’s no limit; the opportunities are endless.

Upcoming Events

Artists’ League Summer Salon – 5/15/15 – 7/2/15

Summer Graduating Artists Exhibition – 7/10/15 -7/29/15

Opening Reception for Summer Graduating Artists – 6-8PM on 7/10/15