AMICO Press Release

September 27, 2000
AMICO Headquarters; Pittsburgh, PA

The Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) is pleased to welcome The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The Walters Art Gallery as new Members. "The continued growth of AMICO through the addition of such internationally renowned art collections is an essential to our mission of enabling educational use of museum multimedia," states Jennifer Trant, Executive Director of AMICO. "The fine collections of these two new members will further contribute to the diversification and enrichment of the AMICO Library."

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. Since The Academy's founding in 1805, its importance as an art school and museum has continually grown. The Museum collects and exhibits the work of America's leading artists as well as distinguished alumni and faculty of its school. From the paintings of the museum's founder, Charles Wilson Peale, to the works of modern and contemporary artists, such as Richard Diebenkorn and Frank Stella, the Academy presents an outstanding overview of American art. Derek A. Gillman, The Edna S. Tuttleman Director and Provost of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, observes "our historical commitment to studio instruction, as well as to the creation of a great collection, meshes well with the educational focus of AMICO. As we approach our third century of existence, we intend to play a role as both a provider and a consumer of digital multimedia resources."

The Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland boasts a comprehensive collection of art ranging from the third millennium B.C. to the early 20th century. Considered to be one of the best privately arranged museums in the nation, The Walters contains over 30,000 works of art, including ancient art of Egypt, Greece and Rome, prehistoric armor and weapons, as well as Old Master paintings and 19th-century decorative arts. In addition, the Museum is well known for its work in conservation research and education. As Gary Vikan, Director of The Walters Art Gallery notes, "promoting art education and the enjoyment of art is fundamental to The Walters mission and so joining AMICO was a natural step for us."

The AMICO Library makes multimedia documentation of works from the collections of leading museums across North America available to universities, colleges, schools, and public libraries. The 2000-2001 edition of the AMICO Library documents over 65,000 different works of art, from prehistoric goddess figures to contemporary installations. More than simply an image database, works in the AMICO Library are fully documented and may also include curatorial text about the artwork, detailed provenance information, multiple views of the work itself, and other related multimedia. As Jennifer Trant, AMICO Executive Director, notes, "subscribers find the AMICO Library valuable because it combines the immediacy and accessibility of the Web with the persistence and academic weight of traditional library reference sources."

The AMICO Library is accessible over secure networks to institutional subscribers including universities, colleges, libraries, schools, and museums, and is now licensed to over 2 million users, including faculty, students, teachers, staff, and researchers. Educational institutions may subscribe to the AMICO Library by contacting one of its distributors. These include the Research Libraries Group (RLG) and the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK). A subscription to the AMICO Library provides a license to use works for a broad range of educational purposes. Potential subscribers may preview a Thumbnail Catalog of the AMICO Library and get further information at http://www.amico.org.

The AMICO Library is a product of the Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO), an independent non-profit corporation, with 501 (c) 3 designation from the IRS. Formed in 1997, the Consortium is today made up of over 30 major museums. It's an innovative collaboration - not seen before in museums - that shares, shapes, and standardizes digital information regarding museum collections and enables its educational use.

Current AMICO Members

Albright-Knox Art Gallery Art Gallery of Ontario Art Institute of Chicago Asia Society Gallery Center for Creative Photography Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute Cleveland Museum of Art Dallas Museum of Art Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College Denver Art Museum Detroit Institute of Arts Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Frick Collection and Art Reference Library George Eastman House J. Paul Getty Museum

The Library of Congress Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art Minneapolis Institute of Arts MontrZ˙al Museum of Fine Arts MusZ˙e d'art contemporain de MontrZ˙al Museum of Fine Arts, Boston National Gallery of Canada Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia Museum of Art San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art San Francisco Museum of Modern Art San Jose Museum of Art Smithsonian American Art Museum Walker Art Center The Walters Art Gallery Whitney Museum of American Art

AMICO Jennifer Trant Executive Director Art Museum Image Consortium 2008 Murray Avenue, Suite D Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Phone (412) 422 8533 Fax (412) 422 8594 Email: jtrant@amico.org http://www.amico.org