Virginia Museum of Fine Arts - NEH CARES Act

FAIN: GA-274904-20

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, VA 23220-4007)
Celeste Fetta (Project Director: May 2020 to October 2022)

The retention of eighteen employees to develop and produce digital content for distance learning programs.

VMFA requests funding from the NEH CARES: Cultural Organizations program to support 6.5 months of funding for the museum as it works to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Funding from the NEH will serve to support the museum’s capacity to deliver digital content to its members, donors, and the general public while the museum is closed, and to prepare new digital content for future needs – both for strategic communications purposes and in case of re-closure due to the reemergence of the virus. VMFA will pursue several strategies to sustain engagement with the public through digital resources tailored for a variety of audiences. Examples of digital content being created include: guided, online explorations of VMFA’s permanent collection, weekly emails providing educational resources and content featuring humanities themes, online art history classes, Zoom meetings with curators, etc. Funds will be used to retain 19 staff critical to delivering digital content and to rehire one position.