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Introduction

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Exploring American Art: An Online Resource for the American Collections

Since it first opened to the public in 1929, the Currier Museum of Art has maintained a special focus on American art.  Astute purchases and gifts have enlarged the collections over the course of eight decades, and today they include masterworks by some of the country's most important artists and craftspeople.  Ranging from the work of seventeenth-century Boston silversmith John Coney to the latest expressions of contemporary art, the breadth of the collections is as impressive as their quality.

Although many of the featured objects have been chosen for their aesthetic merit, a significant number have been included on the basis of their value as historical and cultural artifacts.  In keeping with the museum's mission, the arts of New England and New Hampshire have also been emphasized.  As part of the Currier's ongoing effort to make its collections more accessible to the public, many of the featured objects have been presented here for the first time in any format.

Contributors to Currier American Collections Online include the authors of the original catalogue:  Karen Blanchfield, John H. Dryfhout, William N. Hosley, and Carol Troyen.  All other entries were researched and written by V. Scott Dimond under the provision of generous grants from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  Additional commentary on the Zimmerman House and its furnishings was provided by Hetty Startup of the Currier Museum of Art.

The museum has also developed an Online Curriculum for Educators funded by The Institute of Museum and Library Services, Washington, DC.  This program  utilizes much of the material presented in the Currier American Collections Online and was adapted to help teachers use art to meet both New Hampshire and national education standards.  The curriculum portion of the project focused on using visual literacy, critical thinking, and cross-curricular connections to address four themes in the Museum's American collections:  portraiture, landscape, New Hampshire artists and New Hampshire artists' colonies. Please visit the Online Curriculum for Educators http://curriculum.currier.org/ .

Exploring American Art and Online Curriculum for Educators are part of a larger, ongoing project designed to catalogue and publish the fine arts collection in a digital format.  The project was begun in 2000 with a major grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, Inc., New York.  Additional funders that have supported the project are Samuel P. Hunt Foundation, Manchester, NH, Putnam Foundation, Keene, NH, Verizon Foundation, Manchester, NH, and The Badger Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Concord, NH.