university of louisiana at lafayette · budget proposal 1. equipment $ 21,370.26 2. software $...
TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
AT LAFAYETTE
STEP Committee
Technology Fee Application
Digitization Studio & Research Station Title
Jolie Johnson, Development Mgr Name of Submitter (Faculty or Staff Only)
Hilliard University Art Museum Organization
Title: Digitization Studio & Research Station Date: 01/14/2019
Name (Contact Person): Jolie Johnson
Address: 710 East Saint Mary Boulevard
Phone Number: 337-482-6060 Email: [email protected]
Department/College/Org: Hilliard University Art Museum
ABSTRACT (250 words or less):
As an academic art institution, research and education are the cornerstones of the Hilliard University Art
Museum. The museum presents approximately 12 exhibitions per year alongside an annual average of
40 programs that range from artist talks and curator tours to film screenings and more. No matter what
our staff and facility capacities are, they will always be outstripped by the sheer size of the museum’s
permanent collection; it is not possible to exhibit all 2,100+ objects in a coherent manner that would
make them accessible to students and faculty. In an effort to increase student utilization of and access to
our collections and resources, HUAM would like to digitize its permanent collection and seeks STEP
funding for the equipment, software and supplies needed to create an in-house digitization studio, and a
research station. The museum’s permanent collection contains over 150 photographic works by Andy
Warhol, over 150 works by Henry Botkin, a collection of Japanese woodblock prints, as well as works
by William Moreland, George Rodrigue, Hunt Slonem, Francis Pavy, Lynda Frese, William Tolliver, and
many more. While digitization is a major project to take on, the HUAM projects that the total effort will
take approximately 5 years; a weekly objective of 12 artworks has been set in order to meet this goal.
Budget Proposal
1. Equipment $ 21,370.26
2. Software $ 6,225
3. Supplies $ 4,295.36
4. Maintenance $ 0
5. Personnel $ 0
6. Other $ 0
TOTAL: $ 31,890.62
UL STEP Grant
Hilliard Museum
A) Purpose of project and impact to student body
As an academic art institution, research and education are the cornerstones of the Hilliard
University Art Museum (HUAM). Each semester HUAM strives to offer a stimulating exhibition
schedule that facilitates new approaches to the study and appreciation of art. However, like many
cultural institutions, the scope of what the museum can exhibit is limited by both physical space
and manpower. As a result, the majority of the 2,100+ art objects in HUAM’s permanent
collection, many of which represent opportunities for students to produce and present original
scholarship, sit in storage where they are neither discoverable nor accessible.
In an effort to increase student utilization of and access to our collections and resources, HUAM
would like to digitize its permanent collection, making it available online. Students can then
browse the collection, identify artworks for their study and make appointments at the museum to
inspect the work in person. We are requesting STEP funding for the equipment, software and
supplies needed to create an in-house digitization studio, and a research station, where students
can have (monitored and controlled) access to objects from the collection. While digitization is a
major project to take on, the HUAM projects that the total effort will take approximately 5 years.
The curatorial team has set a weekly objective of 12 artworks in order to meet this goal.
While the museum is not a traditional department and does not offer academic courses, it is our
mission to serve the students, faculty, and staff of UL Lafayette. It is in service to that mission
that HUAM seeks this technology enhancement.
HUAM’s extensive permanent collection consists of over 2,100 works of art by more than 550
regional, national, and internationally known artists. Significant holdings include:
The Henry Botkin Collection: Consisting of 150 works in oil, pastel, and collage
produced by the artist from the 1930s through the 1960s, it is considered one of the most
important single collections held at the Hilliard.
Marais Press Collection: A unique collection of over 200 prints, representing work from
more than 150 UL Lafayette teaching/visiting printmaking artists over the past 20+ years.
Andy Warhol Collection: In 2008, The Andy Warhol Foundation donated 150
photographs by artist Andy Warhol as part of an Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy
Program.
Jacqueline Heymann Cohn Japanese Print Collection: A collection of Japanese
woodblock prints illustrating the changes in Japanese society from the late 19th to the
early 20th century.
Ambassador Caffrey Egyptian Collection: Includes objects from the Fourth (2613-
2494 B.C.), 19th (1292-1189 B.C.), and 26th (664-525 B.C.) Egyptian dynasties.
Painting and Sculpture Collection: A growing collection of primarily American and
European art, featuring work in diverse media, ranging from the 18th through 21st
centuries.
The Sylvia and Warren Lowe Collection of American Vernacular Art: Folk Art, also
called self-taught or vernacular art, is created by people with no formal training in the
visual arts.
UL STEP Grant
Hilliard Museum
Photography Collection: This collection includes work by more than 100
photographers, including Louisiana artists such as Debbie Fleming Caffery, Dickie
Landry, A.J. Meek, Philip Gould.
The Louisiana Collection: This collection includes 19th-21st century paintings,
drawings, prints, photographs, and sculpture by artists who are native or have a close
affiliation to Louisiana. Artists include John McCrady, William Moreland, Elemore
Morgan, Jr., George Rodrigue, Hunt Slonem, Margaret Evangeline, Cora Kelly Ward,
Clyde Connell, and local artists such as Shawne Major, Troy Dugas, Francis Pavy, Lynda
Frese, Dennis Paul Williams, Chestee Herrington, William Tolliver, among many others.
Although the museum has a natural connection with the College of Arts, the digitization of
HUAM’s permanent collection will create a resource that serves the entire student body, not just
one department or college, as its collection offers routes of study with multiple points of
interpretation for students in a variety of fields, including but not limited to anthropology,
sociology, archeology, history, political science, regional studies, and the visual arts. This project
will serve students by enabling university faculty to more efficiently utilize
HUAM’s collection in their curriculum, further enhancing interdisciplinary learning. It will also
increase the university’s standing as a research institution, which will in turn assist in recruiting
academic talent (both students and faculty) in search of untapped research opportunities.
Not only will this project’s end product positively impact students, the museum is committed to
utilizing the digitization process to provide meaningful, long-term, paid job training for students
interested in pursuing careers in the museum field. To that end, in the coming year HUAM will
be submitting grant applications to the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the
National Endowment for the Arts to secure federal funding for undergraduate and graduate
work-study appointments for this multi-year project. Additionally, UL Lafayette History
Professors Dr. Liz Skelton and Dr. Chad Parker, as well as other faculty from the university’s
Public History program and the College of the Arts, will provide assistance in identifying
students who would benefit from hands-on experience in a museum setting. Using the equipment
and software purchased with STEP funds, these students will assist in digitizing the museum’s
collection while also learning how to properly handle, photograph, and catalogue art.
The first student worker associated with the digitization project, Annabelle Smith, will start work
as a graduate assistant at beginning of the Spring 2019 semester. Working under the supervision
of Misty Taylor, Collections & Exhibitions Manager, Ms. Smith will have an integral role in
developing the digitization plan, and in completing and inputting collection research related to
the digitization process.
The museum’s approach to digitization of its collection will be holistic and visually engaging,
going beyond static photography with rote descriptions. Using equipment and software
purchased with STEP funds, and with the assistance of student workers, HUAM will develop and
produce a wide variety of interpretive content, including video, audio, and other narrative
resources (including insights into collection objects from multiple perspectives, such as those of
curators, donors, faculty from a wide range of disciplines, and artists) for access, reuse, and
preservation. All video and audio material will be transcribed to ensure access for students with
audio/visual disabilities, a job which will provide another opportunity for student workers to gain
UL STEP Grant
Hilliard Museum
hands-on experience working with the state-of-the-art software, providing meaningful skills that
will assist them as they enter the job market.
Some cultural institutions, such as libraries or archives, can easily outsource digitization projects,
for art museums—whose collections consist of a multitude of delicate objects that require tightly
controlled environmental standards (such as light, temperature and humidity) and specialized
handling protocols—in-house digitization is the industry standard. By constructing the
digitization studio and research station directly next to collection storage, HUAM will be
adhering to the highest of museum standards in regards to responsible collection stewardship.
The digitization of the HUAM collection, housed on the second floor of the museum and not
accessible to the public, will vastly increase the student body’s ability to locate objects contained
therein for research and original scholarship. In some instances, students will require physical
access to artworks in order to properly examine the details related to their research. The museum
currently lacks a safe and streamlined environment to accommodate this request. The creation of
a research station next to the collection storage would provide students with intimate access to
objects that are not on display in the galleries, facilitating research as well as self-directed
teaching and learning with minimal intrusion or risk to the work of art itself. A rendering of the
proposed digitization studio and research station is attached as Appendix A.
While the creation of the research station itself will
be relatively simple and cost effective, it will
necessitate the relocation of large display cases (as
pictured), as well as other miscellaneous
exhibition-related furniture, currently stored in the
proposed digitization studio and research station
location. Therefore, the purchase of warehouse
shelving is included in our budget so the museum
staff may relocate cases and furniture to the first
floor receiving bay.
B) Projected Lifetime of Enhancement
The equipment, software and supplies requested in this grant have varying service lives of 3-20+
years.
Camera, Lens 6-10 years
Tripod 15+ years
Copy stand & Table 15+ years
Studio Lights 8-10 years
GoPro 5 years
Laptop, Audio Recorder 5 years
Software Subscription plans, infinite lifetime
Chair, Laptop stand 5 years
Desk, Table & Shelving, Ladder 15+ years
UL STEP Grant
Hilliard Museum
C) Persons responsible for Implementation, Installation, Maintenance, Operation &
Training
HUAM Collections & Exhibitions Manager Misty Taylor and Curator Benjamin Hickey will be
responsible for Implementation, Installation, Maintenance, Operation and Training of the
requested equipment, software and supplies, which will be safely housed in the secure staff
section on the second floor of the museum.
D) Budget Proposal & Justification:
Equipment
Item Quantity Source Amount Lifetime
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 1 B&H $2,899.00 6-10 years
24-105mm f/4L II Lens 1 B&H $1,099.00 6-10 years
Manfrotto Befree Advanced
Travel Aluminum Tripod 1 B&H $189.88 15+ years
Kaiser RSP Xtra Copy Stand 1 B&H $10,666.50 15+ years
Kaiser Copy Stand Table 1 B&H $1,999.00 15+ years
Kaiser RB 5004 High
Frequency ("HF") Daylight
Light Set
1 B&H $1,899.00 8-10 years
13” MacBook Pro (with
2.7GHz quad-core
8th-generation Intel Core i7
processor, Turbo Boost up to
4.5GHz and 16 GB RAM)
1 Apple $2,229.00 3 years
Zoom H2n Handy Recorder
Portable Digital Audio
Recorder
1 B&H $169.99 3 years
GoPro Hero5 1 Amazon $218.89 4 years
Equipment Total $21,370.26
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR Camera with 24-105mm f/4L II Lens
This versatile camera and lens are suitable for high-end video production and still photography,
and are compatible with the copy stand.
Manfrotto Befree Advanced Travel Aluminum Tripod The tripod will be used for stable camera support during filming.
Kaiser RSP Xtra Copy Stand & Copy Stand Table & Lights Copy stands are the industry standard for fine art capturing, as they provide ideal conditions for
photographing art of all sizes, and facilitate a smooth, efficient workflow that maximizes results
while minimizing handling of the art. These set ups are long lasting, and this equipment will
offer many years of service. Additional information on this product can be found in Appendix B.
UL STEP Grant
Hilliard Museum
13” MacBook Pro Macintosh computers are the industry standard when it comes to audio and visual arts. A laptop
is necessary for this project, as student workers will sometimes be inputting information in
collection storage. The model chosen is the most cost effective version available that will be
capable of handling the storage and processing demands of the Adobe Creative Suite photo and
video editing software.
Zoom H2n Handy Recorder For recording audio content in the field related to the collection. The best “low-budget” option
for the audio quality, technical specifications and portability needed for this project.
GoPro Hero5 For use on occasions when the curatorial department and student workers visit artists or conduct
research in the field related to the collection.
Software
Item Source Amount Lifetime
Collection Portal PastPerfect Online
Setup $285 x 5 yrs = $1,425 Billed annually
Portal Multimedia
Support PPO Links $185 x 5 yrs = $925 Billed annually
Cloud Storage PastPerfect Hosting $475 x 5 yrs = $2,375 Billed annually
Photo & Video Editing Adobe Creative
Cloud $300 x 5 yrs = $1,500 Billed annually
Transcription Services Nuance $300 5-7 years
Software Total $6,225
Collection Portal, Multimedia Support & Cloud Storage Like many small to mid-sized museums, HUAM utilizes PastPerfect, a software specifically
designed for collection database management. For an additional yearly fee PastPerfect offers a
web portal application, PastPerfect Online, which will complement the museum’s existing
website and seamlessly populate information from our existing database. PastPerfect will also
provide multimedia support and cloud storage.
Adobe Creative Cloud (Audio, Photo & Video Editing) Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of versatile, state of the art programs for creating, editing
and organizing creative media content of all kinds. Its robust video, photography and audio
editing capabilities make it the industry standard. HUAM already has a Adobe Creative Cloud
subscription, so will simply need to purchase an additional device license for the laptop to be
used for this project.
Nuance Transcription Services The all-new Dragon Professional Individual, is a smarter next-generation speech recognition
software that continuously adjusts to the voice or environmental variations while an individual is
dictating. It can produce transcriptions that are 99% accurate, reducing the time students would
have to spend manually transcribing interviews, videos, etc.
UL STEP Grant
Hilliard Museum
Supplies
Item Quantity Source Amount Lifetime
Industrial Packing Table - 72 x 36",
Maple Top with Rounded Edge 1 Uline $443.00 15+ years
Flash Furniture High Back Black Mesh
Executive Swivel Chair with Chrome
Plated Nylon Base and Flip-Up Arms 2 Amazon $236.00 5 years
Industrial Modern Writing Desk
(Portable) 1 Allmodern.com $123.00 15+ years
Pyle Portable Adjustable Laptop Stand 1 Amazon $16.36 5 years
7 Step Grip Step Ladder - Assembled
with 10" Top Step 1 Uline $518.00 15+ years
Warehouse Shelving:
2 Shelf Pallet Rack Starter Unit - 96 x 48
x 96" 4 Uline $1,436.00 15+ years
Pallet Rack Wire Decking - 46" Wide,
48" Deep 16 Uline
$512.00 15+ years
Wide Span Storage Rack - Particle
Board, 96 x 48 x 96"
3
Uline
$1,011.00
15+ years
Supplies Total $4,295.36
Industrial Packing Table - 72 x 36", Maple Top with Rounded Edge A large sturdy table for use in the digitization studio and research station.
Flash Furniture High Back Black Mesh Executive Swivel Chair with Chrome Plated Nylon
Base and Flip-Up Arms
Two ergonomic office chairs for student, student worker and curatorial use in the digitization
studio and research station.
Industrial Modern Writing Desk (Portable) A simple desk for use by student workers and curatorial staff in the digitization studio.
Portability is important, as the desk may sometimes need to be moved out of the way.
Pyle Portable Adjustable Laptop Stand To facilitate ergonomic working conditions for student workers using the laptop.
7 Step Grip Step Ladder - Assembled with 10" Top Step For use in photographing (from overhead) the largest artworks.
UL STEP Grant
Hilliard Museum
Warehouse Shelving To allow relocation of large display cases (as well as other miscellaneous exhibition-related
furniture) from the proposed digitization studio and research station location to the first floor
receiving bay.
Appendix A – Sketch of Studio
Hilliard Museum
Appendix B – Additional Product Information
Hilliard Museum
Kaiser RSP Xtra Copy Stand & Copy Stand Table & Lights (Equipment)
When you need a maximum in stability, solidity and load capacity, the Kaiser rePRO system is
the right choice. This system is used in technology, forensics and science, education, research
and media production. Because of its extremely high level of stability the rePRO system is
especially suitable to capture large format and fine art originals. The modular-designed stand
includes a table with fixed working height and a column that is mounted to the rigid base. The
lighting units also mount to the table, providing precise and even lighting conditions. Height
adjustment of camera level is motorized and works individually along the entire column via
remote control. The camera platform can travel up and down at two speeds, regardless of the
supported load. For precise positioning of the optical axis of the camera, the camera carrier can
be shifted horizontally and, in addition, can be tilted by +/- 90 degrees. The column, made of a
multi-section special extrusion, is mounted to a firmly attached die-cast base and is extremely
sturdy and vibration-resistant. This professional workstation - equipped with a suitable camera
system of your choice - offers optimum conditions for sophisticated image capturing tasks.
Collection Portal, Multimedia Support & Cloud Storage (Software) PastPerfect Online is
packed with the features you need to effectively share your collections with the world. Your site
comes with both Keyword and Advanced Search features. You can also browse through the
collections using Random Images or catalog search. Customizable email forms help you solicit
feedback on items in the collection and provide online visitors the opportunity to request image
reproductions. Additionally, online visitors can use the Email to a Friend button to share items
from your collection. Site statistics including valuable information about your online visitors is
available from Google Analytics. PastPerfect Online also includes free submission to Google
indexing. Once enabled, your collections become accessible to anyone using this popular search
engine. No design or programming expertise is needed to give your museum a world-class online
presence. Our staff will design your PastPerfect Online site to complement your existing website.
PastPerfect Online is capable of searching and displaying hundreds of thousands of catalog
records and images. For a modest annual fee, we host your data and web-sized images on our
servers. There is no need to maintain your own servers. Hosting for your Multimedia files (audio,
video, PDFs, etc.) is available with PPO Links.
Nuance Transcription Services (Software)
Dragon Professional Individual supports Nuance-approved digital voice recorders and smart
phones for advanced recording functionality and can automatically transcribe the audio files to
text back at your PC. It leverages all the accuracy improvements gained from the state-of-the-art
speech recognition engine for fewer post-corrections. Because acoustic and language model
adaptation are automatically leveraged for the current user, no special training is required. You
can also accurately transcribe another single speaker’s voice from pre-recorded audio files or
from podcasts. No additional training is also needed to transcribe third-party speakers, so you
can complete transcription quickly and accurately. Depending on your preference, you may take
notes by recording your voice into an audio device for later transcription, or you can work with
the Dragon Anywhere mobile app for immediate, professional-grade dictation.