WASHINGTON, DC.- A transformational gift from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation to the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art will ensure that the nation’s digital record of artistic creativity and innovation is saved for future generations. This $2 million gift will enable the Archives to collect, preserve and make accessible born-digital content, or content that originated in a digital format, documenting the history of American art. By establishing two new staff positions—a born-digital strategist and a born-digital archivist—and creating a five-year Digital Innovation Fund, this gift will allow the Archives to strengthen its infrastructure and advance the field of digital preservation and access through convenings, workshops and publications.
As a collecting institution closely tied to developments in the art world, the Archives of American Art looks ahead to a future when born-digital content dominates the work of artists, art historians, arts organizations, collectors, critics, educators and others who turn to the Archives to preserve their legacies. To meet this future now, the Lichtenstein Foundation is investing in the Archive’s digital transformation, building on its reputation as a pioneer in the digitization of entire archival collections and the Smithsonian’s deep commitment to making its digital content accessible to every home and classroom across the country. The gift is part of the Smithsonian Campaign for Our Shared Future, which is securing funds for all Smithsonian museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo in support of a single, bold vision: to build a better future for all.
“We are excited to tackle the challenges of preserving and making accessible born-digital materials that are so often threatened by rapid obsolescence,” said Anne Helmrich, director of the Archives of American Art. “We are honored that the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation trusts us to lead these efforts.”
Art production and recordkeeping in a digital world are increasingly complex, and this funding allows the Archives to develop robust solutions for acquiring not only digital images and documents, but also databases, digital video and other interactive media, digital catalogue raisonnés (annotated listings of an artist’s works), websites and email accounts.
“All of us at the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation are delighted by this new initiative,” said Jack Cowart, executive director of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. “The board and staff have supported the project from the beginning, and we look forward to helping devise systems to share further not only our own records and catalogue raisonné but also helping future generations of artists’ archives and provide access to their born-digital creative materials.”
In 2018, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation pledged to donate to the Archives the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation records and Roy Lichtenstein papers, consisting of more than 500,000 documents related to the 20th-century pop artist’s life and work. The Archives received the first installment, including source material and thousands of photographs, in 2025. It will use the forthcoming donation of the dataset of the digital Roy Lichtenstein catalogue raisonné as a test case to determine the specifications, scope and requirements for sustainable data preservation and access.
The Archives expects to begin work on the project and recruiting for the two new staff positions in fall 2025.
Founded in 1954, the Archives of American Art collects, preserves and makes available primary sources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. The Archives provides access to its collections at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and through its exhibitions and publications. An international leader in the digitization of archival collections, the Archives makes over 3.5 million digital images freely available online. The oral history collection at the Archives includes more than 2,600 interviews, the largest accumulation of first-person accounts of the American art world.
