The Paper Project

Support for prints and drawings curators to grow their skills and engage 21st-century audiences with graphic arts collections

Two greyscale drawings of a man's right forearm and hand

Michelangelo, Studies of an Outstretched Right Forearm for the Fresco 'The Drunkenness of Noah' on the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, circa 1508–1509. Black chalk, 205 x 160 mm. Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (former Koenigs Collection)

Photo: Studio Tromp, Rotterdam

About

Goal

The Paper Project helped curators navigate the demands of the modern museum by preserving traditional skills that have been passed down through generations of specialists while simultaneously supporting innovative efforts to make graphic arts collections accessible and relevant to today’s audiences.

Outcomes

  • Increase in visibility, skills, and recognition for curators of prints and drawings, including at least 60 international media mentions related to the initiative
  • Over 30 new exhibitions, microsites, and gallery interactives to increase awareness of the graphic arts
  • More than 40 paper and digital publications on prints and drawings
  • 32 professional workshops and traveling seminars focused on prints and drawings connoisseurship, emerging topics in the study and interpretation of works on paper, and network-building among curators, scholars, and conservators of the graphic arts
  • Large participant network of 500 curators at all career stages from 33 different countries
  • New wave of scholarship in the graphic arts, with 55% of the professionals who participated in workshops and seminars starting new research on their collections after attending Paper Project programs

Project Details

Resources

Featured Resources

All Resources

News