Digital Art History Initiative

The Digital Art History Initiative leveraged emerging technologies with grants that advanced the field of art history, preparing scholars to explore new questions and develop innovative, sophisticated tools.

• Training workshops at introductory and advanced levels that disseminated digital methods applicable to art history and the humanities
• Enhanced digital mapping platforms that let users explore the ancient sites of Pompeii, Italy and Çatalhöyük (modern-day Turkey) and the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Florence, Italy
• Two image analysis projects that used open-source software to present datasets on laid paper "moldmates” and early European prints

The Digital Art History Initiative opened with funding for universities, museums, and other humanities centers to offer training workshops tailored to researchers of art and architecture. Foundation grants supported programs for beginners and those with prior experience in digital projects.

Grant-funded projects incorporated digital tools and techniques that allowed researchers to handle large volumes of digitized images and texts, trace patterns and connections formerly hidden from view, recover the past in virtual environments, and bring the complex intricacies of works of art to light as never before, to name just a few opportunities.

Over a ten year period, the Foundation awarded 26 Digital Art History grants to 16 organizations.