Maryland Art Supply House

The Maryland ArtSource is a collaborative effort involving many different partnerships. Our goal is simple: to  provide the important service of maintaining up-to-date as well as historical records of all Maryland art and artists. We hope this resource will provide you with all you need to know about our state’s art and cultural heritage. The promotion of art to the general public is an important endeavor. Art is a great way to learn about history and culture. We hope you will join us in our journey to promote the state of Maryland’s art to users all over the world.

Maryland ArtSource is the product of a long relationship with the state’s art and research libraries. These institutions work together in order to help individuals learn about the many different opportunities available locally to learn about Maryland art.

Our goal is to be a go-to resource for information about Maryland art and artists. Our long-term goal is to digitize and put online every Maryland cultural and art institution’s collections of art.

Our History

Maryland ArtSource came about from informal conversations that occurred at many different art-related conferences among our different art librarian colleagues from many different universities and cultural institutions. Once the idea was in place, the Maryland Historical Society was contacted, as well as a number of other educational partners, to help create and implement plans for the future of this important resource that was, at this point in time, only a product of our imaginations and personal goals.

Implementing our plan

The idea to come together to promote art to our large community of patrons was very convincing, but we had to figure out the best way to implement it. This was an important resource that could benefit such a large population, but how would we reach our audience? After a while of brainstorming, we decided that a public website was in order. The internet is the best way to reach the most amount of people, and is also the best way to further our cause to give the gift of Maryland’s art to the greater public.

To create this website, a large group of individuals working for the Baltimore Art Research Consortium came together and created what is known today as the Maryland ArtSource.

Maryland ArtSource Today

Because of the frequency of visitors coming to our institutions with questions about Maryland artists and the art community at large, the Maryland ArtSource website is set up to help all of our visitors acquire relevant information pertaining to art in the state of Maryland. This includes art that is related to the state of Maryland, as well as art created by artists from Maryland, or artists currently residing in Maryland.

Everyday people access this website to give them up-to-date as well as historical information about Maryland art. Our state has a rich history of art, and we are overjoyed that so many people now have access to this information.

The Maryland ArtSource wants to make a lot of information available on the web for researchers and students alike to access our information without the need to travel to our buildings. With our website, even elementary students can benefit from the exposure to art and culture within the state’s art community.

To better serve our users, we have a number of user-friendly features to help you find all the answers to all your art-related questions. These include an online catalog with profiles of Maryland artists; a number of image galleries containing art works and information about the art of Maryland; and a comprehensive resource on Maryland cultural and art institutions, along with their respective galleries and contact information.

Funding the Maryland ArtSource

Funding for Maryland ArtSource is made possible by the support of a number of private foundations, as well as from federal funding. We have been lucky to receive such generous funding. The funds we received have been sufficient enough to enable two smaller libraries to scan and digitize their library collections, and to put them up on the web for users to access their comprehensive collections. MaryLand ArtSource even had enough money to hire a Project Coordinator to better serve the development of the website, as well as to obtain a contract with an online company to develop the site. With our funding, we are well on our way to our goal of digitizing every statewide collection of art related to Maryland, as well as all art made by artists from Maryland.

We hope you enjoy Maryland ArtSource and all of its many offerings and opportunities. As this project moves along, our partners are reaching out to many of our colleagues at Maryland art institutions. We want this new and innovative model to promote the professional development and service of the arts in order to best serve the general public. Thank you for your generous support and patronage.