Collection Loan

Partnership

The Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership is an initiative dedicated to bringing American art out of museum vaults and sharing them with communities nationwide. While most museums would like to get art out of storage and on view, financial constraints and staff capacity impact their ability to lend artwork to other museums. The Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership offers a new lending model that allows museums to circulate their collections that would otherwise sit in storage, inaccessible to the public.

• Bring artwork out of storage and into new communities
• Increase works of art by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and women artists in museum galleries
• Fill gaps in museum collections
• Expand access and increase transparency of the process for borrowing artworks among museums of all sizes
• Foster community engagement and bring new audiences to borrowing museums

Institutions with deep collections identify selections from their collections in consultation with Art Bridges. Those works are prepared for distribution to other museums in groups of 5-7 artworks. Art Bridges coordinates loan agreements, insurance, condition reporting, crating, packing, and shipping at no cost to borrowing museums.

These long-term loans last at least 24 months, after which artwork groupings travel to another borrowing museum.

The lending museums provide label copy and reference images of the artworks selected. Additional interpretive materials (such as extended text, major themes, interpretation, and historic programming information) can be developed in partnership with Art Bridges and the borrowing institution.

To learn more, view our step-by-step guides on Learning & Engagement funding, collection loan projects, and traveling exhibitions.

Art Bridges supports these partnerships through direct funding payments to offset hard and soft costs. In addition, lending museums may contribute resources such as curatorial and interpretive support.

Borrowing museums are also encouraged to apply for an Art Bridges Learning & Engagement award to support programming and community outreach.