User:ElizabethIUPUI

The Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikipedia Saves Public Art! project conducted by the IUPUI Fall 2009 Museum Studies Collections Care and Management class will contribute directly to national efforts to identify and conserve public art in the United States. The published articles, identifying and cataloging public art on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus, will become part of the larger universe of the Wikipedia content management system through links and categorization.

The articles produced will potentially be organized under several relevant public art Wikipedia categories including Outdoor Sculpture, Public Art and Art in Indiana. The organization of subcategories and page category offer a broad context in which to situate an article on public art. The relationship between pages is loosely constructed – reflecting the nature of Internet searches that follow a non-linear path. The option to organize a single article under many categories helps to mitigate this inevitable user-driven disorganization.

A museum has a director, curators and staff to define and execute missions and collecting policies. The institutional organization of objects creates value and a system of preservation and conservation to maintain collections. Efforts to identify and preserve public art lack a similar centralized governing authority to establish priorities and raise funds dedicated to conservation.

Heritage Preservation: The National Institute on Conservation offers leadership and guidelines to local communities interested in preserving culture. The non-profit organization is responsible for the initiation of a 1989 national inventory of outdoor sculpture, Save Outdoor Sculptures SOS!, the backbone of the SIRIS public art database. However the influence of this organization is limited to the willingness of individuals to take on the task of compiling information related to public art. This volunteer effort dictates the level of research and available information on specific public art sculptures. The authority lies in the researcher’s voluntary contributions and the user’s acceptance of the information provided.