National Music Museum ‘at the tipping point of recognition’ after Google visit
Through Google’s Cultural Institute website, the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota became the first institution in the state to be part of a project dedicated to providing free access to art to people around the globe in the comfort of their homes.
The museum welcomed Google to officially launch its virtual gallery Sept. 5. In addition to being the state’s first participant, the museum is also the first collection featured in the Cultural Institute focused primarily on musical instruments.
“Google’s Cultural Institute gives people who wouldn’t have the opportunity to travel here to get a taste of what the National Music Museum has,” said Patricia Bornhofen, communications manager for the museum. “It shows them the ‘crown jewels’ of the museum and it inspires them to come to the museum as well.”
Over 70 high-resolution, multi-view images are available on the museum’s virtual gallery. Pictures ranging from the most famous violin made by Stradivari, to the Les Paul guitar and all things in between are on it, Bornhofen said.
Google provided a virtual walk-through of the National Music Museum’s gallery at the launch event, which included showing the audience the many different ways the virtual gallery can be utilized. Chrome books were set up around the museum for visitors to experience the platform firsthand.
Wolete Moko, account manager at Google’s Washington, D.C., office, has a close relationship with music, which he said prompted him to pay specific attention to the National Music Museum project.
“I’ve played the saxophone since I was about 10 years old, so for me I think this is what Google should be doing,” he said. “This is the direction that we want to take the Cultural Institute.”
A video capture of the museum’s extensive exhibits with Google’s Street View technology also took place Saturday after the public events. The museum video capture will eventually be added to its online gallery project, which allows art museums across the country to showcase their collections to art enthusiasts all across the world.
“It’s a great study tool and it’s a great travel tool,” Bornhofen said. “You are doing a sort of ‘armchair museum going.”
Senior Cindy Bent attended the unveiling and said she was impressed with the project.
“I thought the Google Cultural Institute’s website was very well done in the terms that you can sit there and compare two different instruments side by side,” Bent said. “It gives you a learning experience that you really can’t get unless you’re actually there.”
Prior to Saturday’s video capture of the museum, Google videoed USD’s campus Friday.
“It puts USD on a list with various other elite schools that already have Google Street View,” Bornhofen said.
Junior Abby Schieffer said she is excited for what the project represents.
“Google is huge, so for it to come to Vermillion is a big deal,” she said. “Their new virtual gallery is something everyone should take time to go see.”
The entire project is funded by Google. The National Music Museum had to provide the labor of supplying the platform with photos and choosing which instruments would go on the site.
Other museums part of Google’s project include the Metro Museum of Art in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art located in Washington, D.C. In all, more than 400 cultural institutions have been showcased in the online gallery.
As for the future of the museum, Bornhofen said the Cultural Institute will set the museum over the edge of other museums similar to itself.
“The National Music Museum is at the tipping point of recognition,” she said. “People are becoming aware of us — we’re hoping that people will see us more and more as their next trip destination.”
(Melissa Nitte, a Google spokeswoman, shows senior Gabrielle Emmett how to access the National Music Museum online gallery on a Google Chromebook. Emily Niebrugge/The Volante)
