Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium

Purpose: Sustaining Cultural Heritage The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium Master Plan identifies steps the museum must take to prepare its collections, facilities, and staff to meet the needs and expectations of twenty-first-century audiences. The plan calls for a phased facilities expansion, including a comprehensive collections center. This project will accelerate a comprehensive inventory and records automation for more than 4,000 historical objects of regional agriculture, forestry, transportation, ice harvesting, and household food and textile production. These currently underutilized collections are a unique resource for the study of the human impact on the landscape of northeastern Vermont. The grant will support temporary staff (a data technician and inventory assistant) to work with the museum's collections manager, curator, and consulting curator to conduct an inventory, compile automated records of these objects, review their relevance to the museum's mission, and write a collections plan. This work will serve current and future staff, future scholars, other museums and cultural centers, and visitors to the museum. Staff and scholars will gain deeper knowledge of and better access to these collections and apply that knowledge and access to research, exhibits, and programs. Visitors will learn more about how the region's inhabitants have transformed, improved, and preserved its natural landscapes.