Newportal receives $60,000 grant from R.I. Foundation

WHEN THE NEWPORTAL database is completed, supported by a $60,000 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation, visitors from all over the world will be able to access photos of Newport's historical and cultural treasures, such as the fancy hatboxes pictured above. / COURTESY NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
WHEN THE NEWPORTAL database is completed, supported by a $60,000 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation, visitors from all over the world will be able to access photos of Newport's historical and cultural treasures, such as the fancy hatboxes pictured above. / COURTESY NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

NEWPORT – Five institutions building Newportal, a free, online database intended to promote Newport’s cultural heritage, have won a $60,000 grant for the project from the Rhode Island Foundation.
The Preservation Society of Newport County, along with the Newport Art Museum, Newport Historical Society, Newport Restoration Foundation and Redwood Library & Athenaeum are developing the Web portal to enhance public and scholarly access to their collections. The organizations are using open-source software to keep the portal publicly available and free.
“The Rhode Island Foundation’s generous support of this project is going to allow these five institutions to share their individual resources with the public in a comprehensive, easily understandable way, to paint a more complete history of Newport,” said Preservation Society CEO & Executive Director Trudy Coxe.
Having already received a $9,750 planning grant in 2012 through the foundation’s Newport County Fund, the Newportal project has been in development for more than two years. When complete, it will provide access to all five collection databases through a single Web portal, enabling a more complete view of united collections.
The site is expected to be up and running by late next year.
The latest $60,000 grant will help pay for website development, testing and hosting, as well as staff time from the five institutions to work on the project.
“Every grant we make underscores our commitment to moving Rhode Island forward,” said Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. “We work closely with our donors and grantees to ensure there are the resources and the resourcefulness to achieve great impact.”
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Preservation Society of Newport County is a nonprofit that works to preserve and interpret the area’s history and culture. Its 11 historic properties, which include seven National Historic landmarks, span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.

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