PROVIDENCE – The National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives has awarded the Providence Public Library a $63,660 grant to catalog the records of the city arts organization, AS220.
Funding comes as a part of the NHPRC’s Access to Historical Records: Archival Projects category and will make the organizational records of AS220 publicly available for the first time, PPL announced last week.
Archives of AS220 were recently obtained by the Providence Public Library’s Special Collections Department and include 30 years of records comprising the work of artists, musicians and other performers associated with the arts organization.
The cataloging process will last about a year and its results will be open for viewing at the Providence Public Library’s Special Collections Department. The project is expected to cost about $100,000 with operational funding and donations from patrons covering costs left after the National Archives grant.
“The privilege of preserving and providing access to the AS220 Collection has long been a dream for the Providence Public Library, which has a mission to preserve the city’s cultural history in its Rhode Island Collection,” said Kate Wells, Rhode Island Collections Curator. “The creative output of AS220 is both a time capsule of Providence history and a testament to AS220s’ work to support the city’s artistic spirit and social justice values.”
Kyle Borowski is a PBN contributing writer.
