FOR ALL VISITORS
About WAM’s Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Collection
The Worcester Art Museum’s (WAM) Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs (PDP) contains over 23,000 objects from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The American and European works range in date from the 14th to the 21st century. Areas of strength include color prints, British satirical prints, 18th- and 19th-century American prints, and Abstract Expressionist prints. The Asian holdings’ areas of strength include Edo period Japanese prints, particularly early ukiyo-e prints, and modern, 200th-century Japanese prints. There are also approximately 50 volumes of rare Edo and Meiji period illustrated books, and a small group of fine paintings and manuscripts from Iran (Persia) and Turkey from the 14th to the 19th century as well as Indian miniature paintings from the 17th to the 20th century representing most schools.
Because works on paper are sensitive to light, temperature, and humidity, these objects are not on permanent view. Visitors are invited to see these works in temporary exhibitions, or by special appointment in the Print Study Room.
Scheduling and preparing for your visit
The PDP Study Room is open to individuals and groups of 12 or fewer people by appointment only from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. If your group is larger than 12, multiple appointments can be made. Appointments are not available on weekends.
To make an appointment, or for more information about the American and European holdings in the Prints, Drawings, and Photographs collection, please contact Olivia Stone, Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at: OliviaStone@worcesterart.org.
To make an appointment, or for more information about the Asian holdings in the Prints, Drawings, and Photographs collection, please contact Yagnaseni Datta, Sohail & Mona Masood Assistant Curator of Asian and Islamic Art at: YagnaseniDatta@worcesterart.org.
Requested objects should be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance of your appointment and can be emailed to the relevant curator at the address above. To access the collection, please visit Collections Search on the Museum’s website. Only a percentage of the Museum’s collection is accessible through Collections Search, so if you cannot locate an object, please contact the relevant curator, who will assist you or refer you to someone who can. Please see below for scheduling classes.
Visit procedures
Preserving the collection is one of the Museum’s foremost responsibilities. Please kindly read the rules below and observe them during your visit.
- When you arrive, deposit your coat and bags in the Coat Room located off of the Lancaster Lobby, bringing only the materials you need for your visit. The Lancaster Lobby can be accessed directly by entering the museum on Lancaster Street between Salisbury Street and Institute Road.
- Notify the Receptionist that you are here to visit the PDP Study Room. He or she will contact the curator or guard who will be meeting with you.
- Please wash your hands prior to entering the PDP Study Room. The closest restrooms are at the right of the PDP Study Room near the stairs.
- Secure any loose or dangling items to prevent them from falling onto or touching works of art when looking at close range.
- No food, drink, gum, or cough drops are permitted in the PDP Study Room.
- Notes can be taken using a laptop/tablet or paper and graphite pencil. No pens, other implements, or materials with adhesives on them (e.g., post-‐its) please. Please mute computers/tablets and cellphones.
- Sketching from artworks using graphite pencils is permitted.
- Use of cell phones to make or answer calls is not permitted. Please mute your phone.
- Photography (without flash) is permitted for research purposes only. To request a reproduction of an image, please complete an image request form: http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/rights-‐ and-‐reproductions/, or email: rightsandreproductions@worcesterart.org.
- Refrain from speaking over artworks or cover your mouth when speaking over them.
- Please be mindful of the ledges holding artwork. They are designed to slide open and closed. As a result, leaning or bumping against them can cause artwork to shift or fall.
- Visitors are encouraged to look closely at artwork, but please refrain from touching it. Artwork is to be handled by museum staff only.
FOR CLASSES
Scheduling and preparing for your visit
The PDP Study Room is available for classes of 12 or fewer people by appointment only from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. If your class is larger than 12 people, multiple appointments can be made.
Appointments are not available on weekends. Instructors should schedule their class at least three weeks in advance. The maximum time allotted for classes is one hour. To make an appointment to view the American and European holdings in the Prints, Drawings, and Photographs collection, please contact Olivia Stone, Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at: OliviaStone@worcesterart.org. To view the Asian holdings, please contact
Yagnaseni Datta, Sohail & Mona Masood Assistant Curator of Asian and Islamic Art at: YagnaseniDatta@worcesterart.org.
Instructors are asked to provide the relevant curator with a checklist of approximately 10 works on paper at least two weeks in advance. This checklist should include the artist, title, date, and accession number (e.g. 1954.82) for each work requested. To access the collection, please visit Collections Search on the museum’s website. Objects on the list are subject to the department’s approval. Works that are oversized or fragile may be unavailable for display.
While the curator will facilitate access to the collection, it is the instructor’s responsibility to prepare the lecture related to the material requested. The curator will not prepare teaching material for classes. The instructor is expected to be present for the duration of the class.
Students and instructor(s) should plan to meet in the Lancaster lobby. When the group is assembled a security guard will accompany the class to the Print Study Room. Instructors are expected to arrive in a timely manner with their classes. Classes will not be permitted to extend beyond their scheduled meeting time.
Please observe the visit procedures described above.
