Digital Collections

The Ingalls Library and Museum Archives digitizes books, auction catalogs, photographs, and other archival materials for access and preservation purposes. Use the links below to access our digital collections.  To concurrently search digital library books, Department of Education annual reports, lesson plans, press releases, May Show records, and Kokoon Club applications visit: https://archive.org/details/@the_cleveland_museum_of_art#posts. To search our photograph collections, artist collections, and Fine Arts Garden records visit: https://digitalarchives.clevelandart.org/ 

  • Audio Visual Features: Browse some of the audio programs and digitized film in the Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

  • Digital Library Books: The Ingalls Library focuses digitization efforts on rare and unique items in our collection. Once an item is scanned, we make it available to the public via the Internet Archive. Please visit our collections page to browse our digitized items. Check back often! We add new materials regularly. We also contribute metadata records to the Getty Research Portal, an authoritative, worldwide resource providing one-stop multilingual access to art history texts.

  • Department of Education Annual Reports: The Department of Education Annual Reports detail the activities of the education department and its staff. At its inauguration the museum professed one of its purposes “as an educational agency, and that there shall ever be maintained an effective educational department, organized to stimulate and promote the intelligent appreciation of art.” These annual reports showcase that purpose of the department in its ever expanding role within the museum and its community.

  • Fine Arts Garden: This collection of digitized correspondence chronicles the construction of the museum's fine arts garden, which was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park in New York City.

  • Hanna Ledgers: Leonard Colton Hanna, Jr. (1889-1957) was the director of M.A. Hanna & Company, a coal and iron ore shipping concern started by his father and uncles. Hanna was a major philanthropist in Cleveland, Ohio, donating over $90 million to Cleveland's cultural and charitable institutions. Hanna was an avid art collector and a trustee and principal benefactor of the Cleveland Museum of Art, but also supported the Cleveland Playhouse, University Hospitals, Karamu House and others. The collection consists of two ledger books detailing his income and expenses, including dividends and donations, which are useful for understanding the personal wealth of one of Cleveland's major philanthropists. The ledgers are part of the collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society, and were were scanned and made available online by the Ingalls Library. 

  • Photographs, special collections, and artist collections: Included in digitalarchives.clevelandart.org are 20,000+ images from the editorial photography collection, which documents museum exhibitions, events, people, and buildings beginning in 1916; the Mrs. Emil (Mollie) Brudno Collection of photographs of musicians, dancers, conductors, and other performers who participated in Mrs. Brudno’s museum-sponsored Cleveland Concert Course from the 1930s-1950s; a small selection of beautiful photographs of the ghost town Bodie, California, from the John Paul Miller Collection; a selection of renderings and sketchbooks from the John Paul Miller Collection; a collection of photographs taken by John Paul Miller during a trip to Antactica in 1984; the August F. Biehle collection; posters from the Cleveland Museum of Art May Show; digitized video from the Frances Prindle Taft Collection; and two watercolor drawings from the John C. Bonebrake Collection. Archives staff and volunteers are busily scanning and uploading new images regularly so check back often to see more historical views of the museum.
  • Press Releases: The Cleveland Museum of Art Press Releases collection documents exhibitions, events, lectures, accessions, and general museum news from roughly 1930-2021 (bulk 1950-2021).
  • May Show Entry Cards: The May Show was a juried exhibition of Northeast Ohio artists held at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1919 to 1993.  This collection includes digitized artist entry cards for the years 1919-1993 that include objects that were accepted into the May Show.  Entry cards vary from year to year but generally include the artist name, the titles of objects submitted to the May Show, information on collaborators, and various notes.  To search a database of all objects exhibited in the May Show visit: http://library.clevelandart.org/may-show. 
  • May Show Artist Biographical Files: Beginning in 1924 the May Show office solicited biographies from accepted artists using a brief biographical questionnaire that asked for name, date, place of birth, primary media, art training, and other information about the artist's exhibitions and awards. Artists who returned the questionnaire occassionally submitted photographs or additional information.
  • Kokoon Arts Club Membership Applications: The Kokoon Arts Club of Cleveland was founded in 1911 by Carl Moellman and William Sommer. Known for its modern energy and free spirit, the Club's activities included evening lectures, art instruction, two annual exhibitions, and an annual Kokoon Bal Masque. Many members were longtime May Show artists at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Club's membership dwindled during the Great Depression and following years until it disbanded in 1956. This collection includes membership applications from 1919-1952.

  • Cleveland Museum of Art Lesson Plans: This collection consists of lesson plans produced by the Cleveland Museum of Art between approximately 2000 and 2013. Several distinct programs are represented—Art to Go, Asian Odyssey, Distance Learning, lesson plans created as part of a grant to develop arts-integrated math and science curricula from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, and the museum’s Teacher Resource Center.