ARTIFACT DONATION EVENT
The Museum of Capitalism periodically holds Artifact Donation Events, where community members are invited to bring artifacts of capitalism. The last event was held in March 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Our collection of artifacts is ongoing. If you own or know of something you think might belong in a museum of capitalism, please use our Artifact Inquiry Form to bring it to our attention. Or contact us if you would like to host an event in your community or at your institution.
The Museum of Capitalism seeks donations of objects, documents, and other artifacts from the era of capitalism, or other items of historical interest, to be considered for inclusion in the Museum’s exhibitions and related programming. Individuals who possess items related to the history or memory of capitalism, or tied to a personal experience that could help others to understand or feel life in capitalism, are invited to come forward and share their stories with Museum curators at periodic donation events, hosted in various communities.
All participants who bring an item for consideration receive professional photographic documentation of their item, whether or not the Museum wishes to catalog the object for its collection. Donors are asked to complete a short questionnaire about their items, and Museum curators and volunteers may conduct brief interviews with selected participants.
Donations may be printed materials, three-dimensional objects, or entire collections, and may consist of documents, correspondence, diaries, clothing, uniforms, and textiles, photographs and moving images, advertisements, trade publications and promotional materials, currencies, receipts, and other elements of consumer exchange, and samples of raw materials, finished products, or fragments of capitalist production. The Museum also seeks to catalog the traces of objects, rather than, or in addition to, the objects themselves, artifacts that symbolize or represent something larger. The Museum also accepts proposals for full, self-contained displays of related materials in addition to individual pieces that could be part of a larger themed exhibition.
Donations may be considered for temporary exhibition loan or as acquisitions for the Museum’s distributed collections. Those who suggest items for donation, either online or at an event, are under no obligation to donate the items, and the personal preferences and privacy of donors is respected at all times. If you have questions regarding the donation process, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
