Information for Prospective Artifact Donors
Are you interested in donating an object to the artifact collections held in the Berea College Appalachian Center? If so, here are some things we want you to know.
1) Berea College and the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center are not museums. While we apply museum-standards to the care and management of our collections, there are many things we do differently than a typical museum.
2) The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center manages two active artifact collections: The Appalachian Studies Teaching Collection and the Berea College History Collection. Artifact donations must fit into one of these collections. There area other collections on campus. Gifts of art are typically handled by the Art Program. Gifts of documents, photographs, sound recordings, video recordings, books, and manuscripts are typically handled by Hutchins Library Special Collections & Archives Department.
3) We gratefully accept donations of artifacts that we believe will enhance our collections. However, we are very selective. Each of our collections has specific goals and there are limits on space and funds.
4) Our Appalachian artifact collection is for education. Students will handle the artifacts, but they are always instructed how to properly handle the objects for preservation. Artifacts are handled much more often than in traditional museum collections.
5) The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center can only accept artifacts as unrestricted gifts. We cannot accept indefinite or long-term loans.
6) The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center does not have permanent displays. We cannot promise to always keep any item on display. Artifacts are displayed as teaching and learning requires and are stored when not on display. When artifacts are placed on display, we usually include the donor’s name and the object’s history in the label. We cannot promise to display any specific message or words with an object.
7) Berea College is a non-profit organization. Any donation we accept is tax-deductible. Berea College will provide a written receipt acknowledging the gift, but IRS guidelines forbid us from providing the donor with a valuation of the gift. The donor must self-valuate an artifact gift or obtain an appraisal.
8) We follow the guidelines of professional museums in handling, display, research, and storage.
9) While we have Wallace Nutting Furniture Collection, provided by Nutting and his estate, we are not actively collecting Wallace Nutting furniture or prints and we no longer operate a Wallace Nutting Museum.
10) Contact College Curator, Christopher Miller at christopher_miller@berea.edu or 859-985-3373 for additional information or to offer your donation.