Culver City,
California
Online Collections
For more information on using items in the collection, see rights and reuse policies. Browse our Online Collections.
Collecting Policy & Artifact Donation
Thank you for your interest in donating materials to the Wende Museum. We accept donations that fit our mission and further our educational and programmatic goals, and we believe that responsible stewardship requires a commitment to care for the objects in our collection in perpetuity. Because of the storage, staffing, and other resources required, each potential donation is given careful consideration by our team but we are unable to accept everything offered to us. We do not accept drop-off or unsolicited donations.
To start the donation process, please fill out our Artifact Donation Offer form. Any information you can provide on the history and provenance of the artifact, including photographs, will help staff determine how they might complement the permanent collection.
‘The Wende Museum Acquisition Task Force meets quarterly to review proposed donations. Then, a Wende staff member will be in contact to share the decision and next steps.
The Wende is mindful of its responsibility to collect, preserve, and provide open access to artwork, artifacts, archives, films, and personal histories from the Cold War in perpetuity. If you are interested in contributing a monetary donation to help ensure the long-term storage and preservation of the collection, please contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of items do you accept?
The Wende Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and providing open access to artwork, artifacts, archives, films, and personal histories from the global socialist world during the Cold War period. While there are exceptions, we generally do not collect from the US or other Western European nations, even if the materials are from or related to the Cold War.
The Wende commits its acquisition resources largely to artifacts, artworks, or collections that either make an important addition to our established core strengths or fill significant gaps, and/or art threatened with imminent destruction or dispersal. This includes historically or culturally significant items likely to be sold to a private collection and removed from public access. The Wende also attempts to acquire artifacts at the request of scholars in need of specific resources unavailable elsewhere. We also consider our ability to safely care for an object and make it accessible to scholars and the general public.
How long will it take to find out if the Wende Museum will accept my donation after submission of the Artifact Donation Offer form?
The Acquisition Task Force will review Artifact Donation Offer forms quarterly (February, May, August, November) and a representative from the Wende will reach out to individuals with the decision in the weeks following. Meeting dates are subject to change depending on events and deadlines at the Museum. If approved by staff, the donor will be sent a deed of gift to be signed and returned to the Wende Museum. Staff will work with the donor to coordinate the donation through the mail or in-person.
Will my donation be on display?
Like most museums, only a small fraction of our collection is on view at any given time, and we cannot guarantee that specific items will be displayed. While not on display, items are cared for in storage, made available to researchers, and used for public programming at the Museum. We also make artifacts and other materials available online via our Digital Collections website.
Is this type of donation tax deductible?
It is possible. The Wende Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and many types of donations are tax deductible. We recommend that you consult with a tax professional. Legally, we are not able to offer appraisal services or recommend an appraiser; however, we are happy to work with any appraiser you hire to facilitate access to donated works.
Research Requests
The Wende Museum is committed to research and education and welcomes scholars, artists, members of the general public, and others who wish to work with and learn from the collection. Access to the Wende’s collections is free and available by appointment.
In order to make an appointment or learn more about materials in the Wende’s collection, please fill out our Inquiries and Research Requests form.
Loan Requests
The Wende Museum is a lending institution. We regularly loan objects from our collection for exhibitions at other institutions and welcome opportunities to collaborate. To make a request, please email collection@wendemuseum.org.
Other Use Requests
The Wende Museum aims to not only preserve history, but to also bring it to life through exhibitions, scholarship, education, and community engagement. If you are interested in engaging with the Wende collection for a project that you believe falls outside of our regular Research and Loan programs, we would still love to hear from you and see what is possible. Our Inquiries and Research Request form is likely a good place to start, and you can reach out to collection@wendemuseum.org with any questions.
Rights, Reuse, and Open Access
In accordance with its mission, the Wende Museum is committed to a policy of broad public access. The Wende strives to provide free and open online access to works in its collections and products of scholarship based on its collections.
Online Collections
The Wende Museum provides free access to digital versions of its artifacts for purposes of education and research. Access does not confer rights to reuse. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use or other exemptions requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Many of the works in the museum’s catalogue are presumed to be under copyright, but due to the nature of archival collections we are not always able to identify rights information. It is the sole responsibility of the user to determine whether legal permission is necessary for reuse, and to obtain such permission. In cases where we have information about existing rights holders, we are happy to share it. If you have additional information about an item in our catalogue, we are eager to hear from you at catalog@wendemuseum.org.
Citing The Wende Museum
The Wende Museum provides access to its online catalogue records (metadata) without restrictions. This means that you are free to share and reuse texts contained in the catalogue records; we simply ask that you attribute them to the Wende Museum whenever feasible, for example by citing the URL for the catalog record and noting “courtesy of the Wende Museum.” If you reference our collection in a publication, please contact us at research@wendemuseum.org so that we can track how our materials are being used and draw attention to your work. We request that scholars provide a link to an open-access version of their publications whenever feasible.
Takedown Policy
The Wende Museum approaches provision of access to its collections with a commitment to ethical, well-intentioned practice. If you are concerned that you have found material on our website to which you hold the rights and for which you have not given permission, please contact us at catalog@wendemuseum.org. Upon request, we will remove material from public view while we address rights concerns.
Wende Museum Publications
The intellectual property of publications by Wende Museum employees resides with the authors. The Wende maintains a policy that copies of scholarly publications created under the terms of an individual’s employment and referencing the Museum’s collections be made freely available, either on the museum’s website or the open-access portal of the publication, or both. The authors grant the Wende Museum a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to make their scholarly products available, except where they have entered into an incompatible licensing agreement. The museum will work with publishers to break down barriers to open access.