VENICE MUSEUM & ARCHIVES

VENICE MUSEUM & ARCHIVES

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Courtesy of venicemuseum.org

The mission of the Venice Museum & Archives (VMA) is to collect and preserve historical and archaeological material relating to Venice and the communities of Nokomis, Laurel and Osprey, whose histories have all been interwoven from 1867 to the present time. The City of Venice (COV) is the parent organization of the VMA. Museum staff are COV employees under the Department of Historical Resources. The Venice City Council is the governing authority for the VMA with legal and fiduciary responsibility for the museum and for approving museum policy and its annual budget. In July 1991 the Venice Area Historical Collection was housed in a storage space on the first floor of the newly renovated City Hall in downtown Venice. That same year, the name of the collection was officially changed to the Venice Archives and Area Historical Collection (VAAHC). The collection was moved in September 1996 to the restored and renovated historic 1927 building known as the Triangle Inn. The name of the Venice Archives and Area Historical Collection was changed to the Venice Museum & Archives in 2012.

Along with its preservation efforts relating to historic properties and landscapes within the City of Venice, the Department of Historical Resources also manages the Venice Museum & Archives (VMA). The mission of the VMA is to collect and preserve historical and archaeological material relating to Venice and the communities of Nokomis, Laurel and Osprey, whose histories have all been interwoven from 1867 to the present time. The VMA has a collection of 30,000+ photographs, archives, objects, and publications pertaining to area history. The museum processes new donations into the collection and is working to upload a significant portion of the collection records online for greater, external public access. The entire museum collection database is accessible to the public on an internal network. The museum engages the public in local history through changing and permanent exhibits, tours of the Triangle Inn, special events, newsletters and social media, as well as onsite and offsite educational outreach programs to youth and adults. Additional services offered also include assisting the public with research requests and assisting with image request orders. The museum’s gift shop offers books, DVDs and other merchandise pertaining to local history available for purchase.

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