Sponsor A Warhol Time Capsule

The words museum, gallery and exhibition space are often used interchangeably but the distinctive aspect of a museum is that it must have a collection of stuff it is charged with preserving, cataloging and displaying. The Andy Warhol Museum came into being in Pittsburgh, not only because Andy was from here, but also because no other institution wanted to take on the vast task of preserving the huge collection of art and artifacts that he left behind.

"At the heart of this vast collection are the "Time Capsule" boxes. Their contents, like Warhol's artwork, are both illuminating and enigmatic. Originally, these boxes were used to simplify a move from Warhol's studio at 33 Union Square West to a new location at 860 Broadway. Afterward, Warhol began to use these moving boxes to store the bewildering quantity of material that routinely passed through his hands. Ironically, he referred to these boxes as "time capsules." Normally, time capsules commemorate events of special significance. By placing a few carefully selected objects into a container, sealing it, and specifying a date when it should be opened, a time capsule is meant to capture a sense of the current Zeitgeist for future generations. For Warhol, however, his Time Capsules functioned not only in the traditional way, but also as a memento hominem, a register of his everyday life. In documenting the most insignificant details of his existence, Warhol created a complete, though often cryptic, diary of his life and the world in which he moved."

The Warhol is now trying to raise money to fund the ongoing project of opening, cataloging and preserving the Time Capsules.Donate Here.

"To open each Time Capsule costs about $5,000, total. This includes the documentation, archival processing and cataloging, scanning every object (and digital photography of large objects) and properly re-housing them in acid-free folders and Mylar sleeves. Once the cataloging is complete, we'll be able to to begin researching what we've found and, eventually, put the entire Time Capsules collection on the web, so everyone can access it.

Together, we can take the "maybe" out of this project, because we won't be relying solely on foundations to support the work. This project can be completely funded by the people who will get the most out of it... people who care about Andy Warhol and his legacy. People who care about preserving original artifacts from the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s. People who are just glad something this weird is being taken on by a major museum."