Weinberg Center for the Arts
Historic Collections Policy
A. We’re Turning 90!
The Tivoli Theater opened to the public on December 23, 1926 and featured The Strongman, a silent comedy directed by Frank Capra. The theater was built at a cost of over $350,000 and was, at the time, the second largest structure ever built in Frederick. In the 1940s, it became Frederick’s first air-conditioned building, but fell into disrepair during the late 1950s and 1960s as grand movie palaces like the Tivoli became passe. A group of local citizens, led by Dan and Alyce Weinberg, undertook a massive restoration effort and battled the effects of flooding to turn the Tivoli into a cultural arts center. On February 9, 1978, the theater reopened as the Weinberg Center for the Arts. It was named in honor of the Weinberg family, who donated the building to the City of Frederick. The City still owns and operates the building with the support of Weinberg Center for the Arts, Inc., a non-profit organization created in 1995. We’ve had an action-packed 90 years, and we’re ready to celebrate. We hope you’ll join us!
B. How You Can Participate
Visitors to the Weinberg often spend some time in our lobby checking out photos, memorabilia, and small artifacts from the building’s last 90 years – and we know there’s more out there! If you’ve got photos, posters, brochures, and more from the Tivoli Theater or the Weinberg Center for the Arts between 1926 and 2000 – or even just memories and stories – we want to hear about it.
C. What We’re Looking For
· Photographs
· Posters
· Newspaper ads/stories
· Lobby cards
· Other promotional material
· Other artifacts (please note that size restrictions may preclude us from accepting some items)
D. I’m In! What Happens Next?
Are you interested in loaning us your item, or in gifting it to the Weinberg Center outright? Take a look at the donor questionnaire, fill it out, and call Manager of Development Rebecca O’Leary at (301) 600-2870 to arrange a time to drop off your item and donor questionnaire at the Weinberg. If it meets the project’s needs, we’ll ask you to decide if you would like to loan your object or donate your object.
1. Loan Procedures
You will be asked to fill out a form and retain a copy of it. You will need your copy of the form to collect your object. Lenders will be asked to pick up their objects after December 31, 2017 and before March 1, 2018.
2. Gift Procedures
You will be asked to fill out a deed of gift stating that you are the legal owner of the object and have the legal authority to donate the object to the Weinberg Center for the Arts. A copy of the form will be provided to you for your records. Please note, we cannot appraise your object’s value.