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Press release

The Met Enhances Website and Digital Platforms,
Elevating Online to a “Fourth Space”

(New York, February 29, 2016)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art refreshed and upgraded its website and app today, introducing a series of new features and enhancements that create a more intuitive online resource and experience for its visitors, both online and within the institution. The launch coincides with the opening of The Met Breuer, the Museum’s new location on Madison Avenue and 75th Street dedicated to modern and contemporary art.

The updated digital platform will serve to highlight and give equal digital prominence across The Met’s three locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer (opening to the public March 18), and The Met Cloisters; introduce greater clarity and consistency to The Met’s onsite and digital offerings; and reinforce the new visual identity across the institution.

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Met, said: “As The Met’s ‘fourth space,’ our digital presence is an integral part of our work.  There is so much content available to audiences who might never be able to visit The Met.  Nothing can replace standing before a work of art, but it is inspiring to see the ideas and cultures that are brought to life through our online features—voices and perspectives on over 5,000 years of visual expression.  It is an endless resource that truly demonstrates the relevance of The Met.”

Website
The update of The Met’s website (metmuseum.org) involves a fresh design, simplified navigation, and more robust infrastructure. It has also been designed to work across all platforms—smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers—in order to improve the experience of the website for all users, no matter which platform they use.

The website—with half a million pages that encompass the Museum’s vast collection of art, hundreds of thousands of images available for download, and thousands of blog posts and videos—provides numerous ways to interact with The Met. It receives about 33 million visits a year (36 percent international; 64 percent domestic). 

The site is a public beta version, reflecting the fact that it is a work in progress that will be continuously improved.

The Met App
The Museum’s flagship app on iPhone, iPad, and Android has been refreshed with updated navigation, and a new Visit section that features all three locations. This free digital resource is the easiest way to see what’s happening at the Met every day, wherever you are.

The Met App is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
The Met's “Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: The New Edition,” tells the story of global art history through 7,000 works of art in our collection. It has been refreshed to work seamlessly on web and on mobile, with a new navigation and interface. It pairs essays and works of art with chronologies. Relational in nature, it has the dual goal of allowing for a visitor to find exactly what he or she needs, as well as encouraging total immersion and a seamless browsing experience. Authored by The Met's experts, and comprising 300 chronologies, close to 1,000 essays, and more than 7,000 objects, it is a reference, research, and teaching tool conceived for students and scholars of art history. The Timeline of Art History has an average of 1.5 million visits a month during the academic year.

The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History is funded by the Heilbrunn Foundation, New Tamarind Foundation, and Zodiac Fund.

Other digital features highlighting The Met collection include Connections, 82nd & Fifth, MetCollects, #MetKids, MetPublications, One Met. Many Worlds, and The Artist Project.

MetCollects, #MetKids, One Met. Many Worlds, and The Artist Project are supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The Met Store
On The Met Store website, the Museum’s new logo will appear on more than 150 products, from pick-up items to commemorate-your-visit and high-end luxury pieces. All are available across the three Met locations and online at www.store.metmuseum.org

About The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City–The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience at its fourth space, online.

Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum’s galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.

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February 29, 2016


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