The American Friends of the Louvre (AFL) is an organization which seeks to raise awareness of the Louvre

Louvre

The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

’s collections

Collection (museum)

A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, replaceable and less exhibition oriented...

 and museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 expertise and helps to make the Louvre’s exhibition

Art exhibition

Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

s and permanent collection more accessible to all English-speaking

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 visitors. AFL was founded by the Musée du Louvre in 2002 to strengthen ties between the Louvre and the American public and formalize the longstanding generosity of American patrons.

Organization mission

To ensure the broader reach of the Louvre’s resources, American Friends of the Louvre supports the development of public and educational programs in the U.S. and France. These include numerous exhibitions co-organized with American museums, such as Girodet: Romantic Rebel and Roman Art from the Louvre; exhibitions at the Louvre such as Profondeurs Vertes, an installation by American artist Mike Kelley, and The Studio of David; and scholarly and professional exchanges between curators at the Louvre and their American counterparts.

Recent enhancements to the Louvre visitor experience made possible through American Friends of the Louvre include the creation of wall labels in three languages – English, Spanish, and French – throughout the Louvre’s major galleries; the English translation of the Louvre’s online collections database, to be completed in 2007; and the acquisition of group audio tour equipment to improve acoustics and reduce disruptions in the galleries.

In addition, American Friends of the Louvre has assisted in the establishment of grants for educational support, such as a curatorial fellowship in the Louvre’s Department of Islamic Art, and a one-year research fellowship to inventory and create an online database

Online database

An online database is a database accessible from a network, including from the Internet.It differs from a local database, held in an individual computer or its attached storage, such as a CD....

of American art in French public collections.