We aim to advance the use of linked data for the arts from a library- and archives-led perspective through information sharing, exchange, and collaboration.
As an LD4 Affinity Group, we are open to all, regardless of institutional or organizational affiliation.
We are a community of practice exploring the unique challenges of modeling, creating, querying, and visualizing linked data across the arts including (but not limited to):
- Visual Arts & Design: fine arts, craft, architecture, graphic design, and artists' books
- Performing Arts: music, dance, theater, and performance art
- Time-Based Media: film, video, sound recordings, and interactive media
- Events: exhibitions, festivals, performances, and auctions
- Documentation: ephemera, performance recordings, programs, exhibition catalogs, provenance records, and artist files
An earlier version of the LD4 Arts Affinity Group organized calls between June 2021–January 2023 under the name "ARLIS/NA Wikidata Group." We began meeting regularly following sessions at the 2021 ARLIS/NA conference including a Wikidata workshop and Digital Humanities SIG meeting on Wiki projects in art and architecture libraries. Members also organized a session for the 2022 ARLIS/NA conference titled "Points of Connection: Using Wikidata for Art Information."
In February 2023, we formally joined the LD4 community as an affinity group, adopting the name "LD4 Art & Design Affinity Group" and broadening our focus to linked data as a whole.
In October 2025, we became the "LD4 Arts Affinity Group" to reflect a further expanded scope. Beyond visual arts and design, we now cover linked data for performing arts, time-based media, and any other art form of interest.
Reflecting our origins in North American library associations and a coordination team based in the United States, our group's calls tend to occur during U.S. business hours and are held in English. We warmly welcome international participation and encourage anyone limited by time zone differences to engage through our asynchronous communication channels.
We hold monthly(ish) open calls to learn about and discuss projects, resources, and tools within our scope. Join our Google Group to be notified when calls are announced.
Our calls are not recorded by default (except by presenter request) and AI note-takers are not permitted, though we keep comprehensive written notes for every session and share slides when available.
Members of our Google Group can share relevant announcements, resources, questions, and job postings by sending emails to ld4-arts@googlegroups.com.
If you are not yet a member, you can request membership through your web browser or send a blank email to ld4-arts+subscribe@googlegroups.com.
We have a dedicated channel (#arts) in the LD4 Slack workspace (ld4.slack.com) for more ephemeral discussion.
See the LD4 site for the link to join the Slack workspace. Once you have joined, search for #arts and click the Join Channel button.
Bold links indicate arts focus
- AAMC Foundation Best Practices Guide for Artist Demographic Data Coordination
- American Art Collaborative
- ARLIS/NA Cataloging Advisory Committee
- ARLIS/NA Cataloging Section
- ARLIS/NA Digital Humanities Special Interest Group
- Arches
- ArtFrame
- Art Information Commons
- Artist Archive Initiative
- Artsdata
- BIBFRAME
- BIBFRAME Art and Rare Materials (ARM) Ontology
- CIDOC-CRM
- Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture Known in the Renaissance
- Collections as Data
- Digital Archive of Artists Publishing
- DLF Arts and Cultural Heritage Working Group
- Enriching Exhibition Scholarship Project
- Getty Provenance Index
- Getty Vocabularies
- Getty Vocabularies as Linked Open Data Google Group
- IFLA Wikidata Working Group
- IIIF
- LD4 Discovery Affinity Group
- LD4 Rare Materials Affinity Group
- LD4 Wikidata Affinity Group
- Linked Art
- Linked Art Extension for Performing Arts (LA-PA)
- LODLAM
- LUX
- Music Library Association’s Linked Data Working Group (MLA LDWG)
- Ogee Arches
- Ontology for Museum Domain and Applied Arts
- PHAROS
- RBMS Bibliographic Standards Committee
- RBMS Linked Data for Rare Materials Implementation Working Group
- Rhizome ArtBase
- Semantic Lab at Pratt Institute
- Semantic Web in Libraries
- Sinopia
- Swiss Art Research Infrastructure
- Swiss Performing Arts Platform
- VRA Cataloging and Metadata Standards Committee
- Wikidata
- Wikidata:WikiProject Sum of All Paintings
- Wikidata:WikiProject Visual arts
- Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons:Structured Data