Wells-Rapp Center For Mallet Percussion Research

About the Collection

The KU Center for the Study of Material and Visual Cultures of Religion (CMPR) digital collection highlights objects, images, and archival materials related to the study of religion through material culture.
The collection supports teaching, research, and public engagement by making these materials accessible through a digital interface.

Statement of Purpose

The Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research at Kutztown University is dedicated to serving a broad community that encompasses the local region to enthusiasts, artists, and scholars from around the world as a comprehensive resource and leading institution in the preservation, education, presentation, and advancement of the mallet percussion art form.

Vision Statement

The vision of the Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research is to share the history and evolution of mallet percussion through public access to the collection and performances in its dedicated building on the campus of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

The commitment to best-practices and a holistic approach, with mindful consideration of inclusivity and diversity, is principal in our pursuits.

By providing access to rare instruments, music, recordings, films, and related historical ephemera and artifacts, collaborating with and presenting performances and presentations by notable artists, partnering with other arts institutions and museums through targeted outreach programs, curating historically diverse and thorough exhibits, and providing a robust archive, digital and on-site, for scholars and students to explore, CMPR will enrich the cultural history of Berks County and beyond for years to come.

Values Statement

The Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research is committed to a mindful approach that keeps diversity, equity, and inclusion central while leading the percussion field in the preservation, presentation, and advancement of the mallet percussion art form. The CMPR pledges to educate towards a broader understanding of the history of the art form and set a standard for organizations and individuals to learn from in the future.

Objective Statements

The CMPR exists for the following purposes:

a) The CMPR will acquire, curate, catalog, store, maintain, and enable public access at the highest level to an archival collection of rare instruments and related archival materials documenting the history of mallet percussion.

b) The CMPR will collaborate with researchers, performers, institutions and organizations as well as produce programs and events celebrating the history of mallet percussion instruments.

c) The CMPR will engage the community with outreach events and diverse educational programming.

d) The CMPR will create engaging exhibits that seek to inform a wide cross-section of the public.

e) The CMPR will continually work to make available online the majority of its collections and information.

Visit the WRCMPR Website

Create your own Metadata

To create metadata compatible with this CollectionBuilder-Sheets instance the best way to get started is to make of copy of our template in Google Drive:

CollectionBuilder Metadata Template

Alternatively, you can download the template CSV and work on your local machine. We suggest editing your CSV using LibreOffice Calc, OpenRefine, or Google Sheets (and do not suggest using Excel, since Excel’s CSV output is not correctly formatted).

Describe your items in your copy of the template, following the Metadata Guidelines.

Once you have items added you can test your metadata by clicking the “Change the Metadata” button above.

Learn More

For full details of creating your own collection site, visit CollectionBuilder Documentation!

The template repository features four objects from the University of Idaho Library’s Digital Collections. Featured image by JJ Ying on Unsplash.