Open Source Collections for Creative Minds
Posted October 27, 2025 by Brooke Thomson
When I was an undergrad student at Florida State University, I worked for the History Department as a Social Media Intern. One of the things I loved to do there was find free, high quality, downloadable images and videos to incorporate in my graphic designs. My trademark was playful, scrapbook-style content using these materials in order to promote FSU History classes, announce campus events, and educate viewers on various historical topics.
Now that I’m a SLIS student I get to dive even deeper into these repositories and learn what makes them tick, but I still think they’re just plain fun. So I thought I’d share 3 of my favorite resources with you all! It doesn’t matter if you’re interested in adding some fine art to your social media designs, working on a school project, or simply browsing around—these collections are sure to inspire creative minds!
Smithsonian Open Access content includes downloadable high-resolution 2D and 3D images of collection items, as well as research datasets and collections metadata. All of the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, 9 research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo contributed to it. Users are invited to search or browse through more than 10 million digital objects in this collection. I myself have spent hours sifting through it finding all kinds of cool stuff, like this marble sculpture of Cleopatra by Edmonia Lewis, which I featured in a social media post for Women’s History Month.
2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art implemented its Open Access policy back in 2017. In their collection, you will find over 492,000 public domain images to play with! If you click on the link, you will also see that they also provide a list of 5 peer organizations:
- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
- The Art Institute of Chicago
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- The National Gallery of Art
- The Smithsonian Institution
These organizations also have open access collections that you can look through, and I recommend you do! Think of them as a list of honorable mentions. At the Met, a particular interest of mine is the Costume Department—if you’ve ever heard of the Met, then you probably know they’ve got a great selection of fashion history objects! There’s a reason they host that little part called the Met Gala every May…Check out this mid-eighteenth-century court dress in the robe à la française style!
3. Sketchfab
Sketchfab is a newer development that I’ve only just begun to learn. They specialize in housing and rendering 3D models and AR (augmented reality). While a little less accessible than some other resources—you need to create an account to download the open access models—I think they’re worth including as an example of creative technological advancements! Navigating their collection follows a very similar process to the museums previously mentioned: you can filter your results with the CC0 license (a Creative Commons license indicating a work has been entered into the public domain) and browse through categories like “Cultural Heritage & History 3D Models.”
I have seen museums utilize this technology to share both 3D models of objects and AR representations of their in-person exhibits. An example of the kind of thing you might find there is a collection of 3D models created by the Scottish Maritime Museum. They shared one called Stern of SS Rifle 6 years ago, depicting all that remains of one of the earliest surviving examples of a small pre-fabricated screw steamer in the British Isles. It was part of their “Scanning The Horizon” 3D digitization project.
I hope you find these resources as useful and fun as I do! There are tons more out there, so if you want to get started on your own search, these are some key terms to look out for:
- Open Access
- Public Domain
- CC0
Happy hunting!