MIPoPS - Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound

08/26/2026

Join us tomorrow for our first Regional Audiovisual Holdings Survey: Report and Educational Programming Project workshop! Made possible (and free) thanks to a Cultural Services Support grant from 4Culture. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZCP3IyEGgiPb3aodg_V1WXzGtTulfuItkgIE2Hh6xcn29rw/viewform

📅 Getting Started with a Preservation Plan
Thursday, August 27 | 3–5 PM
📍 Seattle City Hall, Room 370
Preserving audiovisual collections can feel overwhelming, but a thoughtful preservation plan can help you prioritize your work and make the most of your available resources. Sometimes the hardest part is just knowing where to start. In this workshop, archivists from MIPoPS will introduce the essential components of a preservation plan. Participants will learn how to assess their collections, identify preservation priorities, document workflows, and develop realistic strategies for the long-term care of audiovisual materials.

08/24/2026

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!

Thanks you a Cultural Support Services grant from 4Culture, MIPoPS is offering three free workshops for archivists and caretakers of audiovisual heritage! These hands-on and practical workshops are designed around feedback from our Regional Audiovisual Holdings Survey and will cover some of the most common challenges organizations face when caring for audiovisual collections. Link to registration in bio!

📅 Getting Started with a Preservation Plan
Thursday, August 27 | 3–5 PM
📍 Seattle City Hall, Room 370
Learn how to assess your collection, set preservation priorities, document workflows, and develop a realistic preservation plan.

📅 Digital Formats, File Care, and Long-Term Digital Storage
Thursday, September 17 | 3–5 PM
📍 Federal Way Library Makerspace
Explore common digital audiovisual formats, file organization and care, integrity checks, and strategies for long-term digital storage.

📅 Identification, Condition Assessment, and Data Collection
Thursday, October 1 | 3–5 PM
📍 Duvall Historical Society
Get hands-on experience identifying common audiovisual formats, recognizing signs of deterioration, and collecting the information needed to plan for preservation and digitization.

✨ All three workshops are FREE!

Register today! We hope you’ll join us—and please share this opportunity with colleagues who care for audiovisual collections!

07/16/2026

We’re so proud of our ED for being selected as Society of American Archivists 2026 Spotlight recipient!! Visit their website to read more: https://ow.ly/6uep50ZoyXy

07/16/2026

Congrats to our Acting Executive Director, Libby Hopfauf-Fisher for being the Society of American Archivists’ 2026 Spotlight Award recipient!!

Congrats to Libby Hopfauf, audiovisual and digital archivist at Seattle Municipal Archives and executive director of Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound, who is the 2026 recipient of the Spotlight Award from SAA!
https://ow.ly/6uep50ZoyXy

05/05/2026

Today is GiveBIG, Washington’s day of giving, and we’re taking a moment to share what your support makes possible.

At MIPoPS, we preserve moving image and sound materials that document the lives, histories, and communities of the Puget Sound region. Much of this material exists on formats like VHS and audio cassette, which were never designed to last.

Without preservation, these recordings become unplayable. The stories they hold become inaccessible.

Recently, that work has included:
Digitizing VHS materials from Scarecrow’s Queercrow collection, which highlights LGBTQIA+ stories created by and for the community
Supporting the Wing Luke Museum in preserving oral histories from the Chinatown-International District, including veterans, artists, and longtime community members
Partnering with organizations like Sound Transit to help ensure important regional records remain accessible over time

This work is often quiet and technical, but its impact is long-term: it ensures communities retain access to their own histories.

While MIPoPS partners with the City of Seattle, that support comes in the form of shared space, not direct funding. Our work is sustained through earned revenue and community support.

We’re also working to expand access through new educational resources and training opportunities, helping more people care for and preserve their own audiovisual materials.

If you’re able, we invite you to support this work today.

Donate: https://www.wagives.org/donate/MIPOPS

Thank you for helping ensure these materials remain accessible, now and in the future.

In community,
The MIPoPS team

04/22/2026

Presented by the Al Larvick Conservation Fund in partnership with the Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound at the Northwest Film Forum.

In Another Light marks the 10th anniversary of the Al Larvick Conservation Fund (ALCF). The national screening series showcases home movies and community recordings as vital records of cultural memory. From immigrant journeys to q***r community life, from family milestones to artistic experimentation, the series demonstrates how personal media illuminates shared and distinct histories. Programs are presented at venues across the United States throughout 2025–2026, pairing digitized collections with live or pre-recorded music, and post-screening discussions.

Get tickets at: https://nwfilmforum.org/films/in-another-light-a-10-year-celebration-of-home-movies/

04/22/2026

MIPoPS and the Al Larvick Conservation Fund present In Another Light: A 10 Year Celebration of Home Movies on Saturday 4/25/26 at 4pm. ⁣

In Another Light marks the 10th anniversary of the Al Larvick Conservation Fund (ALCF). The national screening series showcases home movies and community recordings as vital records of cultural memory. From immigrant journeys to q***r community life, from family milestones to artistic experimentation, the series demonstrates how personal media illuminates shared and distinct histories. Programs are presented at venues across the United States throughout 2025–2026, pairing digitized collections with live or pre-recorded music, and post-screening discussions.⁣

📼Iwao Matsush*ta Films (circa 1931–48) (Original format: 8mm (black and white, silent))⁣
📼Iwao Matsush*ta (b. 1/10/1892) and his wife Hanaye Tamura (b. 3/9/1898) emigrated to Seattle in 1919 for Matsush*ta to pursue educational opportunities. Academia temporarily landed on the back burner for Matsush*ta, however, and he spent several years working as a cook, a hotel manager, and then in various positions for Mitsui and Company, a major Tokyo-based trading firm, which allowed him and Hanaye leisure time like the hike through Mt. Rainier National Park captured here. Featuring handwritten and typewritten titles throughout, often in both English and Japanese.⁣
📼Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections