ARLIS/NA + VRA Joint Conference 2016 - CFP
Natural Connections | March 8-12, 2016
Call for Proposals
The Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) and Visual Resources Association (VRA) Joint Conference, Natural Connections, will be held March 8-12, 2016, in Seattle, Washington. The Joint Conference Program Committee invites proposals for innovative and forward-thinking sessions, individual presentations, and workshops that highlight natural connections in our work.Seattle is the ideal environment to bring together diverse professionals to meet and learn, reflect on our common values, and refresh our perspectives. Natural Connections abound among our professional associations, and also throughout the Puget Sound region between its people and nature, technology and sustainability, and environmental stewardship and the practical needs of a city.What natural connections are you making in your practice of art librarianship, visual resources management, and innovative scholarship? Please consider sharing your inspired ideas and proven strategies with your colleagues in Seattle. The Program Planning Committee is especially seeking proposals that engage attendees with active learning opportunities and provide attendees with practical approaches for implementing new ideas and technologies. The Committee encourages submissions from all interested individuals, including ARLIS/NA + VRA members and non-members.Let the Natural Connections theme inspire you! A few examples to spark your creativity:
- digital humanities/digital scholarship + visual literacy + users/community
- diversity + collections
- architecture + new tools & technologies
- career planning + new members + retirees
When you submit your proposal, please apply 1-4 of the following tags that represent your Natural Connections. You will be able to select these on the submission form. Or add your own!Tags:
- architecture/built environment/landscape architecture/urban planning
- art and design
- assessment
- cataloging/metadata
- career planning/professional development
- collections
- copyright/intellectual property/open access/creative commons
- digital humanities/digital scholarship
- diversity
- e-content/content delivery/DAMS/digitizing
- environmental stewardship
- facilities planning
- GIS
- new members
- preservation
- resource sharing
- retirees
- tools & technologies
- users/community/outreach
- visual literacy
Types of Proposals
Presentation: A single submission of an individual presentation, potentially addressing new research, a case study, or other innovative idea. Presentations should share new information with attendees, and should provide attendees with new tools, strategies, skills, or inspiration. The Conference Program Co-Chairs and the Conference Program Committee will group 2 to 4 selected presentations in a Session that runs from 60 to 90 minutes.Session: A 60- to 90-minute event with speakers addressing a common topic or theme. A session could involve 2-4 speakers with a moderator, multiple lightning talks, or other possibilities. Describe your ideal session format and include the names of suggested speakers in session proposals, if known. Suggesting a moderator is optional.Special Interest/User Group: A 60- to 90-minute informal facilitated group discussion on topics related to a specific community within either or both ARLIS/NA and VRA.Workshop: An opportunity to teach and explore current and emerging topics in an intimate atmosphere. Workshops encourage a focused, hands-on experience led by experts who combine active learning, collaboration, and discussions. Sessions last two, four, or eight hours. Consider ways to benefit from local educational or cultural institutions in the Seattle area.
How to Submit Proposals
Submit your individual presentation and session proposals via our online submission form.Submit your workshop proposals via our online submission form.Calls for Poster Sessions and Moderators will go out in the fall.
Deadline
Deadline for submissions is Friday, June 26, 2015.
Questions
Please contact any of your Seattle 2016 Conference Program Co-Chairs with questions. We’re happy to help!ARLIS/NA + VRA Conference Program Co-Chairs:
- Chris Strasbaugh (VRA), Director of Visual Resources, Vanderbilt University, c.strasbaugh@Vanderbilt.edu
- Dan McClure (ARLIS/NA), Director of Library Services, Pacific Northwest College of Art, dmcclure@pnca.edu
- Denise Hattwig (ARLIS/NA), Curator, Digital Collections, University of Washington Bothell Library, dhattwig@uw.edu
Announcement: VRA + DLF Cross-Pollinator Travel Grant for the DLF Forum, October 26–28
The Visual Resources Association (VRA) and the Digital Library Federation (DLF) are pleased to support a Cross-Pollinator Travel Grant for the DLF Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia from October 26–28.The purpose of this grant is to extend the opportunity to attend the DLF Forum to a visual resources professional who would not typically go, but who can envision and articulate a connection with their work and who sees great value in building a dynamic and diverse peer network. The goal of the VRA + DLF Travel Grant is to bring a cross-pollinator—a visual resources professional working in a library, archive, museum, or academic setting who can provide a unique perspective with DLF and share a vision of the digital library world from their perspective—to the conference.THE AWARDOne award up to $1,000 to go towards the travel, board, and lodging expenses of attending the DLF Forum. Additionally, the awardee will receive a complimentary full registration to the Forum ($675). The recipient will be required to write a blog post, subsequent to the Forum, about their experience; this blog post will be published by DLF and VRA.ELIGIBILITYThe applicants should be VRA members who are seeking more exposure to the trends in digital libraries, have not attended the DLF Forum, and are willing to share their perspective with the DLF community by representing VRA and serving as an ambassador for the VR profession.APPLICATIONThe applicant will be required to supply contact information as well as to indicate how access to the the DLF Forum may assist the applicant in achieving an expansion of their professional horizons. It is important for the applicant to describe what he or she can uniquely bring to the conference.Send an email containing the following items (in one document) to egallivan@clir.org, with the subject “VRA Cross-Pollinator Travel Grant: [Your Name]”Personal statement from the candidate (ca. 500 words) explaining how attending the DLF Forum will expand your professional horizons, what you can bring/offer to the Forum, and how you see yourself and the visual resources profession benefiting from the DLF Forum.A current résumé.Applications must be submitted before 4:00pm EDT on Monday, June 15, 2015. Applicants will be notified of their status in July. The winning applicants must be able to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia from October 26–28, 2015.ABOUTThe Cross-Pollinator Travel Grant is a reciprocal program with the Visual Resources Association. The program will also bring a digital library practitioner who typically attends the DLF Forum to the 2016 ARLIS/NA + VRA conference in Seattle, March 8-12.The 2015 DLF Forum will be in Vancouver, BC from October 26-28, 2015.
VRAF Accepting Applications for Future SEI Host Sites
The Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) and the Visual Resources Association Foundation (VRAF) are seeking host sites for Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management (SEI) for 2016 and beyond.SEI, which provides information management professionals with a substantive educational experience that addresses the requirement of today’s visual resources and image management professionals, has a history of successful partnerships with academic host institutions, dating to the first SEI at Duke University in 2004.Working with the SEI implementation team, the local hosts provide the on-the-ground presence necessary to execute this important educational opportunity, while bringing a prestigious event to their campus.If you are interested in hosting a future SEI, fill out an application and submit it to Karen Kessel (karen.kessel@sonoma.edu) or Shalimar White (WhiteS@doaks.org) by June 12, 2015. If you’d like to learn more about what the opportunity entails, you may also contact Karen or Shalimar.
New Board appointments: Slide and Transitional Media Task Force Chair and Website Content Manager
The VRA Executive Board is pleased two announce two new appointments.First, the Board has appointed Jacob Esselstrom, University of Wisconsin-Madison, as chair of the Slide and Transitional Media Task Force. We thank Jacob for taking on this important role for the Association. Our gratitude also goes to Jenni Rodda, whose year-long term as the task force's chair ended with the 2015 conference. Jenni will remain a member of the task force in the coming year.The Board has also appointed Heather Rayl, Indiana State University, as our new Website Content Manager. This position is responsible for managing authorized website users, editors and contributors, posting and editing content for publication on the website, and handling general website maintenance. The Website Content Manager works with and reports to the Public Relations and Communications Officer.Heather has been creating and managing websites for over 12 years. She has experience with both creating sites from scratch as well as working with content management systems, like Drupal and WordPress. At the County of Los Angeles Public Library, where she was Internet Services Coordinator, she managed three servers for the library: the public facing internet, the staff intranet, and the catalog server. She was responsible for creating content for the sites, maintaining existing content, migrating to new platforms when needed, and performing upgrades. As the Emerging Technology Librarian for Indiana State University, she designed and implemented a site re-design. She is familiar with both Unix and Windows servers. She also on the website committee for the Indiana Online Users Group. She is extremely comfortable with HTML, CSS, Javascript (and jQuery), PHP and MySQL.Heather is a new VRA member, and we warmly welcome her to the Association and thank her for her willingness to serve. Any requests for updates to the VRA website can be sent to Heather at webadmin@vraweb.org.
VRA President’s Post Conference Letter
Greetings, VRA colleagues --It was wonderful to see so many of you in Denver at our 33rd Annual Conference, which offered cutting-edge information, inspiration, and warm camaraderie. I feel so privileged to be a part of this community, which works hard to accomplish great things in support of the Association, our members, and the profession.Have a look at the Storify created from this year's conference tweets (https://storify.com/VRA/vra33-denver-co-2015). If you took photos at the conference, feel free to join the VRA Flickr Events group and post them at https://www.flickr.com/groups/vra_events/pool/. Please take a moment first to review the “Event Photography and Recording Policy”: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/conference-policies/. There is also a VRA Flickr Group to share images of more general interest. If you took photographs while touring Denver or other parts of Colorado, feel free to post them here: https://www.flickr.com/groups/visualresources/pool/Before sharing my acknowledgments and reflections upon a stellar conference, I’d like to remind you all that the attendees’ post-conference evaluation survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GFBYNCF) and non-attendees’ post-conference evaluation survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7GK3H39) have been posted and will remain open until April 15. The Executive Board encourages everyone to take just a few moments to share feedback, which will be vital to planning future conferences.AWARDSThe Members and Awards Dinner is our annual opportunity to honor colleagues for distinguished achievement and outstanding career contributions to the field of visual resources and image management.
- Congratulations go to this year’s joint recipients of the Nancy DeLaurier Award: Murtha Baca, Patricia Harpring, Elisa Lanzi, Linda McRae, and Ann Baird Whiteside. As co-authors of Cataloging Cultural Objects, they created an excellent and very much needed data content standard to the cultural heritage community. In his letter of support for their nomination, Sherman Clarke noted, “Every once in a while, a project comes along that is so important that you wonder how you got along without the results of that work. Cataloging Cultural Objects is one of those projects.” For those of us with dog-eared copies sitting close to our desks, truer words have never been spoken.
- For her many years of incredible dedication and service to the Association and to the profession, VRA presented this year’s Distinguished Service Award to Maureen Burns. In addition to serving as President, Maureen has contributed to the Association in numerous other ways, including serving as Co-Chair of the Digital Initiatives Advisory Group, Chair of the VRA White Paper Task Force, and currently as Content Editor of the VRA Bulletin. In his letter of support Brian Shelburne comments, “It seemed that, in addition to serving as President-elect or later as President, Maureen was like a hummingbird on speed…. Her many years of unflagging participation in VRA groups, her dedication to developing the profession, and her support for new members alone should be enough to deserve such an honor. If one adds to those traits her great networking skills and warm, gentle leadership style, one has a person who is most deserving of this award.” I encourage you to visit the DSA section of the VRA website in the coming weeks (httpS://vraweb.org/about/committees/awards-committee/vra-awards-recipients/), where information about Maureen’s many accomplishments will soon be posted.
Many thanks to the Nominating Committee, chaired by Margaret Webster, and to the nominators for their work in ensuring that these contributions to the field have been formally recognized and celebrated.
- The recipients of the 2015 Travel Awards, along with the generous donors who have made these awards available, were also recognized at the dinner. A total of 15 awards were given out in support of attendance at this year’s conference. The Travel Awards Committee, led by Co-Chairs Vicky Brown and Jeannine Keefer, reviewed the applications and coordinated fundraising with the Development Committee, Co-Chaired by Mary Alexander and Barbara Brenny. Our deep appreciation for the generosity of corporate travel awards sponsorship goes to Archivision and Gallery Systems; and for donor award sponsorship to Kathe Hicks Albrecht, and the anonymous donor who supports the “New Horizons” travel award fund. Last, but certainly not least, VRA is grateful that individuals like you support the Luraine Tansey Educational Fund Awards. It is heartwarming to see so many of us helping both new and veteran members attend and benefit from our annual conferences.
PROGRAM
- The outstanding Denver program was created from 59 submitted proposals, resulting in 14 sessions (including 4 sessions composed of 14 individual papers), 6 workshops, 11 SIG/SUG meetings, 9 posters, 6 Birds of a Feather lunches. Topics included digital humanities, visual literacy, mapping and geospatial projects, image rights and reproductions, usability testing, new technologies, digital asset management, crowdsourcing, cataloging, embedded metadata, sharing collections, professional advancement, archives, research data management, visualization, and more. Additionally, there were a number of productive organizational and chapter meetings held in Denver.
- Our deep thanks go to our past Vice President for Conference Program Steven Kowalik for his outstanding work on coordinating the program and scheduling; to the Education Committee, co-chaired by Beth Wodnick Haas and Ryan Brubacher, for their invaluable contributions toward programming; and to the many presenters, instructors, and moderators who offered such timely and relevant content. Your knowledge and experiences should be disseminated to an international audience; please consider transforming your papers and presentations into articles for the VRA Bulletin (http://online.vraweb.org/).
- Our plenary speakers shared thought-provoking perspectives from museums and digital libraries.
- Opening speaker Aaron Straup Cope, Head of Engineering with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum, asked us how experiences can be collected as design objects. Can a design museum collect objects that convey the experience of, say, Virgin America as service design? More provocatively, what about “collecting” the War on Terror? What do we collect? Orange jumpsuits? How do we convey an experience when an object has been removed from its interactions and context? From here Cope moved to the experience of museum goers, describing the recently launched New Cooper Hewitt Experience, and sharing the story of designing a new interactive Pen that allows visitors to enhance their experience by “collecting” and “saving” objects from the galleries to customized web pages.
- Closing speaker Emily Gore, Director for Content for the Digital Public Library of America provided an insider’s view of content coordination and collections workflows, including the DPLA Hubs program. Having “transitioned from sprint to marathon,” DPLA is now focused on sustainable collaborations, building community, data quality, use and reuse. Much of Gore’s current daily work focuses on identifying and helping to establish new Service Hubs for DPLA. She is currently working on a framework for Rights Statements for cultural heritage materials in partnership with our colleagues at Europeana and key experts in the US.
ARRANGEMENTS AND LOGISTICS
- Cindy Abel Morris, Vice President for Conference Arrangements, deserves a round of applause for her adept and attentive planning. Hotel accommodations and events -- whether sessions, workshops, speakers, meetings, or social occasions involving room scheduling, AV, catering, or all of the above -- ran seamlessly during our entire time at The Westin Denver Downtown. She is so talented that she even arranged for the beautifully sunny and warm weather! Special thanks also go to Tom Costello, our destination consultant, whose skill at recognizing and addressing potential glitches before they can materialize is unparalleled. And all of the staff at The Westin deserve recognition for their gracious service.
- The city of Denver provided a delightful backdrop to the excellent conference program. The Local Arrangements Committee, led by Heather Seneff and Hannah Unsderfer, helped develop tours and call attention to the city’s many fine museums, restaurants, and shopping venues, and provided other helpful advice to visitors. From the Clyfford Still Museum to the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, with fascinating walking tours in between, attendees explored many of the highlights that the Mile-High City has to offer. Thank you to volunteers Ken Schroeppel of the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado Denver for leading the Denver architecture walking tour, and our own Allan Kohl for leading the tour of the Colorado State Capitol Building.
- Past Secretary Stephanie Beene created our online registration form and oversaw the registration packets. Assisted by numerous volunteers, Membership Services Coordinator Lise Hawkos managed the registration desk. Thank you to all who volunteered their time to create such a welcoming and informative resource for attendees.
- Public Relations and Communications Office John Trendler created the conference website (http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/) and the PDF of our program, (http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/VRA33Program.pdf), and will be collecting and uploading presentations to the VRA SlideShare account (http://www.slideshare.net/VisResAssoc/).
- Treasurer Allan Kohl oversaw the budget with precision and wisdom, always with the greatest care in his stewardship of the Association’s finances.
NEW MEMBERS AND FIRST-TIME ATTENDEES
- The Membership Committee, chaired by Melanie Clark, welcomed conference newcomers at the New Members and First-Time Attendees Breakfast. The Membership and Education Committees teamed up once again to offer the VRA Connect event at the breakfast, where committee chairs and selected appointees introduce themselves, their work, and the many opportunities for involvement with the important work that VRA conducts.
- Continuing the popular Conference Mentor tradition, the Membership Committee’s Mentor Coordinator, Karen Bouchard, matched all individuals requesting mentors with seasoned conference attendees. Our thanks go to mentors and mentees alike.
- If you are a new member who is yet to find your niche in VRA, please know that all committee chairs welcome inquiries about their work, and there are many opportunities to become involved (httpS://vraweb.org/about/committees/). You do not need to be an expert from the start; you simply need a willingness to learn and contribute. You will find that the rewards exceed the investment many times over.
SPONSORS AND CONFERENCE SUPPORT
- The Development Committee communicated closely with our conference sponsors, who provided very generous support without which we could not offer such outstanding programming and venues. Our deep gratitude goes to our sponsors, donors, and friends for their ongoing generosity.
- The following commercial and non-profit partners participated this year with generous sponsorships: Archivision, Artstor, Fotosearch, Gallery Systems, The Public Art Archive, Scholars Resource, vrcHost, and Wolff app.
- Many thanks also go to the Visual Resources Association Foundation, which sponsored the VRAF Legacy Lecture: Opening speaker.
- The coffee break was sponsored in part by the VRA Greater New York Chapter. Special thanks also go to my employer, the Department of Art History, University of Colorado Boulder, for support in recognition of my role as VRA President.
- Our gratitude goes to Archivision, Gallery Systems, and vrcHost, along with Wild West Chapter members and our friends at the Denver Art Museum and History Colorado for providing prizes for the drawing held at the Sponsors’ Meet and Greet event.
Finally, we would have no annual conference without the participation of attendees. Each year offers a special opportunity for us to meet and share knowledge and fellowship, and help shape the direction of our profession. I look forward to seeing you next year in Seattle at the joint ARLIS/NA-VRA Conference.With gratitude and best wishes,Elaine--Elaine PaulPresident, Visual Resources Association
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2015 VRA EXECUTIVE BOARD ELECTIONS
Three key positions on the VRA Executive Board come vacant at the 2016 annual conference:
- Vice President for Conference Arrangements
- Treasurer
- Public Relations and Communications Officer
The Nominating Committee is actively seeking nominations for these positions. Running for office is an excellent way to serve the Visual Resources Association, get to know more of your colleagues in the field, and give yourself an opportunity to grow professionally. If you are interested in serving on the VRA Executive Board please feel free to contact any previous or current officer; they would be happy to share their experiences and reflections of their time in office. The Committee encourages members to place themselves, or other qualified individuals, in consideration for nomination by contacting the Chair or any member of the Committee.The VRA Bylaws provide additional information about the terms and duties of each officer position. Additional information, including the VRA Organizational Policies and Procedures Manual and Board Compensation Policy is found in the Organizational Leadership and Management section of MemberClicks.Thank you,VRA 2015 Nominating CommitteeJolene de Verges, Southern Methodist University (Chair)Marcia Focht, Binghamton UniversitySteven Kowalik, Hunter College/CUNY
2015 VRA Awards Announced at Members and Awards Dinner
VRA honored the recipients of the organization’s highest honors at a Members and Awards dinner on March 12, 2015, during the Visual Resources Association 33rd Annual conference in Denver, Colorado.Maureen Burns of IMAGinED Consulting received the Distinguished Service Award for her contributions to visual resources and image management. Comments from Burns' nominators and a description of her engagement with visual resources advocacy, service to the profession, and long term involvement with VRA and the VRA Foundation throughout her career will be posted at a later date.VRA presented the Nancy DeLaurier Award for distinguished achievement to the editors of Cataloging Cultural Objects (Chicago: American Library Association, 2006). The editors are Murtha Baca (Head of the Getty Digital Art History Access Program), Patricia Harpring (Managing Editor of the Getty Vocabulary Program), Eliza Lanzi (Director of Digital Strategies and Services,Smith College), Linda McRae (Retired Director of the Visual Resources Library,the University of South Florida at Tampa), and Ann Baird Whiteside (Librarian/Assistant Dean for Information Resources,the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University). View the slides and a transcript of the presentation online.
VRA33 Conference program (PDF) available
Dear colleagues,
I’m pleased to announce the conference program PDF is now available from the conference website’s Program page.
This year it’s more interactive than previous years, clicking on a sponsor's logo should take you to their website, clicking on a table of contents item takes you to that page, and some URLs in the program are live hyperlinks. Of course these won’t work if you print it out, but if you keep a copy on your computer, tablet or smartphone they should work just fine (depending on which pdf viewing application you use). The PDF is approximately 13MB, small enough to be portable but large enough to print nicely and look good on just about any screen.
You can find the download link on this page: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/program/
See you in Denver!
John
VRA 33 Registration ENDS this Friday, Feb. 20th
Dear VRA colleagues,Here’s a final reminder that registration rates ends Friday, Feb 20! We are gearing up for what's sure to be an exciting and engaging conference in beautiful Denver. CO and hope that you can join us!For conference information, go to: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/To register, go to: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/registration/Questions about the registration process? Email join@vraweb.org or secretary@vraweb.orgQuestions about the program and events? Contact VRA Vice President for Conference Program at skowalik@hunter.cuny.eduOn behalf of the VRA Executive Board, we look forward to seeing you in Denver. A big THANKS to everyone who has already registered for VRA 33!All the best,Stephanie Beene
VRA33 Early Bird rates end tomorrow, Friday, Feb 6
Dear VRA colleagues,In a few weeks’ time VRA 33 attendees will be arriving in the exciting city of Denver for a diverse program complete with interesting sessions, tours and workshops, informative presentations, engaging social events and networking opportunities, etc. Don’t miss out. Here’s a timely reminder that reduced Early Bird registration rates end tomorrow, Friday, Feb 6. Take advantage of the savings now.For complete VRA 33 information, go to: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/To register, go to: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/registrationOn behalf of the VRA Executive Board, we look forward to seeing you in Denver. A big THANKS to everyone who has already registered for VRA 33!All the best,Steven______________________________________________________Steven Kowalik, MSLSVice President for Conference Program, Visual Resources Association
VRA Affiliated Society Session at CAA's 103rd Annual Conference
CAA 103rd Annual ConferenceHilton New York – Sutton Parlor North, 2nd Floor1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NYVRA Affiliated Society Session - Thursday, February 12, 20155:30-7:00 pm- this (and all affiliate sessions) are free and open to the public - From Creation to Classification to Consideration: How Technology is Changing the Role of Artist ArchivesSession AbstractFor this session we invite four archivists working for individuals or as part of larger institutions to discuss their experiences creating and using artist archives. The role archivists traditionally played in managing and supporting efforts to establish an artist’s legacy is changing in response to new expectations of users to have interactive, accessible information. Strides in technology now allow for better access to resources, especially for living artists who are prolific. Managing a digital image archive also plays an integral role in establishing a comprehensive survey of an artist’s work. Keeping records of transient works and meeting the needs of the studio provides access to scholars and curators in the future. The speakers in this session will also explore the collaborative aspect of artist-as-creator and archivist-as-mediator and steward of the documentation to be used by both artists and art historians alike.PresentersMissy Brown, Metadata Specialist, Pratt Institute (Moderator)Establishing a Legacy: Managing an Artist’s Archive within a Trust and Estate PlanJanine St. Germain, Consulting ArchivistArtist archives may be arranged and managed with an interest in supporting eventual estate plans tailored to the artist’s long-term legacy plan. The collection may serve as a resource for new works, as well as support a collection's future intellectual and financial value. Artists' archives can be managed with an interest in a range of eventualities: their donation to a suitable repository, the creation of trusts for heirs of the artist, future collaboration with other collections or institutions, or eventual sale. All of these outcomes are maximized when the archive is considered within an established estate plan, preferably put into place during the artist's lifetime, rather than as an afterthought following his or her death. Drawing from examples of work with a variety of recent archives and estates, discussion will focus on how artist archives can manage and support efforts to establish an artist’s legacy.Janine St. Germain is a consulting archivist in the NY metropolitan area. She has managed the archival collections of fine artist Robert Kushner, theater artist Robert Wilson, and performing/visual artist Christopher Knowles. She is currently working with the estate of earthworks artist Nancy Holt, as well as a variety of faculty and alumnae collections held at Vassar College’s Archives and Special Collections Library.Artists in the ArchivesIvy Marvel, Manager of Special Collections, Brooklyn Public Library.Jamel Shabazz is best known for his photographs of New York street life in the 1970s and 80s. Portraits of teens decked out in the finest new fashions – published in his books Back in the Days and A Time Before Crack – chronicle the birth of the hip-hop aesthetic in vivid color. Brooklyn Public Library started working with Shabazz in 2012, incorporating his photographs into its archive and engaging the public with his work and process through programming, online presentations and exhibitions. The Library’s archive of more than 250,000 photographs skews toward the first half of the 20th century; working with living photographers like Shabazz has allowed the Library to expand its coverage of Brooklyn into the latter half of the 21st century and up to the present day. Through this partnership with Shabazz, the library has developed a model to accession and make available the work of other living photographers.Ivy K. Marvel is Manager of Special Collections at Brooklyn Public Library, overseeing the library’s local history archive, the Brooklyn Collection. She earned a Master’s degree in Library Science at Pratt Institute in 2010 and has worked for the Brooklyn Public Library since 2007.The Living ArchiveNicole Root, Archivist, Lynda Benglis StudioIn the fast-paced studio of a prolific living artist, archival issues often take a back seat to the pressing concerns of daily business. Still, a working archive is essential to a studio's efficient operation and an important preliminary step in producing a resource for future scholars. In the Lynda Benglis studio, decades of different filing systems, inconsistent database entry and recent construction have become major obstacles to finding information quickly and preserving important documents. Furthermore, Benglis's working process demands an organizational method different from traditional object files. Using the perspectives of an art historian and artist, this presentation will discuss the development of a comprehensive organizational system that is tailored to Benglis's working process, the needs of the studio and future accessibility for researchers.Nicole Root is the archivist for the Lynda Benglis studio and an art history instructor at Adelphi University. In addition to her art historical training at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, Root has worked in galleries, maintained the records of a large private collection of American art and served as an assistant to sculptor and performance artist, Maren Hassinger.Street Art Graphics: A People’s ArchiveCatherine Tedford, Gallery Director, St. Lawrence UniversityAlthough transient by design, street art stickers, flyers, and other paper-based ephemera capture the creative, cultural, and political pulse of time and place. With topics addressing environmental issues, economic crises, race, class, gender and sexuality, workers’ rights, Occupy movements, and presidential elections, these materials can be used for teaching and research in fields across the curriculum. St. Lawrence University’s digital archive of “Street Art Graphics” currently features over 2,200 such examples from around the world. The archive has been incorporated into course-related assignments and exhibitions at SLU and other alternative art spaces. During the past year, students, young alumni, and community members have collaborated on a new “People’s Archive” and investigative blog project that examines the ways ordinary citizens make use of public space to express themselves. The role of the archivist/activist as an agent for social justice and the notion of archival neutrality are also discussed.Catherine Tedford received a Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1983 and has served as the director of the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence University since 1989 (she loves her job). She has presented at academic conferences in England, Germany, Scotland, and the United States. Her writing about street art graphics can be found on her research blog Stickerkitty.
New VRA Core 4.0 Introduction document available
The VRA Core Oversight Committee (Core OC) is pleased to announce the availability of a new document - VRA Core 4.0 Introduction (dated 10.28.2014)This document replaces the Introduction document created in 2007 which has now been renamed How to convert Version 3.0 to Version 4.0 and moved to Previous Versions/4.0.Our goal with the new document was to create a very focused and succinct overview of the 4.0 version that is more appropriate for people encountering the standard for the first time.The new document is available from the VRA Core Schemas and Documentation page at http://www.loc.gov/standards/vracore/schemas.html::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::VRA Core on the WebVRA Core Schemas and Documentation (Library of Congress Official Site)VRA Core Support Pages
Get ready to Elevate Your Image in Denver this March!
The Colorado members of the VRA are excited to welcome our colleagues to Denver for the 2015 VRA Conference, Elevate Your Image!
Denver City was incorporated in 1861 and became the territorial capital of Colorado six years later, when the city’s name was shortened to Denver. Mining and cattle brought prosperity to the city and both endeavors remain strong components of Denver’s and Colorado’s economies (you’ll see cattle frequently in public art around Downtown). You’ll delight at the cultural offerings brought by Denver’s twenty-first century innovation economy, most of which are within easy access of our conference hotel.
The conference hotel, the Westin Downtown, is well situated for access to museums, innovative restaurants of all price ranges and types, a variety of entertainment options, and public transportation. The Westin sits adjacent to the 16th Street Mall, an outdoor pedestrian shopping mall with free bus transportation (the Mall Ride) running along its mile length. The Mall Ride runs from the recently remodeled Union Station to the conveniently located Civic Center Bus Station near the “Golden Triangle Museum District.” A great map of Downtown is available as a pdf on the website for visitors to Denver:
http://www.denver.org/includes/content/docs/media/Downtown.pdf
You can see the Westin is almost dead center (a little up from center) on Lawrence, between 16th and 17thStreets.
Denver’s excellent bus and lightrail service make getting around town a breeze:
Take advantage of public transit to visit Denver’s diverse cultural institutions! A brief list of museums you might want to visit can be found here:
http://dusaahvmc.blogspot.com/p/vra-conference-2015.html
Denver’s nickname is the Mile High City because we are 5280 feet above sea level (a number you may see frequently during your visit!). If you find yourself a bit “breathy” using the stairs or walking around town, remember you’re a mile up! Drink lots of water and, if you feel a headache coming on, drink more water. For tips about dealing with the altitude, check out the official site for Denver visitors (which is chock full of information in general about Denver):
http://www.denver.org/about-denver/high-altitude-tips/
Colorado is also one of the few states to legalize recreational marijuana. Visitors to Colorado who are curious about this subject should check out the official Colorado website on the topic:
https://www.colorado.gov/marijuanainfodenver/
Denver is situated on the “Front Range”--the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide (the western side of the Divide is known as the Western Slope). The weather in Denver can be quite changeable (one day in early January this year the temperature rose 50 degrees from sunrise to afternoon!). Keep your eye on the weather forecast before the conference and bring layers. And bring your sunglasses—Denver gets over 300 days of sunshine a year!
The local VRA members look forward to helping the 2015 Conference attendees have a great experience in the Mile High City! If you have any concerns or questions, don’t hesitate to contact one of the local VRA members!
Heather Seneff, Co-Chair, Local Arrangements Committee
Hannah Unsderfer, Co-Chair, Local Arrangements Committee
Elaine Paul
Lynn Lickteig
Kress Foundation Scholarships Available for SEI 2015
The Art Libraries of North America (ARLIS/NA) and the Visual Resources Association Foundation (VRAF) are happy to announce that five scholarships to the Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management (SEI) will be sponsored by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation (http://www.kressfoundation.org/).SEI 2015 will be held at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign from June 9-12, 2015. This intensive workshop features a curriculum that specifically addresses the requirements of today's professional in hands-on and lecture modules. SEI is suited to information professionals new to the field, and for more experienced professionals eager to respond to fast-changing technological advancements and job requirements. Past graduates of SEI have praised the expertise and preparedness of the instructors, and appreciated opportunities for networking and sharing problem-solving perspectives. One participant noted, ”I left SEI feeling renewed in my passion for what I do.”Kress Foundation Scholarship recipients for SEI 2015 will each receive $770 to cover tuition, accommodations, and minor incidentals. Applications are being accepted now for the SEI Kress Scholarships, with a deadline of Friday, February 14, 2015. Recepients will be notified no later than March 14, 2015. If you are interested in applying for a Kress Foundation Scholarship, information can be found on the SEI 2015 website at http://seiworkshop.org/scholarships/.SEI registration will open in mid-January. Look for a description of the curriculum and information on accommodations at http://seiworkshop.org. Please feel free to contact the SEI co-chairs, Meghan Musolff (musolffm@umich.edu) or Greta Bahnemann (bahne002@umn.edu) with any questions.Follow SEI on Facebook!https://www.facebook.com/SummerEducationalInstitute
Visual Resources Association Foundation Announces 2014 Project Grant Winners
The Board of Directors of the Visual Resources Association Foundation is pleased to announce the presentation of its 2014 VRAF Project Grants to Matthias Arnold, University of Heidelberg, and Krystle Kelley, University of Colorado Boulder. The amount of each award is $1500.Matthias Arnold, Heidelberg Research Architecture, University of Heidelberg, will use the award to support the development of the VRA Core 4 XML Transform Tool. This tool will enable any user who can supply descriptive image metadata in a standardized CSV form (comma separated values, e.g. via Excel) to create validating VRA Core 4 XML. Useful on its own, this XML also represents an important step for further transformations to other XML schemas, like RDF to support output of data as LOD (Linked Open Data). The tool is being developed in consultation with both the VRA Data Standards and the Core OC Committees, will be shared with the image management community during beta-testing for feedback, and will be open-source and freely available upon completion. Susan Jane Williams (Independent Cataloging and Consulting Services) will serve as coordinator for the mapping templates and will help create documentation, demonstrations (sample records and mappings), and further mapping help in use of the tool. We are confident that this tool will have broad value and impact within the visual resources community, and for the VRA Core 4 standard.Krystle Kelley, M.A. student in Art History at the University of Colorado Boulder, will use the award to support a pilot project to digitize and make broadly accessible 500 images that highlight the extraordinary depth and breadth of the 30,000 Ronald M. Bernier Image Archive. The particular strength of this archive is in the cultures of Nepal, India, Tibet, and Southeast Asia, and in its emphasis on documentation of less studied indigenous traditions, notoriously difficult to access countries and sites, and sites and works that are now in peril or have now disappeared altogether.The project aims to provide broad, public access to a unique, incredibly valuable archive, and do so at the highest standard. As the project evolves, members of the scholarly community at the University of Colorado Boulder and beyond will be consulted to contribute metadata, providing the project with a crowdsourcing element that could serve as a model for others who are trying to grapple with important—but minimally described—collections. Krystle has assembled an excellent project team at the University of Colorado Boulder, including an Art History faculty member, and Elaine Paul and Lia Pileggi from the Visual Resources Center. We anticipate that the project will lead to a resource that will be of lasting value to scholars and image management professionals, as well as to the broader general public.The purpose of the VRA Foundation’s Project Grant is to provide support for projects in the field of visual resources and image management. Please visit vrafoundation.org for more information.The mission of the VRA Foundation is to advance knowledge in the field of visual resources and image management and to provide educational and training opportunities in support of broad access to cultural information in the digital age. The Foundation advances awareness of important issues for digital information management; encourages the application of professional standards, innovative technology, and metadata cataloging protocols; facilitates workplace training; and promotes awareness of intellectual property rights and copyright issues. The VRA Foundation supports a range of educational offerings to help ensure that such information reaches a diverse and global audience.
VRA Travel Awards
Dear VRA colleagues,
The VRA Travel Awards Committee is pleased to announce the following recipients of Travel Awards for the 2015 VRA conference in Denver:Archivision International Award – Frances Narkiewicz, Chester Beatty Library, DublinKathe Hicks Albrecht Award — Rosanna Meindl, Rhodes CollegeGallery Systems — Ann Walt Stallings, Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumNew Horizons Full Award — Leah Rios, University of ArizonaNew Horizons Full Award — Vanessa Miller, College for Creative StudiesNew Horizons Student Award — Keri Marken, Corita Art Center/UCLALuraine Tansey Memorial Award —Marie Elia, University of BuffaloMember Challenge Award – Inga Theissen, Macalester College
Luraine Tansey/VRA Travel Awards:Michael Donovan, University of ChicagoLinda Callahan, Mount Holyoke CollegeBeth Wodnick Haas, Princeton UniversityHannah Marshall, Cornell UniversitySarah Gillis, Worcester Art MuseumMolly Schoen, University of Michigan, Ann ArborJennifer Kniesch, Dickinson College
Congratulations to the award recipients, and thank you to all 36 applicants for their interest and excellent applications.
Additional thanks go to contributors to the travel awards fund, our generous travel award sponsors, the VRA Executive Board and the Travel Awards Committee.We're looking forward to seeing all of you in Denver,Vicky Brown and Jeannine KeeferCo-Chairs, Travel Awards Committee
Memo from the President
'Tis the Season - Shop Amazon and Support the VRA
Greetings All,
The holidays are just around the corner! Avoid the chaos of the shopping mall and use Amazon to fulfill all of your holiday needs and wants. How about a Gnome Nativity Scene to spice up your decor or a Hanukkah in Your Pocket LED Menorah?
Is the thought of spending time with relatives bringing you down? Then pack your bags and head to the Caribbean! Look no further than Amazon for a Luxury Divas Flat Tan Wide Brim Sun Hat, SPF 110 Sunscreen, and a Beekeeper Suit for the ultimate sun protection.
Simply click on one of the Amazon links under the Support Us section located in the lower right sidebar. The Visual Resources Association will receive a percentage back for every dollar you spend!
Barbara Brenny and Mary AlexanderVRA Development Committee Co-Chairs
Plenary speakers for Denver conference; registration begins tomorrow
Dear VRA colleagues,I am very pleased to announce the exciting plenary speakers for our upcoming 33rd Annual Conference in Denver (March 11-14, 2015). Opening speaker Aaron Straup Cope, Head of Engineering at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum and also an artist, will discuss how the New Cooper Hewitt Experience engages visitors with interactive and immersive creative technologies. Closing speaker Emily Gore, Director for Content with the Digital Public Library of America, will address the strategic vision for DPLA content and oversight of the DPLA Hub program.Kudos and many thanks to Vice President for Conference Program Steven Kowalik for coordinating these innovative thinkers' presence at our conference.See the conference website for more information about the preliminary program (including more details about our plenary speakers), accommodations, travel arrangements, and more. As you will see from the preliminary program, we have stellar sessions, workshops, meetings, and events lined up for attendees.And get ready: conference registration begins tomorrow! Keep an eye out for an e-mail with registration information.I'm looking forward to seeing many of you in the Mile High City for what promises to be an outstanding conference.Best wishes,Elaine