Of all the meetings that I attend each year, the ARLIS/Texas-Mexico annual meeting is the one that I find the most stimulating. The meeting is like a class reunion where we all get to visit with our old friends and, of course, we meet new friends. It is never overwhelming and is so much fun, as it has been for many years.
Just about two months ago, we had our annual meeting at the Kimbell Art Museum. The weather was pleasant. The business meeting, programs and tours went very smoothly and we had a good turnout. I can still picture everyone so relaxed and so happy. I would like to thank the Fort Worth Annual Meeting Planning Committee (Pat Oestricher, Steve Gassett and Sam Duncan), our regional Representative, Pat Lynagh, who reported at our meeting and all of you who helped me in making this meeting a big success.
At the business meeting, there were several issues that we were concerned about. To name a few: Jacqui Allen and Marty Stein will organize a year 2000 meeting to be held in Houston; Janine Henri and Bonnie Reed will co-chair the Texas-Mexico librarians promotion program to recruit Mexican librarians to our Chapter. The Lois Swan Jones Professional Development Award, chaired by Laura Schwartz, has an application deadline of January 15, 2000. A ballot for voting to increase our Chapter’s annual membership and subscriber’s fee is attached to this issue of The Medium. Last but not least, let's welcome Polly Trump who will be our Vice- President/President Elect in the Millennium. We are confident that all the committee members are working very hard to help enrich our Chapter.
It was a great honor to serve the ARLIS/Texas, and then the ARLIS/Texas-Mexico Chapter. During the last two years, because of you, I have seen the Chapter grow stronger and I feel that I have grown stronger with it. The chapter could not have been healthy without sound input from all of us. When I think about it, it is with a thrill of joy. I am glad that I was able to share this experience with you. I found these two years very rewarding and I recommend that all members get on board. This is your chance, and if time allows, please express your interest in serving the organization. The ARLIS/Texas-Mexico Executive Committee is always happy to hear from you.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
We are all preparing for a new century - what an exciting time! Along with these plans are those for the first ARLIS/NA Annual Conference of the millennium. The Conference Committee in Pittsburgh is hard at work getting ready for what sounds like a great combination of worthwhile sessions, wonderful tours, and terrific speakers. I hope to see all of you in Pittsburgh from March 16-22!
Things in the South Region are also busy and equally exciting. The newly named ARLIS/Texas-Mexico Chapter met at the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth from October 7-10. Chia-Chun Shih, the President of the Chapter, organized and led the annual meeting. As you know, the name change in the Chapter By-Laws was approved at the Executive Board's Mid-Year Meeting in Berkeley, California. The Chapter is now hard at work on plans to recruit new members from Mexico. While at the Kimbell, we saw Sister Wendy and Elvis Costello in one day; however, they weren't together.
The meeting next year will be in Houston, Texas. In November, ARLIS/SE held their 25th Anniversary Regional Conference in Atlanta. The meeting was hosted by Kim Collins of the High Museum. An added treat was that we were there for the opening of the Norman Rockwell exhibition at the High. We also enjoyed a tour of the decorative arts collection at the museum, a tour of Nexus Press’s artist’s book collection and a visit to Emory University's Special Collections Department and their Michael C. Carlos Museum.
ARLIS/DC-MD-VA has joined the ARLIS/Texas-Mexico and ARLIS/SE Chapters in having our own web site. Our thanks go to Julia Wisniewski, University of Maryland, for starting and hosting this web site. Julia is anxious for comments and suggestions on items to be included. Thanks also to Karen Schneider for hosting the November Chapter meeting at the Phillips Collection and for a wonderful tour of "The Eye of Duncan Phillips: A Collection in the Making." We had a great turn-out and a delightful day. The Baltimore members of the Chapter have offered to extend an invitation to ARLIS/NA for a future Annual Conference in Baltimore.
Meanwhile, the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA had a full agenda at the Mid-Year Meeting held in Berkeley, California from October 1-3. Among the topics discussed were future conferences (2001-Los Angeles; 2002- St. Louis), the Strategic Plan and Survey of Members, and report from Adler, Droz, Inc. (ADI). Howard Adler and Cindy Percival, from ADI, attended the meeting and reported on activities of the new management company. In this transition phase between management companies, ADI is still ironing out membership issues such as the Membership Directory, the ARLIS/NA web site, and conference planning.
The Executive Board will hold pre-conference and post-conference meetings in Pittsburgh. If there are issues which you wish brought up at these meetings, please let me know as soon as possible (Pat Lynagh, Asst. Librarian/Reference Librarian, National Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery Library, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560; (202)357-1886; PLynagh@nmaa.si.edu).
ARLIS/Texas-Mexico is pleased to offer its annual travel award of $500 for the ARLIS/NA conference in Pittsburgh, PA March 16 - 22, 2000.
Purpose: To support and encourage the involvement of an ARLIS/Texas- Mexico member in the ARLIS/NA annual conference by contributing toward travel expenses.
Requirements:
Please send a letter of application stating your qualifications, amount of institutional funding for conference attendance, and conference program involvement to:
Laura Schwartz
The University of Texas at Austin
Fine Arts Library, DFA 3.200
Austin, TX 78713
(512) 495-4476 (512)
495-4490 (fax)
lauras@mail.utexas.edu
Letter must be received by January 15, 2000. The award recipient will be notified by February 15, 2000.
1999 ARLIS/Texas-Mexico Business Meeting; October 8, 1999, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth - Minutes
I Call to order
1999 chapter President Chia-Chun Shih called the meeting to order.
II. Introductions
A. The President introduced the chapter officers: Vice President/President-elect Jacqueline Allen, Secretary/Treasurer Carl Close, and Past President Bonnie Reed.
B. Chapter members informally introduced themselves.
III. Secretary-Treasurer's report
A. The minutes of the 1998 annual meeting were unanimously approved.
B. The treasurer reported a balance of: $1,040.00 (corrected)
C. Carl Close reported that there had been no T-shirt sales during the calendar year. It was suggested that the remainder be sold during the ALA Midwinter meeting in San Antonio, and a new logo be designed to reflect the new identity of the chapter.
IV. Vice-President's report
As newsletter editor, Jacqueline Allen reported that mailing and printing expenses were $287.64 for The Medium. They had been higher than normal due to the fact that more issues were printed and disseminated to potential Visual Resource members, as well as to the fact that changing positions made it difficult to utilize normally-used institutional resources. Webmaster Sam Duncan suggested that the chapter web site could be a more timely resource for chapter and professional news items.
V. Regional Representative's report
Pat Lynagh, ARLIS Southeast Regional Representative noted that the Executive Board had been pleased thus far with Adler-Droz, the new contracted management company. The Strategic Planning Committee's questionnaire had been found very useful in determining members’ wants and needs: 1) Professional development 2) Leadership 3) Better speakers. The goal is to be able to measure ARLIS' accomplishments. In discussing future conferences, she pointed out that ARLIS would meet jointly with VRA in St. Louis in 2002, and that Ottawa might be a possible choice for 2003 or 2004. In response to interest in Washington, D.C., she reminded members of temporary museum closings for renovation during the next several years.
VI. Old and New Business
A. Chapter By-Laws
Past-President Bonnie Reed reported that the chapter name change had been proposed at the 1997 meeting in Houston. MFA,H has already agreed to store the chapter archives.
B. Ready for ARLIS/Texas-Mexico at the New Millennium?
The chapter will need to actively recruit members from Mexico. Robert Beebe volunteered to seek contacts on his planned trip to Guadalajara. Extra funding would be needed to handle mailings - ARLIS/NA a possible source. There are also bilingual concerns that need to be addressed.
C. Houston will be the site for the inaugural meeting of the Texas- Mexico chapter for the year 2000. Archives and space-planning were suggested points of departure for meeting programming.
D. Lois Swan Jones Travel Award
Janine Henri noted that more than $350 was needed for an award - last year's was $700. The members approved two awards for $500 each from the treasury. 15 January 2000 would be the application deadline, with notification on 1 February.
E. Archives at MFA, Houston
Lorraine Stuart noted that in the chapter contract with MFA,H, we retain ownership. The annual transfer of records will take place each spring. Hollinger boxes would be provided as needed. In case of contract changes, there will be a six- month "buffer zone".
F. Chapter history/meeting list
Linda Shearouse was not able to attend the meeting and reported that she does not have the time to devote to creating a history of the chapter, which may already be found in the chapter archives and in our web site. Polly Trump pointed out that the materials need to first be processed. Chia-Chun Shih suggested that this issue be closed.
G. Chapter web site
Sam Duncan is currently hosting our web site on his personal internet account. He noted that the site will carry full-text of the last three issues of The Medium. He pointed out that our domain name needs to be registered and that we need to migrate to an independent ISP if National cannot host our site. The discussion of possible monthly costs in hosting our own chapter web site resulted in a proposal by Janine Henri to raise the dues to $15 per year for 2001, which was unanimously accepted.
H. T-shirts
A new chapter logo is needed.
VII. Other business
A. Visual Resources Librarians
Marty Stein noted that after a hiatus of several years, there were now five visual resource members present at this year’s meeting.
B. ARLIS/NA conference sponsorship
It was unanimously decided to donate $200 from the chapter treasury to the Welcome Party at the 2000 Conference in Pittsburgh.
C. Election
Polly Trump was elected Vice President/President-elect for the year 2000.
D. New issues
Sam Duncan agreed to accept suggestions concerning new T-shirt logo possibilities.
IV. Adjournment
Chia-Chun Shih thanked the meeting participants and the meeting was adjourned.
Sessions
October 8, 1999
Dr. Mark Thistlethwaite described in this session several “museum sited” classes which he has conducted at the museums in the Fort Worth Cultural District. He explained that the idea behind holding his classes directly in the museum is to foster a feeling among students that the museum is the classroom. Through this first-hand exposure, students are given a “feel” for the sorts of real issues that are often only theoretically addressed in the classroom. For instance, they gain familiarity with the specific holdings and overall collection philosophy of a museum and how the museum functions as a physical space, and this in turn engenders a mindset of life-long learning and pleasure. Just as important are the consequent opportunities they have to find out what really goes on "behind the scenes" and to network with curators and other museum staff. They are thus given a rare opportunity to see first-hand the planning and work that goes into an exhibition installation, and to develop and refine skills in critically analyzing and articulating what they see.
Dr. Thistlethwaite outlined the methodology of these \"museum centered" classes as being a combination of short lecture with the majority of time spent in the galleries viewing and discussing the art works. In addition, a major portion of a student’s grade is weighted heavily toward writing. These writing projects are often assigned in conjunction with readings from novelists of the time period relating to the works of art. Other writing assignments may involve taking on the identity of curator or other staff member with the responsibility for planning and installing an exhibition. Taken together, these teaching strategies contribute to a deeper and richer experience for students.
Dr. Mark Thistlethwaite is Professor of Artand holder the Kay Velma Kimbell Chair History at Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth.He has taught TCU since 1977specializing in architecture United States modern Europe. Recently facilitated development a Masters degree program through conducting seminars connoisseurship on nature museums by collaborating with internships for advanced students.
Samantha Hastings, Assistant Professor, at UNT, and Phillip Collins, Curator of the African American Museum in Dallas, shared their experiences in the cooperative effort between the university and the museum in the Digital Images Management project. The two year project is now halfway through the second year. The Institute of Museum & Library Services sponsors the program, which provides a $7,500 fellowship for each student, funds for purchasing digital lab equipment, and pays staff salaries.
There are ten fellows in the Digital Images Management certificate program. The program of study includes courses through UNT's School of Library and Information Science and School of Fine Arts, as well as the digital imaging lab. The students learn how to create and manage digital information and to understand client markets of libraries, archives information centers, and museums. Two products result from this partnership -- digital image managers and the museum's web site.
The program is based on mutual objectives, and has provided opportunities for research of evaluative methods for image retrieval systems, models of collaboration, measures of success for digital images management, curriculum development, and the impact of the web site. To learn more about the program, visit the web site at: http://courses.unt.edu/shastings/HastingsWW W/IMLS/imls.html
Beverly CarverBlythe Lee, Preservation Field Services Officer at AMIGOS Imaging and Preservation Services, talked about the phases of a digital imaging project. The most critical step is stating a vision/mission. The next step is gathering information, and then setting goals and objectives, keeping in mind the purpose of the project. The planning stage should include a detailed budget and an evaluation plan. If grant funding will be sought, it is important to develop a business plan. Partnering with other institutions will not only increase the chances of getting grant monies, but will provide higher visibility for the project.
When selecting materials for digital imaging projects, the collection should already be processed, and the copyright should belong to the institution that owns the collection. The condition of the collection is a consideration. Also, since current digital formats are not truly archival, the project should include creating archival negatives to preserve the images.
It is important that those involved in the project have a thorough understanding of the project and are committed. Meeting with the vendors periodically ensures quality control.
Beverly CarverTara Carlisle of the University of North Texas Libraries discussed the Texas Fashion Collection (TFC) catalog. The collection includes work by top designers from 1820 to the present. Creating the catalog was a cooperative effort between the Libraries, the information technology department, and Myra Walker, the curator of the fashion collection. Tara wrote the proposal to digitize 200 garments and establish a database that would open the collection to the public. The Beverly Burke Couture Collection was used as the model.
The program for the database was written by a member of the information technology department in close consultation with Myra and Tara. The database allows searching by designer, garment classification, type of object, date, gender, and label. The catalog indexes approximately 10,000 garments and accessories by 740 designers, 1,620 designer labels, and 160 object types. Currently, there are approximately 250 of the 8,000 records that include images, with plans to created digitized images of a majority of the collection's objects.
Most of the TFC, because of the delicate condition of the garments, lack of exhibition space, and inadequate staffing, was previously unavailable to researchers. The new catalog provides virtual access for those who are studying fashion design, merchandising, history, the arts, and the public at large. Visit the Texas Fashion Collection online at: http://web2.unt.edu/tfc/
Beverly CarverTours
October 7, 1999
Barry, Chief Conservator, and Isabelle Tokumaru, Associate Conservator at the Kimbell Art Museum (KAM) provided us with a guided tour of the Conservation Department. We viewed facilities, equipment, work-in- process, and before and after photographs showing us the breadth of their work. Claire Barry is a graduate of the Art Conservation program at Cooperstown; she came to the KAM in 1985 after working at the Metropolitan Museum. Isabelle Tokumaru graduated from the Art Conservation program at NYU, and joined the KAM in 1995 after an internship at the Met.
Since 1992 the Conservation Department at the KAM has been shared with the Amon Carter Museum (ACM). The conservators assess the condition of new acquisitions and items to be exhibited, recommending conservation needs. The emphasis of the Department is on restoration of new acquisitions and establishing conservation priorities. The department also handles disaster planning and pest management for the entire museum. Only paintings are conserved in the KAM lab. Ideally, in the future, the ACM will set up a shared paper conservation lab. The Dallas Museum of Art has a good objects conservation department and is able to take on work for the KAM and ACM. Besides working on KAM and ACM paintings, the conservators take on work from other cultural district museums or private owners, giving them the opportunity to tackle special challenges.
Louis I. Kahn, the building's architect, understood the conservators' needs for natural light and designed the conservation lab with northern windows (northern light being the most constant). The Conservation Department houses a reference library in their staff room. With facilities located near curatorial offices, conservation functions are well integrated into Curatorial Department operations. The museum photographer handles the Conservation Department's documentary photography from a studio adjacent to the lab. Archival files and conservation photos are housed in the Registrar's Office, with curatorial files.
Conservators are able to handle technical research on paintings, using an infra-red reflectogram, X-radiograph, and auto-radiograph. Scanners and Adobe Photoshop are used to compare the radiographs, super-imposing images to look for changes. Curators have used these images to date paintings, understand an artist's technique, or confirm attributions. Researchers may request appointments to use this equipment for special studies and conservators are willing to provide condition assessments and advice to the public.
Docent Sylvia Urlage gave us a guided tour of the permanent collections exhibited in the KAM galleries. Louis I. Kahn, the building's architect, devised galleries so that walls can be hung almost anywhere in the building, providing exhibit designers with maximum flexibility. The arched roofs ("shell" or "post-tensioned" roofs) with screened sky-lights provide diffused natural light with which to view the works. The floors, of light colored oak and travertine create a subtle flow of light and dark.
We viewed works more or less in chronological order, starting with the Asian Collections (which include Gandharan, Mathuran, Cambodian and T'ang stone sculpture, Thai and Chola bronzes), then Ancient Collections (Cycladic, Greek and Roman sculpture), ending with European paintings (medieval altarpieces, Italian Renaissance paintings on wood panels or canvas, Northern Renaissance oils on canvas or silvered copper, Baroque, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century paintings, as well as some early Twentieth Century works). Artists such as Giovanni Bellini, Fra Angelico, Titian, Caravaggio, Georges De La Tour, Rubens, Rembrandt, Boucher, Joshua Reynolds, Goya, Canaletto, Vigée Le Brun, Corot, Gaugin, Cézanne, Munch, Picasso, Matisse, Monet and Mondrian are represented. The docent provided much insight into the history of collecting at the KAM as well as provenance details for some of the pieces.
Janine J. HenriTour
October 9, 1999
ARLIS/Texas-Mexico members were treated to an in-depth tour of downtown Fort Worth by Susie Pritchett, a knowledgeable Fort Worth historian and advocate of historic preservation. Before beginning the walking tour, the group toured the new Bass Performance Hall, a splendid addition to downtown Fort Worth's cultural life designed by David M. Schwarz. The building's design is Beaux-Arts inspired, but many of its features help imbue it with a Texas identity, including building materials native to Texas and murals from Fort Worth-based painters Scott and Stuart Gentling. The group continued its tour with Susie through the downtown area, where at every turn members learned of Fort Worth's rich history and its inextricable link to downtown architecture. The tour ended with a delicious luncheon at Reata, which is located atop the Bank One building in the central downtown area. From that vantage, members had an encompassing, bird's eye view of many of the buildings seen at street level.
Sam DuncanLast spring I saw a chart comparing search engines to celebrities (I think it was in Wired, but don't quote me on that). Yahoo!, it said, is the Angela Lansbury of search engines (reliable, predictable), while, at the other end of the scale, the Go Network is Dennis Rodman (who knows what to expect; anything could happen). A list of URLs for sites mentioned may be found at the end of this article. This column is the first of two that will look at search engines and how to make the best use of them.
In November, I attended Internet Librarian '99, and picked up some useful tips. Danny Sullivan, author of Search Engine Watch, asked "How do you find a needle in a haystack? Can you find it in half of a haystack? What if the needle is not in that half of the haystack? Will it be easier if the whole haystack is dumped on your head? Do you need more hay, or just a metal detector?"
There are literally THOUSANDS of search engines ("metal detectors") available on the World Wide Web. For a directory, visit Beaucoup, which offers links to over 2,000 sites, some very specific and some very broad. No one search engine searches the entire World Wide Web. Each one chooses a small portion of the Web for its database. Northern Light consistently comes out near the top in surveys of which has the largest database. At last count there were over 800 million Web pages, although everyone at Internet Librarian '99 agreed there are probably more and, at this writing, Northern Light claims to cover 197,970,728 of those.
There are three main kinds of searchers and many sites are using all three. The original search engine was a spider or crawler. HotBot is a good example. Type in the phrase "ice cream" in the search box, tell HotBot to find it as a phrase, and HotBot's computer reads through the pages in its database looking for ice cream as a phrase. The results could include Ben & Jerry's home page, a page about someone's birthday party where ice cream was served, and a page about ice cream headaches.
Early in the game, Yahoo! created the directory approach. Yahoo! employees (human beings) find and review pages about golf, choose the ones they believe Yahoo! users would find most useful, and when someone types in the word "golf," Yahoo! pulls up that list of pages from their directory.
Recently portals have started to pop up everywhere. A portal is a page where the user has an ID and a password, and dictates the information displayed. For example, I have created a page at My Snap that has links to headline news from sources I have chosen, weather forecasts for places of interest to me, art news, book reviews and health news. Sadly, I have no stocks, so I have eliminated the module that gives stock reports. Were I a sports fan, I could get current scores and information about my favorite teams. Portals are available at most search sites and at many other kinds of sites, the premise being that if I check My Snap daily, while I am there, I will use Snap's other products as well.
GoTo.com -- not to be confused with Go Network, which is owned by Disney -- offers paid placement for results. Thus, a site willing pay 12¢ will be listed higher in the results than a site only willing to pay 8¢, and both will be listed higher than a page unwilling to pay anything. In theory, this practice eliminates "optimizing" by webmasters. This is an example of optimizing given by Danny Sullivan. During the height of the impeachment hearings last year, he searched for "Monica Lewinsky." Among the returned results was a page titled "Monica Lewinsky Nude and Jukebox for Sale." The webmaster optimized this page by putting the words "Monica Lewinsky" and "nude" in the title so that if someone searched either of those terms, his jukebox page would be appear on the list of hits. Instead, the owners of the page could pay GoTo.com to be the first result listed for the query "jukebox." The controversy lies in whether this is advantageous to users. If the first 20 sites listed are paid placement, the user may miss a site that has exactly the information needed but that is not paying for placement.
Search sites change frequently. They are constantly updating, stream lining, and just generally tinkering with their pages. The thinking behind this is simple. If a user finds sufficient results every time they use a certain site, they will return to that site again and again, generating more advertising revenue for the site owners. When visiting a search engine for the first time, or revisiting one not used in a while, take the few minutes to read the search tips. There is no point wasting time adding quotation marks to a phrase if the search engine does not recognize that punctuation.
To stay abreast of things, visit Search Engine Watch, which offers all the ins, outs, and changes that are going on with search engines. Subscription to the free monthly newsletter is available at the site. Recent articles have included "The 'New' Alta Vista," "Who's the Biggest of Them All?," and "Google Gets Out of Beta."
A more specific discussion of individual search engines will appear in our first issue in the new millennium.
URLs of Interest Internet Librarian '99 proceedings overview can be found at http://www.infotoday.com/il99/presenta tions/default.htm
Search Engine Watch
http://searchenginewatch.com
Beaucoup
http://www.beaucoup.com
Northern Light
http://www.northernlight.com
HotBot
http://www.hotbot.com
Yahoo!
http://www.yahoo.com
Snap
http://www.snap.com
GoTo.com
http://www.goto.com
Go Network
http://www.go.com
I was able to attend the ARLIS/ Mountain West conference in Tucson, Nov. 11-14, 1999. After an opening reception at the pueblo-revival style Joesler House (owned by the University of Arizona), sessions began with "High and Low Tech in Museum Libraries" presented by Genni Houlihan (Phoenix Art Museum Library) and Nancy Simon (Dever Art Museum Library). Retrospective conversion activities and challenges of working with volunteers were highlighted.
Tara Carlisle's presentation "C'est Chic: The Texas Fashion Collection as a WWW Resource" was next. Her excellent presentation was another version of the material she discussed at our Chapter meeting in Fort Worth (see http://www.art.unt/tfc for more details). During the business meeting, I announced our chapter's Mexican membership sub-committee and asked for assistance from members with contacts in Mexico. Museum librarians responded that they would contact their Latin American art curators and ask for names of colleagues in Mexico. Next year's chapter meeting will be in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas was mentioned for 2001. They also discussed proposing Las Vegas for the 2004 ARLIS/NA conference.
The next session was "Making Technology Work," presented by Lise Hawkos and Heather Seneff of Arizona State University's School of Art Visual Resources Collection. Lise and Heather reviewed the history of technological changes in their collection from a DataEase database in 1984 to their current web site http://www.asu.edu/cfa/art/facility/artslide. Low resolution images have been made available for "virtual slide reviews" since 1997, with text provided by the professor (syllabus notes) or imported from their database. They created a worksheet, allowing work-study students to input most web site functions. They use a Nikon digital slide scanner, Image Access Pro, MS Access, and an in-house server. In 1999 they began an MFA Archive Project which includes students' artists' statements and resumes linked to images of their work (72 d.p.i., for temporary classroom use; not archival or permanent, and unsuited for other media). Recently faculty have begun to teach using broadcast TV, incorporating digital images in PowerPoint presentations, and creating class web pages. Visual Resources Curators place scans into PowerPoint for faculty, trading slide carousels with zip drives. They purchase digital image sets and follow the VRA Image Collection Guidelines and the AAM's Museum Guide to Copyright and Trademark. With each source record they create they include rights information (permission letters are prepared with slide orders). Smart Classrooms are being installed and the School of Art established an Art History Classroom Technology Committee. Lise and Heather expressed a need for two new staff lines: someone to handle rights & reproductions and someone to manage scanning and digital projects.
Next came "Applying Constructivist Learning Theory to Library Instruction" led by Ann Lally (University of Arizona Library). This was an active learning session: we were placed into small groups, given an assignment, and asked to report back to the larger group. When we were done we found out that we had a constructivist learning experience! Generally these are broken down into 6 parts: a situation, groupings, a bridge, questions, exhibits, and reflections. More information is located at http://www.prainbow.com/cld.cldp.html. The day ended with keynote speaker, folklorist Jim Griffith, entertaining us with lore and slides of Hispanic Tucson and Mexicana Arizona.
Our second day began with a presentation by Tom Riedel (Regis University) on "Tradition Reconfigured: Juan Sanchez and Patrocino Barela and New Deal Saint-Making." This talk was based on Tom's M.A. thesis and a chapter he wrote for a forthcoming book on colonial identity in New Mexico. While Tom described his research on artists Juan Sanchez and Patrocino Barela, he gave us an insight into the history of American folk art exhibitions and publications, santo collecting (and their removal from churches), and the commissioning of reproductions of 18th-19th century retablos, santos, and bultos by the Federal Arts Project.
Artist Fritz Scholder followed with a presentation on his book arts, prints, and poems, and read from his latest work: "Millennium." The meeting ended with R. Brooks Jeffery (Arizona Architectural Archives) and Jim Griffith providing us with an informative tour of Tucson architecture, yard art, murals, and other roadside attractions. I urge all chapter members to attend a Mountain West conference as I found this one very informative. Sessions were chosen after a "call for papers" was issued, and attempts are made to include papers dealing with library management and administration, technology issues, art and architecture topics.
The ARLIS Travel Award Committee notified Sheryl Garcia of the University of Houston that she will be receiving the $1,000 RLG Travel Award for the Pittsburgh Conference! Way to go, Sheryl!
Dr. Robert Freeman, an accomplished pianist and musicologist who served as director of the prestigious Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester for 24 years, has been named dean of the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. His appointment is effective Jan. 16, 2000. Dr. Sheldon Ekland-Olson, UT Austin executive vice president and provost, announced Freeman's appointment November 30. Freeman replaces Dr. David Deming, who left the University to become president of the Cleveland Institute of Art.
During his tenure at Eastman from 1972 to 1996, Freeman strengthened the faculty and the concept of faculty self- governance, improved alumni relations and oversaw $50 million in new construction and $20 million in rebuilding on campus. He also reorganized the school's admissions program, resulting in a 90 percent increase during the period 1974-92 in numbers of completed applications, and he played a leading role in the University's fundraising efforts. In its most recent rankings, the U.S. News & World Report named the Eastman School of Music the nation's leading music school.
"I have spent my entire career looking for ways to connect music to other disciplines, and I hope to continue this at Texas," said Freeman. "I look forward to presiding over a lively discussion of what the arts will look like in America in the year 2025 and even 2050 - and of what education and skills students in the fine arts will need to be professionally successful at that time."
The University of Texas at Austin announced on November 16 that Herzog & de Meuron have resigned their commission as design architects for the planned Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art. The architects indicated that their decision was based on their judgement that it would not be practical to bridge differences over the interpretation of the project in the context of the Campus Master Plan. The plan was adopted by the UT System Board of Regents in 1996 to guide future development of the campus.
UT Austin President Larry R. Faulkner said that members of the UT community understand the basis for the decision and are in agreement that it would have been difficult to reach a jointly accepted concept of the new museum. Herzog & de Meuron representatives said that they are convinced that the process of consultation they have gone through with the UT System Board of Regents was productive in defining the parameters of the Blanton Museum. They expressed the hope that the results of the discussion will pave the way for further progress. Herzog & de Meuron, based in Basel, Switzerland, served as design consultants under subcontract with Booziotis & Company of Dallas. The Dallas firm will complete program development in a form that can be transferred to the new design architects after they are appointed.
Donald L. Evans, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, notes that, "Our vision for the museum continues to encompass three fundamental elements -- that this will be a magnificent building in its own right, that it will be a fitting home to the University's growing and renowned collections of art, and that it will reflect the fact that it occupies one of the most important sites in the state of Texas." The site is the southern gateway to the campus which connects (literally and symbolically) the University with the Capitol building. It symbolizes the link between the University and all the people of Texas. Furthermore, the museum will be across the street from the state’s new Texas history museum, which is under construction at the corner of Congress Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
Bonnie Reed reports that the Texas Tech University Libraries received a grant from The CH Foundation for $45,000. The grant was awarded for the enhancement of the Fine Arts Collections, especially the music score collection, and the art and theatre book collections. Bonnie is the project director.
Good personal news arrived from Janine Henri (Architecture and Planning Library, University of Texas at Austin). "My son, Geoffrey Kumar Sanford, became an Eagle Scout in April. His Eagle Project was a mural in his High School Library which features a purple jaguar (the school's mascot) in the center sitting on Mayan Ruins, surrounded by a jungle scene featuring both rain forest fauna and a few Texas critters. My husband (who's still undergoing chemotherapy) was well enough to come home for Thanksgiving so Geoffrey's Eagle Scout Court of Honor was finally held on Saturday November 27 in Zilker Park. It was a gloriously sunny day!" Janine also attended the ARLIS/Mountain West Chapter meeting recently. Her report appears later in this newsletter.
Margaret Culbertson reports that the William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library's long-awaited expansion project is finally scheduled for this coming spring semester. A space adjacent to the library, in the Architecture Building, will be renovated to provide additional shelving space. Once that is done, some major shifting will have to be done, and then the construction crew comes into the library for some additional renovation work. Margaret adds, "If you call this spring and hear hammering in the background and a frazzled sound in our voices, you will know that we are in the midst of the renovation. I am also happy to report that they have hired Charlene Kanter, of Houston, into the other half of my position, and she will start a half-time schedule in January 2000. If you need to reach me, I should be available in the Architecture and Art Library on Mondays, Tuesdays, and half of Wednesdays. We'll send more information about Charlene for the next issue of The Medium. Needless to say, I am REALLY looking forward to this schedule change."
The Education Resource Center at the DMA includes four departments which are directed by the Head (Librarian) and are part of the Public Programs Division of the museum. Recent hiring has taken place and now we are fully staffed.
Robin Works Davis was hired in November as the Manager of Educational Technology. She coordinates the DMA's web site, works with Education managers to develop teaching tools and manages the Collections Information Center. The CIC will be renovated shortly and starting in 2000 will begin using eMuseum from Gallery Systems to disseminate public information about the DMA's art objects. Robin was most recently a librarian in Farmers Branch where she worked with their web site, and art gallery. She has also published books on the subjects of art and children and educational multimedia.
Sammie Morris will be starting in January as the first Project Archivist at the DMA. Sammie most recently managed the Ann Richards Project at UT Austin’s Center for American History. She will be outfitting the DMA spaces and organizing our history in preparation for the Centennial in 2003.
Rita Lasater has recently expanded her staff and now has two full-time assistants in the Visual Resource Library. Giselle Castro-Brightenburg is the Assistant Manager and Michael Mazurek is their new Assistant. Art acquisitions and upcoming exhibitions are keeping them busy. In addition, a scanner and color laser printer were recently acquired and requests for the scanned and corrected images are quickly taking over as the most requested items by staff and public.
Mayer Library is starting the new year with the acquisition of an integrated system. A contract has been signed with Endeavor for the purchase of Voyager. We plan to "go live" with the OPAC in April. Cathy Zisk has been working hard to extract and clean our data, working with Marcive. Mary Leonard has been doing a fabulous job at remaining calm while coordinating all public services and acquisitions. Mary is also starting to offer workshops for docents to introduce them to electronic resources.
The Information Services Committee of the DMA Board of Trustees sponsors the Vasari Award, given to outstanding book-length publications that provide insight into works of art or aspects of art history and theory that enrich our understanding of visual arts. The 1999 Award was presented to John R. Clarke for his book, Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250 (University of California Press). The award was celebrated at a luncheon on December 9th which included a public lecture by Dr. Clarke entitled, "Context is Everything: The Erotic Picture in Elite and Non-Elite Homes at Pompeii." Coincidentally, moments before the luncheon began, Anne Bromberg, Curator of Ancient Art at the DMA (and Chief Juror of the Vasari) received word that the DMA had successfully bid on a Roman mosaic at a Christie's sale that day!
In addition to coordinating all of the above, Jacqui Allen has been acclimating to life in Dallas and at the DMA.
Many of you know that the Library staff, along with most other Museum departments, have been moved to a temporary offsite facility while the expansion project is completed. Library staff are using the downtime to focus on a few projects, including creating collection-level records for our ephemera files, completing a periodical retrospective conversion project, and reorganizing the auction catalog collection for better access. Thanks to all of you who have shared your advise and expertise on these projects.
Construction is on schedule at the Amon Carter Museum with the ongoing demolition of the additions completed in 1964 and 1977 located at the rear of the original 1961 building. Once the demolition is complete, construction will begin on a new, expanded addition to the 1961 building that will more than triple the total size of gallery space and accommodate a new library. To shield the construction site, a tall fence has been built around the perimeter of the Museum that will feature mural paintings completed by museum members, staff, and family.
It has been my pleasure to work with the members of the ARLIS/Texas- Mexico Chapter in 1999 and to compile this newsletter. Everyone has been extremely supportive, especially Chia- Chun. Your library news and events are an integral part of the history of ARLIS, and The Medium is the best place to record this. I encourage everyone to commit to at least one submission in 2000! You can submit items through your column coordinator or directly to Polly, our new Vice-President. Thank you and best wishes for the new year.
Ballot for proposed to change our membership/subscription fee from $10.00 to $15.00 available in printed copy.
[text available in printed copy]
Jacqui Allen
Dallas Museum of Art
1717 N. Harwood
Dallas, TX 75201
Academic libraries:
Margaret Culbertson
Architecture libraries:
Janine Henri
Exhibition listing:
Phil Heagy
Museum libraries:
Steve Gassett
Public libraries:
Robert Beebe
Visual resources:
Marty Stein
Carl Close
McNay Art Museum Library
P.O. Box 6069
San Antonio, TX 78209