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ARLIS/SE and Texas–Mexico Chapters met for their first regional conference ever in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 13–16, 2003. The meeting was deemed highly successful by many participants; there were forty-five official registrants, with a few from chapters outside of the hosting ones. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in the historic Garden District, right on St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, and each participant was provided with a streetcar pass to ease transportation issues.
Almost every event could be considered a highlight!
The Historic New Orleans Collection in the French Quarter was established in 1966 by General and Mrs. L. Kemper Williams, private collectors of Louisiana materials, to maintain and expand their collection and make it available to the public through research facilities and exhibitions. On Thursday afternoon, participants enjoyed a thorough tour of both the museum at 533 Royal Street and the Williams Research Center at 410 Chartres Street.
Friday was a whirlwind of activity, beginning with an enlightening tour and discussion at Neal Auction Company on Magazine Street. Staff there talked about the types of items they accept, how items are located for auction, and how auctions are conducted. They served coffee and invited us to walk around to look at the many items available for an upcoming event, but we all had so many questions that we had to sit back down for another round of questions and answers!
With little time to spare, we made our way to Tulane to spend the afternoon, grabbing lunch on the way if possible (yes, even in New Orleans I admit that I had a Chick-fil-A sandwich out of the bin at the student union)! Ann Lindell of the University of Florida moderated a very informative session, "Collection Assessment: Tools and Techniques"; Tom Caswell (University of Florida) presented "Identifying and Building Core Collections in Museum Studies"; Sarah McCleskey (Clemson University) discussed "Collection Assessment for a New Degree Program in Real Estate Development"; Ann Lindell presented "Citation Analysis as an Assessment Tool"; and Janine Henri (University of Texas) wrapped up the session with "Academic Accreditation and Collection Assessment."
Following this session, participants had the opportunity to choose to visit two of three exciting collections at Tulane: the Southeastern Architectural Archive (one of the larger collections of architectural drawings and building records in the South), the Amistad Research Center (a manuscripts library developed to provide resources for research on America's ethnic history and national and international communities), and the Latin American Library (among the foremost collections in Latin American archaeology, anthropology, history, linguistics, art, architecture, film, women's studies, economics, and many other subject areas). By all reports each collection was interesting and informative, and we thank our colleagues at Tulane for hosting us in this way.
A true highlight of the conference was Friday night, when Carl Penny, Norbert Raacke, and Randy Bowman hosted a regional New Orleans style dinner at Carl and Randy's home. We had red beans and rice, sausage, salad, bread, and the most delicious bread pudding I think I've ever had. This was a wonderful time to sit down, relax, chat, and perhaps have a glass (or two!) of wine in a comfortable environment. I know that everyone appreciated the hospitality. Carl Penny, formerly of the New Orleans Museum of Art, is now at Xavier University (and apparently looking forward to retirement!); Norbert Raacke is now at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Saturday was another busy day filled with wonderful learning opportunities. While each chapter held its own business meeting, members of the other chapter participated in a walking tour of the Garden District and special visits to three homes. Bethany Bultman, author of numerous books related to New Orleans and the South, met early risers at 7:30 a.m. for an overview of the Garden District, then led us on a tour to visit her home as well as the homes of two of her friends. Bethany, a friend of Sandra Still, also arranged for Random House to donate a copy of her book New Orleans, a part of the Compass American Guides series, to each conference participant.
After a boxed lunch in the beautiful lobby at the Hampton Inn, we boarded a bus to travel to the New Orleans Museum of Art to view the exhibit The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt. This is the first exhibition of ancient art from the Egyptian national collection to tour the United States since the Tutankhamun and Ramses exhibitions twenty years ago. Some objects that have never been on public display and many that have never been seen outside of Egypt were included in the show. The exhibit illuminated the Pharaonic concepts of the afterlife, sustenance and renewal, and the relationship with the divine. Thanks to member Norbert Raacke for arranging our tickets for this visit.
Although many participants left Sunday morning, a smaller but stalwart group stayed for two real treats. David Houston, chief curator of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, gave us a personally guided tour of the new museum. The Ogden brings together a large and comprehensive collection of southern art, creating a repository of works that seek to tell the story of southern art, history, and culture, and continuing the work begun by the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia, which opened in September 1992. The opening of the Ogden in August of this year signals an important milestone for the growing national recognition and understanding of southern visual art.
Finally, we trekked into the French Quarter for a tour of St. Louis Cemetery #1, led by a colorful guide from the Save Our Cemeteries organization. Founded in 1789 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Louis Cemetery #1 is the burial ground of some of the most illustrious citizens of New Orleans, including Étienne Boré, pioneer in sugar development; Daniel Clark, financial supporter of the American Revolution; Paul Morphy, world famous chess champion; and other local and national figures. Notable structures include the famed oven wall vaults, the supposed resting place of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, and the magnificent tombs of the French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish societies.
Additionally, Benjamin Henry Latrobe is buried there. From 1803, Latrobe redesigned the interior arrangement and style of the south wing of the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. He also rebuilt and redesigned part of the north wing. After the British burned the Capitol on August 24, 1814, Latrobe was again appointed architect to oversee the necessary restoration work. In a dispute over authority at the Capitol, Latrobe resigned, leaving some of the greatest interiors in the history of neoclassicism in America, including the Hall of the House (now National Statuary Hall), the Old Senate Chamber, and the Old Supreme Court Chamber.
Filled with good food, new knowledge, and new or renewed friendships, I left New Orleans feeling that the conference was a great success!
From Roberto C. Ferrari, Wimberly Library, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida:
After more than three and a half years in my current position as Head of Access Services here at FAU, on January 1st I will be stepping down and moving into a newly created position here as Coordinator for Assessment and Planning. In my new job, I will be coordinating our libraries' strategic planning efforts, self-assessments, and report and grant writing, and heading up our new programs in staff development. I'm also pleased that I will be increasing my library instruction work in the arts and humanities; teaching is something I have missed doing. All of my contact information will remain the same.
From James A. Findlay, Broward County Main Library, Bienes Center for the Literary Arts, The Dianne & Michael Bienes Special Collections and Rare Book Library, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida:
The Bienes Center will open a new exhibition on January 16: Paper Engineering: The Pop-up Book Structures of Vojtech Kubasta, Robert Sabuda, and Andrew Binder.
The exhibition, which will run through March 12, is not meant to be exhaustive but rather will showcase a sampling of each artist's work. There will be approximately fifty to sixty titles in the exhibition. Andrew Binder is a local Ft. Lauderdale artist who makes artists' books, many that include very unusual and sophisticated pop-ups; he is a past winner of the Bienes Center's annual $2,000 Florida Artists Book Prize.
We are planning to publish a small, full-color exhibition catalogue that will probably sell for $15.00 and be available in mid-January.
From Liz Gentry, Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia:
After nearly three years of construction work, the Booth Western Art Museum opened to the public on August 23, following a series of pre-opening events for the museum's charter members. The museum features a premiere collection of contemporary western American art and galleries devoted to western illustration, presidential letters and portraits, western movie posters, and contemporary Civil War art. The museum also has a 140-seat presentation theater, cafe, museum store, member's lounge, and 60-seat multimedia theater, where the orientation film The American West is shown every twenty minutes.
The museum also has a growing research library containing nearly ten thousand books, monographs, auction catalogs, periodicals, and videotapes, as well as artist files. Museum librarian Liz Gentry is available to assist the public with any research projects related to the museum's collecting areas, including western American history and art, Civil War history and art, illustration, western movies, and the American presidency.
The Booth Western Art Museum is unique in the Southeast with the closest similar facilities in Shreveport, Louisiana; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Corning, New York. The museum's mission is to provide more than just a place to view art. "The educational opportunities related to the museum's collections and the programs we will offer are nearly endless and we hope that the local population will take advantage of these opportunities, particularly our research library," said Seth Hopkins, Executive Director.
The state-of-the-art, 80,000-square-foot, museum facility is situated on four acres of downtown property and has three levels. Ground was broken for the museum October 16, 2000. Since that time, a staff of thirty-five has been assembled and trained to operate the museum, care for the collections, and provide services for museum guests. The museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; Thursdays, 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.; and Sundays, 1:00–5:00 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors over 65, $4 for students over 12, and free for children under 12. Museum members and museum professionals are admitted free of charge. The museum will offer lectures by artists, historians, authors, and others at least three times per month in the museum theater as well as special events related to the museum's collections throughout the year. Details on these events are available on the museum website: http://www.boothmuseum.org.
From E. Lee Eltzroth, Scene South Books, Etc.:
I have been contracted by the University of Georgia Press to write a history of Georgia photographers and photography, tentatively titled State of the Art: Photography and Photographers in Georgia, 1840-1920, which is scheduled to come out in 2005. This will be a culmination of close to thirty years of research, as well as professional experience working with Georgia photographs.
That plus my online book business keep me as busy as I was in any of my previous positions as librarian and/or archivist!
The Southeast Chapter of ARLIS/NA is pleased to announce the 20th Annual Mary Ellen LoPresti Art Publication Awards Competition for 2003 Publications.
The Southeast Chapter of ARLIS/NA established the LoPresti Publication Award Competition in 1985 to recognize and encourage excellence in art publications issued in the Southeastern United States. The publication awards are named for Mary Ellen LoPresti, who was the Design Librarian at the Harrye B. Lyons Design Library, North Carolina State University, until her death in 1985.
Museums and galleries, educational institutions, libraries, organizations, and commercial presses are encouraged to submit publications for consideration. All publications will be judged on the quality of content and format within the appropriate category. The number of items that may be submitted is not restricted.
Only those art and architecture books, exhibition catalogues, serials, and artist's books published/copyrighted during the 2003 calendar year in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, or the Virgin Islands are eligible for consideration. In-house newsletters, posters, invitations, and other promotional material will not be considered.
Entries should be received by August 31, 2004, to be considered. There is no entry fee, but ARLIS/SE reserves the right to retain all works submitted for consideration.
Mail entries with an entry form (go to Awards section on this web site) to:
ARLIS/SE 2003 Publications Awards
c/o Allen Novak
Slide/Visual Resources Librarian
Ringling School of Art and Design Library
2700 North Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34234
Winners will be invited to a special 20th Anniversary Awards Dinner that is being planned for the 2004 ARLIS/SE annual meeting in North Carolina, where the awards will be announced. Notification will be sent to all entrants. Winning entries will be placed in the Duke University East Campus Library, Durham.
For further information, contact Allen Novak at 941-359-7583; email: anovak@Ringling.edu.
The Southeast Chapter of ARLIS/NA is pleased to announce the winners of its 19th Annual Mary Ellen LoPresti Art Publication Awards Competition for the year 2002 publications.
Beardsley, John, et al. Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2002.
Ciampolini, Marco. Drawing in Renaissance and Baroque Siena: 16th- and 17th-Century Drawings from Sienese Collections. Translated by Hugh Ward-Perkins. Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 2002.
Findlay, James A., ed. Florida, the Making of a State: A Cartographic Adventure. Ft. Lauderdale: Bienes Center for the Literary Arts, Broward County Libraries Division, 2002.
Hoffman, Joel M., ed. Design, Culture, Identity: The Wolfsonian Collection. Issue of The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 24 (2002): 1–283. Miami Beach: Wolfsonian-Florida International University, 2002.
Johnson, Thomas L., and Nina J. Root, eds. Camera Man's Journey: Julian Dimock's South. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2002.
Rosengarten, Theodore, and Dale Rosengarten, eds. A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2002.
Honorable Mentions
Barbara Sorensen: Monolithic Fragments. St. Petersburg: Florida Craftsmen Gallery, 2002.
Bauman, Jan, et al., eds. Side by Side. Memphis: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 2002.
Blank, Harrod. Art Cars: The Cars, the Artists, the Obsession, the Craft. Asheville, N.C.: Lark Books, 2002.
CorpoRealities: Contemporary Figurative Painting. Winter Park, Fla.: Rollins College, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, 2002.
Gustafson, Elaine D., ed. River Myths: An Installation by Therman Statom. Tampa: Tampa Museum of Art, 2002.
Hobbs, Robert. Julie Moos: Hat Ladies. Birmingham: Birmingham Museum of Art, 2002.
Myers, Fred R. Painting Culture: The Making of an Aboriginal High Art. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2002.
Phillips, Doug. Discovering Alabama Wetlands. Photographs by Robert P. Falls, Sr. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2002.
The winners, selected from fifty-two entries, were announced on November 15, 2003, at the ARLIS/SE annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Winning entries will be placed in the Duke University East Campus Library, Durham.
For further information, contact Allen Novak at 941-359-7583, email: anovak@Ringling.edu.
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