Annual Report (2002)
Visual Resources Division


Submitted by:  Sheryl L. Wilhite
                        VRD Moderator
                        swilhite@mit.edu
                        617-253-7098/617-253-9331

REPORT

INCOMING OFFICERS:

Moderator for 2003:  Giovanna Jackson, CSU/Chico
Vice-Moderator for 2003-elect for 2004: To be determined
VRD Website Custodian: Dan Nolting, Chatham College

 ACTIVITIES:

The Moderator helped to coordinate development of conference proposals by VRD members.  Some of these came from ideas generated at the Business Meeting in St. Louis.

The VRD website was redesigned and updated by Dan Nolting.  Mary Wassermann, Gregory Most, Giovanna Jackson, and Sheryl Wilhite provided input to Dan on design and content.  Bethany College was the host of this site until January 2003, when Dan left to work at Chatham College in Pittsburgh.  Chatham College will now host the site, and the url is: http://www.chatham.edu/users/staff/dnolting/

Giovanna Jackson, VRD Vice-Moderator, and Sheryl Wilhite, VRD Moderator reported on activities of the VRD and its members in ARLIS/NA Update 2002 Numbers 1 and 5.

Mary Wassermann, VRD Past-Moderator (2001), served as Co-Chair of the ARLIS/NA and VRA Joint Task Force on Continuing Education.  She also served as Chair of the ARLIS/NA Visual Resources Advisory Committee for 2002.

ARLIS/NA STRATEGIC PLAN:

 Action Item 3 (IV E, I G): “…develop procedures to ensure that the ARLIS/NA website provides references and/or links to useful print and electronic art and interdisciplinary information resources reflective of each Division…”

The VRD has continued to update its website as mentioned earlier in this report.

Action Item 6 (II A): “Contribute to the establishment of professional development and continuing education programs of the Society. ”

Twelve members of the ARLIS/NA and VRA community are participating in the ARLIS/NA-VRA Joint Task Force on Continuing Education.  The basic mission of the task force is to develop a summer visual resources institute, which will have its first session at Rice University, Houston, in Summer.  The Summer Institute has been moved back another year to allow more time to establish the program and develop financial support. The Co-chairs of the task force are John Taormina of Duke University and Mary Wassermann of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Joint Task Force has also helped to strengthen the relationship between ARLIS/NA and VRA, another strategic plan item.

ISSUES FOR THE EXECUTIVE BOARD:

The VRD would like to see a travel award for VR professionals established, and hope to work with the Executive Board towards realizing this goal. 

We would like to see the VRD Moderator become an official liaison to the Visual Resources Association.  

The VRD would like to insure that an ARLIS/NA Executive Board member be appointed as a liaison to the VRD to insure we maintain communication between the VRD and Executive Board.  The VRD is concerned that, with the dissolution of the Visual Resources Advisory Committee, we may lose adequate representation to the Executive Board.  We ask that the VRD be allowed to take on some of the mission of the VRAC to “represent visual resources interests to the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA, formulate positions on specific visual resources issues, and serve as a liaison to external organizations.” 

Respectfully submitted,
Sheryl L. Wilhite
VRD Moderator
Rotch Visual Collections, M.I.T.
1/31/03