Executive Board Activities

Attended Executive Board Pre-Conference meeting in Baltimore, March 2003 as an incoming member/observer. Attended Post-Conference Board meeting in Baltimore.

Attended mid-year board meeting in Philadelphia in August.

Attended the Research and Wittenborn Award committee meetings in Baltimore. Since these committees are subgroups of the umbrella Awards Committee, everyone involved agreed that continuing to serve actively as their liaison would be confusing and redundant. The chairs of these committees reported to the chair of the Awards Committee, who communicated with the Awards Committee Board Liaison, Kay Teel.

Served as the ARLIS/NA Liaison to the ARLIS/NA / VRA Joint Task Force on Continuing Education. Communicated with Mary Wasserman, the Co-Chair of this task force representing ARLIS/NA, as the first Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management was organized and set up.

Also served as a contact person and organizer for the now-unofficial group of members who are public librarians.

Regional Activities

Attended four Midwest Region chapter meetings:

ARLIS/Central Plains -- Topeka, Kansas in May and Wichita, Kansas in October.

ARLIS/Midstates -- During the Baltimore annual conference in March and in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in October.

Solicited donations of funds from the chapters for the 2004 New York conference; all voted to contribute.

Chapter Activities

ARLIS/Central Plains – The chapter met twice in 2003. The Spring meeting in May was held in Topeka, Kansas. The group visited Topeka Public Library, which has a new addition designed by Michael Graves, a church with stunning Tiffany windows, and the Kansas State Capitol building, which features John Steuart Curry murals. In October, the chapter met in Wichita, Kansas to see the Wichita Art Museum, newly re-opened after a major renovation with a huge addition. The group also toured the museums at Wichita State University, the headquarters of the Society of Decorative Painters, and the Allen-Lambe House, a wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright home. This is the only chapter not to have its own website. Several false starts have occurred, but each time the proposed developer and host of the site has left the chapter. Efforts are underway again, with a proposal to have a site hosted by Oklahoma State University. The chapter’s newsletter, The Central Plains Irregular, is now distributed online. It is indeed irregular, coming out about twice a year, shortly before chapter meetings. The chapter has about 20 members; this includes four Life Members. The chapter’s main concern at this time is the static nature of membership numbers, and the lack of new members. The chapter is looking into the possibility of a joint meeting with ARLIS/MountainWest in 2004.

ARLIS/Midstates – The chapter met twice in 2003. The Spring meeting was held during the ARLIS/NA annual conference in Baltimore in March. The Fall meeting was held at Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in October, and was a joint meeting with the Midwest Art Catalogers Discussion Group. Activities at that meeting included a slide presentation on the history of Cranbrook and an extensive tour of the spectacular campus, including the Saarinen House. Chapter membership is about 30. It maintains a website hosted by Indiana University. A major accomplishment in 2003 was the establishment of the William C. Bunce ARLIS/ Midstates Travel Award in memory of long-time member Bill Bunce. A chapter member will be granted this award to attend the New York conference. The chapter is seriously considering offering itself as host for a future ARLIS/NA annual conference in Indianapolis.

ARLIS/Ohio Valley – This chapter is experimenting with meeting only once a year. In October 2003, the chapter met in Cincinnati, hosted by the Cincinnati Art Museum. Activities included presentations about contemporary Arab and Persian women artists and OCLC’s digital image product. The group also toured the new Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, designed by Zaha Hadid. I had planned to attend this meeting, but my plans fell through at the last minute. Chapter membership is about 40; it grants a travel award to a member for travel to chapter meetings. The chapter maintains an online Discussion List, maintains a chapter website, and its newsletter, Collage, is available online. The chapter is considering a joint meeting with its regional chapter of VRA in 2004.

ARLIS/Twin Cities – The chapter met three times in 2003. Chapter membership is about 20. Since all members are in the same greater metropolitan area, the chapter tends to schedule half-day meetings on short notice. In March, the group met at the University of Minnesota to view an exhibit. In May, the Minneapolis Public Library hosted the group. The MPL Director and other managers spoke about their new building, designed by Cesar Pelli and now under construction, and their temporary quarters. In October, members traveled to Paynesville, Minnesota to tour the studios of Colormax and view a St. John’s University Bible scanning project. The chapter maintains a website hosted by the University of Minnesota. The chapter is considering creating a travel fund to encourage attendance at ARLIS/NA annual conferences. Like many of my predecessors, I was not able to attend any Twin Cities meetings because they are usually announced only a day or two in advance. I have promised chapter officers that if they can manage to schedule a meeting a few weeks in advance, I will make every effort to make the trip.