Annual Report (2002)
ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico Chapter


Chapter Officers January 1-March 31, 2002

President: Laura Schwartz, The University of Texas at Austin
Vice-President:  Jon Evans, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston  
Past-President: Polly Trump, University of Arizona  
Secretary/Treasurer: Beverly Carver, University of Texas at Arlington  
Webmaster:  Sam Duncan, Amon Carter Museum  
ARLIS/NA South Regional Representative: Paula Hardin, University of North Carolina

Chapter Officers April 1-December 31, 2002

President: Jon Evans, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston  
Secretary/Treasurer: Beverly Carver, University of Texas at Arlington
Past-President: Laura Schwartz, The University of Texas at Austin  
Webmaster:  Sam Duncan, Amon Carter Museum  
ARLIS/NA South Regional Representative: Laura Schwartz, The University of Texas at Austin

NOTE:  Paula Hardin resigned as Regional Representative because she moved out of the South Region.  Laura Schwartz was asked to replace her.  ARLIS/NA policy prohibits an individual from serving on the Executive Board and as a chapter officer simultaneously. (ARLIS/NA POLICY NO.: C-3)  

List of Chapter Meetings

March 22.  Informal gathering in St. Louis at the ARLIS/VRA conference.

October 17-19.  Annual Chapter meeting held in Austin, Texas at The University of Texas at Austin.  Beth Dodd, Elizabeth Schaub, Janine Henri and Laura Schwartz served on the planning committee.  Noteworthy activities include a tour of the Tarlton Law Library and Hyder Art Collection, tours of local galleries, a disaster preparedness workshop, and a dinner reception at the Charles Moore House with the Music Library Association of Texas.  A complete itinerary can be found in the Summer 2002 issue of The Medium (http://www.arlis-txmx.org/medium/issues/2002_v28_no2.shtml).  Summary reports and meeting minutes can be found in the Fall 2002 issue (http://www.arlis-txmx.org/medium/issues/2002_v28_no3/2002_v28_no3.shtml).

 

Activities of the Chapter

During 2002, the Chapter agreed to host a regional meeting in conjunction with the ARLIS/Southeast Chapter in 2003, which will convene in New Orleans.  This will be the first regional meeting in which the Chapter has participated.  Special funding was granted by ARLIS/NA is support of this venture.

Ongoing recruitment efforts have been carried out by the Chapter.  In particular, Laura Schwartz focused efforts upon visual resources curators in the region.

The Chapter voted to support the largest funding grant for the Lois Swan Jones Professional Development Award in Chapter history.  This year’s $875 award is intended to help defray costs for a member to attend and participate in the 2003 ARLIS/NA Annual Conference.  Rising travel costs, decreasing funding and the aim of attracting a broader array of candidates influenced the Chapter’s decision to increase funding.  This year’s recipient is Mary Leonard, Associate Librarian, Mayer Library, Dallas Museum of Art.  The LSJ Award committee consisted of John Hagood, Reader Services Librarian, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Marty Stein, Visual Resources Curator, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Merriann Bidgood, Curator, Visual Resources Library, University of Houston.

 

Membership Statistics  

41 members  

Treasurer’s Report

Balance beginning January 1, 2001   $1,510.33  

Income  

Membership dues   480.00
2002 Meeting Registration   570.00  
Chapter Dinner   630.00  
Lois Swan Jones Travel Award  875.00  
Disaster Planning Workshop  140.00  
MLA/Texas Chapter contribution toward meeting expenses   231.60  
Interest   5.27  
Cash   5.28  
TOTAL   4,447.48

Expenses

Lois Swan Jones Travel Award   500.00  
Domain registration   70.00  
Internet Service Provider  172.40  
Word of Mouth Catering/Charles Moore Dinner   541.25  
Chapter Dinner   1,100.00  
Stationery   116.55  
Bank fees   59.00
TOTAL   2,559.20

BALANCE    $1,887.28

 

Additional Comments

The establishment of an ARLIS/NA Task Force devoted to Mexican relations was proposed at this year’s Chapter business meeting.  The membership concluded that the issue of relations with our colleagues from Mexico is of concern not only regionally, but to the entire ARLIS community.  Further, we recognized that it will require a long-term commitment of both personnel and capital that is beyond the resources of any single chapter.  As a society that encompasses all of North America, we believe it is essential that ARLIS/NA act with a broad coalition of chapters, interested members and other professional institutions to reach out to this community.  In this way we can actively pursue a dialogue with Mexican art information professionals that will benefit both parties.

The Chapter submitted a bid to host the 2005 ARLIS/NA Annual Conference in Houston, Texas.  Tentative approval of this bid has been given, but is pending full Executive Board approval.  

Three issues of the Chapter newsletter, The Medium, were published during the year and are available to the ARLIS community via the Chapter website. The summer issue of The Medium featured three members who have actively participated at Society level.  The spring and fall issues featured conference reports from the ARLIS/NA and Chapter conference, respectively.

v. 28, no. 1 (spring 2002)  
v. 28, no. 2 (summer 2002)
v. 28, no. 3 (fall 2002)
 

Column Editors for The Medium were: 

Architecture - Beth Dodd
Museum - Mary Leonard
Academic - Tara Carlisle
Visual Resources - Sheryl Wilhite
Public - Gwen Dixie

Ongoing improvements have been made to the Chapter’s website by webmaster, Sam Duncan.  The website serves as a significant communication tool not only for the Chapter, but to the broader ARLIS community and beyond.  During 2002, the webmaster inserted a search engine in the header of each page, which now allows the site to be fully searchable.  Additionally, the Current Exhibitions in Texas and Mexico listing has been given more prominence on the Chapter’s homepage.

The Chapter recently submitted a bylaws revision to the ARLIS/NA Executive Board via our South Regional Representative concerning a change in officer titles and responsibilities.  The change consisted of splitting the position of Secretary/Treasurer into two independent positions.  The Board approved the change and we have recently elected a separate Secretary and Treasurer to begin their duties January 1, 2003.  Respectively, they are Elizabeth Schaub, Director, Audio Visual Resources Collection, School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin and Beverly Carver, Architecture and Fine Arts Library Manager, University of Texas at Arlington.

Chapter stationery was created to support recruitment and development efforts.

The Chapter voted to support the welcome party at the 2003 Annual Conference in Baltimore with a donation of $200.

Submitted by Laura Schwartz and Jon Evans  
January 2002