Annual
Report
(2003)
The New Art Roundtable got off
to a somewhat slow start in 2003, with the 2002 Moderator, Becky Simmons,
regrettably unable to attend the Baltimore conference in March, and a new
moderator for 2003 not identified at that point to conduct the conference
meeting.
As one of the meeting’s
attendees, I can report that there were 4 people present, all first-time
participants. We had a fine impromptu discussion about our new art concerns,
which included artist books and methods for remaining apprised of emerging art.
Although direct sponsorship of
conference programs by DSRTs has been phased out, New Art was well represented
in the 2003 programming, including:
·
Tour: Artist Books
·
Poster Sessions:
- Is
it Diversity or Economics? Finding New Artists on the Web
- How
to Find Images for Architecture, Art, and Design Students
- A
Comparison of Contemporary Art Collections at Research Universities and
·
Sessions:
- Eco
Art: Breaking the 21st Century
-
Out in Left Field: The Benefits of Field Librarianship for Studio Arts Programs
At the end of April 2003,
through communication with Jeanne Brown and Becky Simmons, I learned that the
group needed a leader and soon took on the job. New Art is a critical subject
area for my work as an art school librarian. Recently I’ve been actively
involved in becoming more knowledgeable about all forms of contemporary art,
especially digital and multi-media work, and I’m highly motivated to find or
create a forum for myself and for others to do this.
To that end, I’d like to mold
the roundtable into a virtual forum for New Art issues throughout the year, and
to draw attention to New Art issues that arise throughout the year. Over the
past year, I’ve worked on the following:
·
Developing an NAR website for the ARLIS/NA site, where links to useful
materials can be posted, along with documentary of this roundtable’s presence
and activities in recent years. The goal is to create an durable infrastructure
to provide guidance in the subject area, as well as continuity for the
moderators to come. As of March 2004 this was completed and publicized on ARLIS-L
with a call for contributions to the a link-list of resources. The URL is
http://www.inside.mica.edu/library/NewArtARLIS.html
·
I have been trying through personal communication to recruit a new
moderator, vice-moderator and Update column editor. If this does not occur prior
to the annual conference in April 2004, hopefully we can identify new people at
the roundtable meeting during the conference. I’ve been calling myself the
2003/04 moderator, and the annual conference may be a good time to transfer
leadership, rather than in January of each year. It may also be advisable to
have moderators serve for 2 years, given the dispersed nature of the group.
While I welcome more people and new people to become involved, I am willing to
remain as moderator for another year.
·
A meeting has been planned and publicized for the 2004 annual conference
meeting in New York. Susan Leonard, librarian at Bard College’s Center for
Curatorial Studies will lead off an informal lunchtime discussion. Thanks to
Margaret Webster for providing the idea of inviting a “guest speaker” for
the meeting.
·
On the local front, the Washington DC-Maryland-Virginia Chapter will host
a Digital Arts Workshop in June 2004 at the Maryland Institute College of Art in
Baltimore. Speakers will be drawn from the digital arts faculty of the
University of Maryland Baltimore County and the Maryland Institute College of
Art, as well as a museum media curator.
Katherine Cowan, 2003/04
moderator, New Art Roundtable, ARLIS/NA
Acting Director, Decker Library
Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, MD
Email: kcowan@mica.edu
Tel: 410-225-2311