I am a second year grad student at the University of British Columbia in the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, otherwise fondly known as SLAIS. I am pursuing a dual masters in Library Science and Archival Studies. Though at first the seem quite similar, I consider archives and libraries to be at opposite ends of the information spectrum: libraries are all about disseminating published information, whereas archives are about identifying, protecting, AND providing access to one-of-a-kind records and documents. I have a BA in Art History and a minor in Museum Studies, and I hope to build my career working with arts and cultural institutions (just the thought gives me shivers). Community engagement and interaction is very important to me; this is a realm that libraries have been very effective in–archives less so, but its time for that to change, and I want to explore how archives can become more involved in, and relevant to, the communities they serve through social media.
I have spent the past two and a half months interning in the archives at the Burchfield Penney Arts Center in Buffalo, NY, working closely with the sketches of the American watercolor painter Charles E. Burchfield. Through his sketches and his journals, he has gotten inside of my head I can’t look at a tree or the clouds without thinking of how he would have painted them. I have been digitizing his sketches to be published online at a later date. Burchfield has traditionally been under-represented in art history, though he was an incredibly innovative, passionate, and expressionistic artist. I am excited to explore how archives and the digital realm will effect international awareness of Burchfield, and how social media affordances can deepen people’s connection with his art from around the world.
I turn to Democracy Now!, The Daily Show, and sometimes The Onion for perspectives on world events.