Hello again,
In the past few weeks at The Arts Club I have started some new projects and begun to really understand how the organization functions. Since I last posted I spent a good amount of time at the Newberry Library, which is a non-circulating library that houses the Art Club’s archives. Never having worked in a non-circulating library before, it was a great opportunity to learn how requesting information/working with archives works (something which I am sure will be extremely useful in future research projects!). My official task was documenting the contents of the photographs kept in the archives. The information I collected will be used later in the creation of the Club’s 100th anniversary catalogue. It was pretty cool to find photographs signed by Marc Chagall and Salvador Dalí!
Now I have switched to updating and revising the Club’s gallery guide, which identifies the pieces from the Club’s permanent collection that are on display. It has been a bit of a treasure hunt attempting to search through the object files to find the correct information about the works, but it will feel great to know that I have made the guide more accessible and accurate.
Overall the most surprising knowledge I have gained from this internship is how contemporary art spaces work. Having been more familiar with traditional museum set-ups, I almost think this has been a more useful opportunity since I hope to work within the contemporary art world. Being able to watch how my coworkers research and organize contemporary art has been an unexpectedly educational experience. I’ve come to realize that in the contemporary art sphere networking is extremely important. In addition, witnessing the timing of exhibition planning has been interesting as it takes much longer to organize than I would have thought.
So far I feel like I have been able to accomplish a lot during my time at the Arts Club. Several of the projects I have worked on are things the Club has wanted done for a long time, so being able to help them get those projects feels great. I know they will be extremely busy in the next two years leading up to the 100th anniversary, and I am proud to know I am playing a part in the initial research and planning.