Art Libraries Society
Central Plains
ARLIS/CP is a chapter of:
Central Plains Irregular
Number 42, July 2007
CHAPTER NEWS
Dates, Location of Fall Meeting Announced
The Fall meeting will be September 27-29 in Oklahoma, primarily at the University of Oklahoma, Norman. Matt Stock, Fine & Applied Arts Librarian at the University of Oklahoma, is our local contact.
In addition to our business meeting, Tom Young and Mari Russell will present a program on Native American Art Resources. We'll have an opportunity to visit the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art including the Weitzenhoffer Collection of French Impressionism and the Lester Wing designed by architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen.
Also on the OU campus, we will see the Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West. Then, on Saturday, there will be tour opportunities in Oklahoma City including the Oklahoma City National Memorial and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Other sights of interest in downtown OKC include the historic Skirvin Hotel which reopened recently after an extensive renovation; Bricktown, OKC's newest dining and entertainment venue; and the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, the new crown jewel of Oklahoma County's Metropolitan Library System.
Finally, those traveling by car may wish to plan a side trip to the National Historic District in Guthrie, OK, located 30 miles north of downtown Oklahoma City off I-35.
View full program and local arrangements here.
Craig Recognized with 2007 ARLIS/NA Research Award
One of our own, longtime ARLIS member Susan Craig, Head Librarian, Murphy Art and Architecture
Library, University of Kansas, was recognized recently at the national level. Craig’s “outstanding
work,” Biographical
Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945), was one of two chosen for the 2007 Worldwide
Books Award for Electronic Resources. Craig’s e-book contains over 1750 entries and is mounted
on KU Scholarworks where it is freely accessible to the public. Congratulations, Susan!
ARLIS/NA Atlanta 2007 -- Change was in the air by Suzy Frechette
Much of the conference -- both in formal meetings and in psychic energy -- was taken up with
discussions and questions about the proposed new structure for the Society. There seems to be
quite a range of opinions about it, from adamant opposition to indifference to positive enthusiasm.
All sub-groups talked about it in their meetings, there was much informal discussion during free
time, and it was the major topic of the Membership Meeting.
Many of the sessions and workshops dealt with new technologies and strategies. Issues such as social
tagging, user-generated content, staff blogs, in-house wikis, library MySpace pages, etc., were in the
air. Many of the younger/newer members of the Society are already comfortable with these things and are
pushing the older members to embrace them. In fact, there are quite a few photos of the conference on
www.Flickr.com.
The hotel was a pleasant three-block walk to the High Museum of Art, and many of us popped over there
when we had a free hour or so. The highlight of this was the exhibit of three of the panels from Ghiberti's "Gates
of Paradise" bronze doors from the Florentine Baptistry. They are also traveling to Chicago and
New York -- don't miss them!
Eleven Central Plains members gathered during a time period reserved for chapters to meet. Incoming Midwest
Regional Representative Amy Trendler spent some time with us and listened to our questions and reservations
about the new chapter affiliation situation. See Atlanta meeting minutes here.
All in all, because of all the proposed and real changes that are occurring, it should be an interesting
year while we prepare for the Denver conference.
Unofficial meeting notes from the Spring Meeting by Marianne Cavanaugh
On Friday morning March 30, Mikael Kriz and I set off for the ARLIS/CP meeting in Kansas City. Mikael is the one who took the official minutes of the meeting; I was along for the ride. We had a side mission, to taste and compare BBQ from Arthur Bryant’s with Gates & Sons--A taste of Kansas City history.
We arrived in time to have lunch at Gates. It was quite the experience with employees shouting that they could help the next person. There was chaos at the counter as we tried to decide what to get and which sides we wished to have. Finally seated we tried to determine the ingredients in the sauce, which was a bit vinegary for my taste.
We were able to check into the hotel early and use their shuttle service to go to the meeting at the Kansas City Art Institute. Unfortunately the shuttle drivers were not sure where the library at the Kansas City Art Institute was located. However, they were determined to find it and we had a scenic tour of the KCAI campus. We made the business meeting just in time for snacks. It is always a pleasure to visit the KCAI library and MJ is a great host. See Mikael’s minutes for the rest of this meeting.
It was recommended that we carpool over to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art for the special preview
tea of the new Spencer Art Reference Library. Staff led us from the older Museum to the new space.
The Spencer’s Reading Room is at the top of the new Bloch Building, next to the Museum director’s office. The room was already full of well-wishers and satisfied donors all drinking tea and eating small sandwiches. Good words were spoken of Marilyn and the importance of the Library to the Museum’s mission. It was heartening to see the library receive such high praise from their institution. Many photos were taken with smiles all around.
The building itself is definitely meant to be experienced from the inside. Ambient light suffuses the space. Marilyn and her staff were busy giving tours of the stacks and their new workspaces. The stacks are several levels below the Reading Room. We saw the staff entrance and self-check station and I envied the compact shelving. Later, a fine dinner was consumed at another Kansas City culinary treasure, Bo-Lings. Several of us had little else to do before dinner and met in the bar to consume some malt beverages.
We stopped for an early lunch at Arthur Bryant’s on the way back to St. Louis. We got there just in time; before a bus-load of teenagers. There was no pressure ordering and no shouting at all. Sauce and rubs were excellent, much more to my taste with brown sugar and paprika obvious ingredients. I even bought some to bring home, definitely the winner of the Kansas City BBQ show-down in my book.