Art Libraries Society
Central Plains
ARLIS/CP is a chapter of:
Annual Report 2006
December 21, 2006
Submitted by Clare Vasquez, Secretary/Treasurer
Leadership Update:
2007 Incoming Officers:
Chair: Ellen Urton, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
Vice Chair/Chair Elect: Susan Craig, University of Kansas,
Lawrence,
KS
Secretary/Treasurer: Mikael D. Kriz, St. Louis University,
St. Louis,
MO
Newsletter Editor: Suzy Frechette, St. Louis Public Library,
St.
Louis, MO
Web Editor: Susan Bobo, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater,
OK
Narrative:
At the close of 2006, Central Plains listed a total of 27 members.
The spring 2006 meeting of the Central Plains Chapter was held in Lawrence, Kansas a few days after the tornado struck. Fifteen chapter members attended the meeting, as well as Midwest Representative Leigh Gates. Susan Craig organized the meeting, which began with dinner on March 16, at Susan’s house. The business meeting and program took place at the Spencer Art Museum of the University of Kansas on March 17.
The topic for the business meeting was chapter projects: a long-discussed project for a directory of art sites in the Central Plains (Who’s Who in the Central Plains) was deemed to be superseded by the internet, while an older project (The Union List of Serial Exhibitions) was declared to be ripe for updating, this time as an online publication. Following the business meeting, was a panel presentation on creating and managing digital image collections, as practiced by the Spencer Museum of Art, the History of Art Department, and the University of Kansas Libraries. After lunch, members enjoyed a presentation on GIS applications for art, architecture and urban planning and a gallery talk and tour of “Flowers, Dragons and Pine Trees: Asian Textiles in the Spencer Museum of Art.” Dinner was at Teller’s Restaurant, followed by dessert at member Mari Russell’s new house in Lawrence.
On Saturday, March 18, the chapter toured houses created by Studio 804, a design/build program of the University of Kansas’ architecture department, and the photography archives of Haskell Indian Nations in Lawrence.
Newsletter editor Ellen Petraits was the chapter’s representative at the Leadership Breakfast of ARLIS/NA’s annual meeting. Her report is included in Issue #40 of the Central Plains Irregular.
The fall 2006 meeting was held in St. Louis, Missouri, October 19-20. Eleven chapter members attended, along with several guests. Midwest Representative Leigh Gates was also in attendance. Marianne Cavanaugh and Mikael Kriz organized the meeting. On Thursday evening, we were given a tour of Washington University’s new Kranzberg Art and Architecture Library led by new Art and Architecture Librarian Rina Vecchiola. Friday began with breakfast and the business meeting, which was dominated by a discussion of the Affiliation Agreement proposed by ARLIS/NA and how we could revise our by-laws to comply with it.
After the business meeting and more or less concurrently with lunch, three speakers offered their perspectives on new library buildings. Eric Hoffman of HOK spoke about how architects approach a library project. Chapter member Marilyn Carbonell presented her views of living through the Nelson-Atkins’ yet-to-be completed library design project. Sue Gold, Fine Arts Librarian of Webster University, presented what she and her colleagues have learned about going through designing, building and living with a new (now two-year-old) library.
The afternoon was spent touring three museums on the St. Louis University campus. Two, the St. Louis University Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, are housed in repurposed spaces, and the third, Cupples House, is a historic house museum that includes some art collections. The meeting concluded with tours of the new Print Study Room at the Saint Louis Art Museum and dinner at Schlafly’s Tap Room.
Much of the hard work this year fell to Chapter President Tom Young,
who did all of the revisions of the chapter by-laws. Editorial assistance
was provided by members of the by-law revision committee, Susan Bobo,
Ellen Urton, and Clare Vasquez. The chapter set the bar high for itself
when it voted to require a two-thirds majority in order to accept the
Affiliation Agreement. Ultimately, over 80% of chapter members voted
to accept the agreement and to reaffirm affiliation with ARLIS/NA. Thanks
to the diligent attention of Midwest Representative Leigh Gates, all
of our questions for the board have been answered. There are no outstanding
issues for the board.