Our Digital Project with the Myrtle Jones Collection June 6, 2008
Posted by Deborah in : Digital Projects , add a commentThis spring, Gretchen and I worked on a project with the Myrtle Jones Collections. Myrtle Jones was a local artist with a very distinctive Savannah style. Special Collections holds two collections: one of her papers and one of visual materials. Our project involved rewriting the finding aid for the papers to add content and reorganize it a bit. We think this will facilitate the use of this resource for students and researchers. We added a more extensive biography and processed some materials that had been omitted from the original finding aid. While we had hoped to incorporate the visual materials into this collection as well, we decided it was not feasible at this time. Here is a link to the new finding aid, MS 002, the Myrtle Jones Papers.
We also wanted to make some of the images of her artwork and photography found in the collection of visual materials available to the SCAD community. While Myrtle Jones is well known in Savannah for her artwork, she did not consider herself a photographer. The purpose of her photography was to capture images she could later use as references for her paintings. She took extensive photos of her own paintings, people, places, and events in and around Savannah and also during her travels. She had a good eye and applied all of the elements of composition she used in painting to her photographs. Her images of Savannah are of downtown buildings, the riverfront, the historic district, and Forsyth Park. Her work documents a point in time from the 1970s through the 1990s and offers views of many important buildings prior to renovation.
Our project was a cooperative project with the Visual Resources Center. Gretchen and I selected over 200 slides from the Jones’ collection that were largely of Savannah residences and downtown buildings. With the help of Elvira Sanchez-Kisser, Gretchen scanned the slides and provided metadata for each. The slides were then uploaded into the Visual Resource Center’s Image Database. This database is available to all SCAD faculty, students, and staff from the library’s webpage. You must also be logged into MySCAD to access the SCAD Digital Image Database. When you arrive at their Image Search screen, select Architecture / Topography under Category and type in Myrtle Jones under Archive Source. You should receive 87 (or more, when we add more slides) results, many with multiple slides.
There are a number of houses, mostly from the historic district, and also a number of images of squares, the Savannah River front, the Roundhouse and railroad depot, and a number of historic buildings in the downtown area. Jones did not always convey the locations of the images on the slide. It took a great deal of detective work on Gretchen’s part to locate some of these. We hope in the near future to expand the Myrtle Jones entries in the database to include images of her artwork as well. To give you a small taste, we have included some images under exhibits.
Art of the Book Exhibit at Special Collections May 13, 2008
Posted by Deborah in : Exhibits , add a commentSpecial Collections is making use of its small but prime exhibit space by exhibiting a group of books from our collection that represent the Art of the Book. The exhibit includes artists’ books, art press books, and pop-up books. It would be a pleasure to be able to provide a definitive definition of what constitutes an artists’ book, but it seems that even the experts don’t agree. If you are interested in an online discussion on the topic, the Book Arts Web has a lively debate taken from their listserv.
Special Collections takes a fairly conservative view that an artist book is a book made by an artist (or possibly just an artistic person) and follows many of the conventions of book publishing. These conventions include paper crafts such as paper-making, paper arts, cutting, folding, and marbling; binding techniques; typography; and various printing techniques. While the edition is often quite limited in number, it must be in an edition of more than one copy. Otherwise, the book could be described as a work of art that resembles a book. We have included pop-up books in our exhibit because they employ a level of paper craft that is very much a part of the artists’ book tradition. We have also included art press books. The difference between an artists’ book and an art press book may be very hard to discern. An art press book may also use unusual paper crafting, bookbinding techniques, and typography. They may also be in fairly limited editions. The difference is that the art of the artists’ book is from the artist, where the art of the art press book is from the printer or publisher.
There are many opportunities for internships, residencies, grants, etc. through various programs and many of these programs also sell artists’ books on their site. One such site, the Women’s Studio Workshop, offers classes and also rents studio space as well. There are numerous other opportunities, as well.
If you cannot come to Special Collections to see our exhibit, we brought a bit of it to you. Our online exhibit includes a list of books with images of the covers and some of the insides as well to be added in the next few days.
Some Reflections on Winter Quarter March 11, 2008
Posted by Deborah in : Deborah's Thoughts , add a commentGary Goldman and the Bluth Collection
In January, almost as soon as we got back from the holidays, Gary Goldman arrived. He has been Don Bluth’s partner since before they both left Disney and was the co-donor of the amazingly huge Don Bluth Collection of Animation. He was beginning his time as Artist in Residence and was planning to use the Bluth Collection for his classes. He wanted to use materials mainly from Banjo the Woodpile Cat and from Dragon’s Lair. We were thrilled to have him here and even though it wasn’t always easy to find the materials he needed, it was a pleasure to have him here at SCAD. He borrowed a number of drawings and with our work study student, Severin’s assistance, made more copies than I think were usually allowed for a Professor. I hear the students in his class learned a lot and developed a new respect for the classical animator. With the quarter drawing to a close, we are sad to see him leaving again so soon.
The Comic Book and Graphic Novel Collections
SCAD Professor Catherine C. Cupps donated a large collection of graphic novels and comic books to the department late last fall, and they are now in the department awaiting cataloging. There are some great titles in the collection and even though they are not yet cataloged, they are listed.
Esteban Fuertes also sent another installment of his collection, which arrived in January. He was a collector of both comics and graphic novels, with only DC and Vertigo titles. This collection is also not cataloged, but is listed, and if you have an interest in a particular title, we are happy to see if we have the issues for you.
Student Publications
We received a fun donation of zines and mini-comics produced by SCAD students. They are mostly self published and were donated by the SCAD Chapter of the Society for Collegiate Journalists. The publications have been cataloged in our system (call number MS 032). We hope this becomes an ongoing tradition.
Visual Resources Center Uses Special Collections Materials to Promote Black History Month
While our collection of Benny Andrews, MS 011, is not large, it does have some very nice images of his work. Benny Andrews (1930-2006) was a Georgia artist whose unique folksy style showed an unexpected sophistication. For Black History Month, the Visual Resources Center has added several of our images to their database. Visit their blog and take a look at what they added.
Photographic Images
The history of photography in Savannah is largely unwritten, but we would like to change that someday. We have added a number of stereoviews of Savannah to our collection through EBay purchases. We have also added a number of cabinet photographs from various Savannah photographers. Stereoviews are usually landscapes and street scenes with a unique quality of being able to appear three dimensional when viewed through a special device. Cabinet photos are usually albumen prints of portraits mounted on hard cardstock and often carrying an advertisement for the photographer or studio that took the image. Both gained popularity in the latter half of the 19th century.
Myrtle Jones
We are very pleased to announce our first collaborative project with the Visual Resources Center (VRC). We are selecting a number of slides from the Myrtle Jones Collection to be added to the SCAD Digital Image Database. Gretchen will be working closely with the VRC to describe the images and help make them available. Myrtle Jones (1913-2005), a local artist well known in Savannah for her landscapes and portraits, was also an excellent photographer. Her photos were for her own use in research for her painting, but when we saw what a perfect snapshot in time they represented, we knew they had to be shared. Images include Forsyth Park, neighborhoods and buildings, street scenes, and the river front. Look for these in the SCAD Digital Image Database soon.
Class Visits
We are always excited to share the Don Bluth Collection with all who would like to see it. The materials were donated to SCAD to be a resource for all students. The collection contains materials for animation, illustration, concept art, character design, sequential arts, storyboarding, advertising, and many other disciplines. The backgrounds are often so beautifully done that they could be proudly hung on anyone’s wall. Ray Goto, Professor in Sequential Art, has been a vocal advocate for the collection. We appreciate that almost every quarter, he brings his classes in to see and be inspired by the collection. We would love to see other professors bring their classes in as well. Please call or stop by if you are interested. We are sure we can find more than enough materials to share.
Welcome to Special Collections! February 18, 2008
Posted by Gretchen in : Welcome , add a commentThe Archives and Special Collections Department of the Savannah College of Art and Design maintains non-circulating collections of unique and often valuable materials, housed in the Jen Library on the third floor. During the quarters, we are open Monday from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Tuesday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Break hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. We will always be happy to schedule an evening appointment if there is a need.