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Pink Papers and Lavender Files: Preserving Gay and Lesbian Art History in Archival Collections Session 14 March 10, 1998 Co-Moderators: Ted Goodman, General Editor, Avery Architectural Library and Ray Anne Lockard, Head Librarian Frick Fine Arts Library, University of Pittsburgh Co-Sponsors: Gay and Lesbian Interests Round Table, Diversity Committee, and Academic Library Division Janet Parks, Drawings Curator, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University Title; Architectural Archives and AIDS Stephen Nonack, Boston Athenaeum Title: Public Faces / Private Lives: Boston's Lesbian and Gay History Opening Remarks, Ray Anne Lockard It is always difficult to locate Gay and Lesbian Artists. Lesbian and Gay have accessibility in General Archival Collections caused by misleading or missing finding aids. Some Lesbian Gay Archives do not specially note if an individual is an artist. There are however, many very important archives in existence including, The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation in New York City and the ONE Institute at the University of Southern California, LVA: Lesbians in the Visual Arts in San Francisco, Archives of Gay and Lesbian Artists at Oberlin College. These all serve as invaluable resources. Additionally Academic archives may code Lesbian gay collections. At the Archive at Radcliffe College, they will not use "lesbian" as a subject heading unless the woman is a self-identified, and unavoidable lesbian. Instead terms such single woman, friendship are used. There is change for the better. But unfortunately, there are still worse case scenarios of a family destroying over two dozen original prints by George Klatt. Presentation of Patrick Moore, Director of the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS Title: The Estate Project for artists with AIDS: A Description and Update The Estate Project was started in 1991 by the Alliance for Art. It was originally established to provide counseling and guidance to young HIV artists who had not had time to create legal and archival answers to the disposition of their estate. 99% of the artists who participated have been gay men. In 1993, there was a front page article in the New York Times which caused major repercussions. The Estate Project was approached by large institutions that could provide long term homes for archival materials. The New York Public Library has also been a great friend to this project, every department has provided assistance along the way. The Estate Project consists of three projects: 1. The transfer to archival format of all AIDS Action Videos, GMAC, ACT-UP papers. These are held at the New York Public Library. 2. The transfer to archival format of experimental and independent films about AIDS. The Academy Film Archive does the actual physical preservation and storage. 3. The creation of the Virtual Collection. This project brings far-flung archives into a digital format slides for curators to view. Currently there are 1500 slides but soon will be expanded to 3000 slides. It presented through a CD-Rom delivery system but is migrating to a system designed by Luna Imaging which allows them to compress images 30-1. This will enable the usage of the World Wide Web as a delivery system. The Estate Project is not intended to by comprehensive but demonstrative. It is designed to led people to where the collection is held in its entirety. Mr. Moore demonstrated a slide presentation of the Virtual Collection. The 1500 images are arranged alphabetically at low resolution (thumbnail). The range of style between artists is enormous. There are seventy-five artists with twenty images each. The artists have brief biographical information available at well. Pull-ups provide higher resolution and then more detail and resolution is offered at full-screen. Janet Parks, Drawings Curator, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University Title; Architectural Archives and AIDS The collecting of archives of gay and lesbian architects is well within the purview of the Avery. The collection policy is both narrowly focused and broadly defined. Local architects from New York City and the architecture of New York City, the history of the School of Architecture and any architectural students, professors, alumni, or alumnae of Columbia are all important to collect. Additionally they will collect anything of interest. There are collections of builders including drawings, product samples, personal memorabilia, and blueprints. The Avery is the largest repository of Philip Johnson's work. On the question of gay and lesbian architects, one must answer is it important to find out who was gay or lesbian in the past. The answer lies in whether this division forms its own subject of research. There is certainly speculation about whether individual architects were gay, however, the nature of the discussion about these individuals seems to depend upon the generation of the inquirer. Younger scholars are more interested and willing to look at sexual orientation and its impact on professional work, making speculation and access points more important. Also current trends in scholarship are towards more gender studies. Additional problems exist in identifying younger architects and their design responsibility for a piece of corporate architecture. An additional acquisition criteria exists to collect those under represent in the profession including women, Latinos, African Americans etc. Sometimes the work is collected without knowing why just yet. Whether it meets a good or bad aesthetic is not important. They are important because the works provide documentation. The Avery lags behind about 30 to 40 years because of the nature of collecting objects which are archivally deposited. Being gay or lesbian is not a sole criterion at this time. However, the collection policy is broad enough to counterbalance any bias of a curator. There is a need to acquire architects with AIDS. And this is fitting given that the Avery is a memorial to a tubercular victim. AIDS is another continuing epidemic which is having its impact on the profession. The Avery will take five projects from an architect with AIDS even if it is dreck. Stephen Nonack, Boston Athenaeum Title: Public Faces / Private Lives: Boston's Lesbian and Gay History Mr. Nonack did visual image research for Public Faces / Private Lives at the Boston Public Library. It is a question about whether a small grassroots group could do a major historical exhibition. It challenged the assumptions that gays and lesbian have no forebearers. It replaced the stereotype with a full dimension of men and women. The exhibition started with a meeting including the City of Boston's Gay and Lesbian liaison and the Boston Lesbian Gay History Project. It followed on the heels of the Stonewall Show in New York City. This exhibit lacked big corporate support and was fraught with internal politics. Activists did not make very go collators. The librarians, archivists, and historians were much better suited to those tasks. About twelve people were involved with six taking a curatorial role. The exhibition was set up in Boston Public Library's Great Hall on May 31, 1996. Through the run of the show, over 50,000 visitors viewed. The show covered the historical time period from the Puritans to Stonewall (1969). Unlike the New York show, the exhibition was driven by panels not artifacts. It was a very positive, affirmative space. The panels were housed on towers, some up to 32 feet tall. It closed in mid-July 1996. In looking for material, there was and attempt to search for historical figures who led unconventional lives, broke stereotypes, and sought out members of their own sex. Searchers ended up educating archivists about their own collections. They were forced to deal with a lot of misleading subjects and obsolete finding aids. Much was not be conclusive but the ambiguities were allowed to stand the test of history. Photos were discovered which documented female impersonators, women cross-dressing but most of the materials before 1900 are of those who were white and rich despite an attempt to find materials covering all races and social classes. Lesbian and Gay history is there though underreported and destroyed. Also destroyed were many of the buildings of historical significance in the name of urban renewal. This exhibit was never reviewed by the Boston Globe at Boston Public Library but was reviewed when reprised. Unfortunately, John Smith from The Andy Warhol Museum was not able to attend the session. Ray Anne Lockard added some comments about The Andy Warhol Museum. At the museum's opening, there were no references made to Andy's gay life. However, there were images of gayness which caused people to notice Andy's gayness for the first time. In the recent anthology, Pop-Out, the museum's Archives and Study Center were used to research the papers. There is currently an exhibition at the museum called Warhol's Glamour, which examines some of his gayness. There are time capsules which are being reviewed by the Archive and Study Center which also contains interesting pieces. Finally, we will be attending ARLIS/NA in Pittsburgh in 2000 and we will be able to visit, The Andy Warhol Museum ourselves. Mary D. Galvin The Detroit Institute of Arts, mgalvin@dia.org T H E D E T R O I T I N S T I T U T E A R T S RESEARCH LIBRARY Mary D. Galvin Reference Librarian 313-833-3460 (voice) 313-833-9169 (fax) mgalvin@dia.org http://www.dia.org