ARLIS/NA 54th Annual Conference

Centering on makers and forms, this panel considers how artists’ books can be viewed as sites of resistance. The impulse to generate such books is sparked by artistic ideas rather than practicality, their modes of creation defy traditional publishing norms, and their physical shapes often circumvent the limits of the codex. Artists’ books are neither solely books nor solely art. They exist as unique or multiple copies. In a digital age, they are meant to be tactile, experienced as material objects in intimate proximity to human hands. They evade formal display in casework. Artists’ books allow for experimentation. Their textures, media, structures, and narratives can be idiosyncratic and varied. Their networks of distribution can be conventional or alternative.

The first panelist, Christine Walde, will show how artist’s books defy categorization. Walde frames artists’ books as outliers that defy norms, exploring how the form of the book across titles such as Clive Philpott's Fruit Salad, Andy Warhol's Index (Book), and Ben Denzer's 20 Slices, acts as a perfect site of resistance.

Next, Caroline Clavell will speak to the Renegade Bookbinding Guild, a not-for-profit guild of artists founded as a Discord server during the COVID-19 pandemic, and engaged in binding fannish works under the idea of fandom gift economy. Rejecting the idea of publishing as a purely commercial endeavor, the guild preserves the ephemeral in print as a labor of love and anchors a community that freely shares resources and tutorials.

Finally, Nemo Xu will present on the inaugural catalogue for Behind VA Shadows (BVAS), a public art project founded as an autonomous choice by a group of frontline staff at the ICA/Boston to celebrate the dual identity as artists and museum workers. Xu shares how the collaborators considered what records would be necessary and adequate to tell the story of BVAS, to preserve the history and experience of their grassroots project, and resist disappearance.

Weaving together insights into physical forms and creation processes, the lived experiences of creatives and cultural caretakers, from the recent past to the present day, the panel frames artists’ books as contemporarily relevant and rich with possibilities for defiance.

This roundtable session is a follow-up to the first "Reference in Art Libraries: a roundtable discussion" offered at the ARLIS Conference 2024 in Pittsburgh. Reference providers will lead discussion by answering questions investigating the current state of reference collections and services offered in art libraries, as well as reflecting back on changing approaches over time. Speakers will contribute examples from their work weeding, shifting, adjusting collections, and providing research consultations with students and researchers. The theme of resistance will also inform these conversations. Are we resisting traditional approaches to reference services and spaces? How can providing reference interactions push back against AI offerings of research support? This program is also timely as the end of 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of "Guide to the Literature of Art History" volume 2 (ALA Editions, 2005).

Special collections bring their own (special) challenges and opportunities. This session will cover topics related to managing special collections in libraries.

The #GayAgenda: LGBTQIA2S+ materials in the Murray & Hong Special Collections at Michigan State University Libraries
Speakers: Nicole Smeltekop and Eli Landaverde
MSU Libraries Special Collections began collecting radicalism and activism materials in the late 1960s. The large amount of LGBTQIA2S+ materials collected over four decades remained dormant and the collection had not been kept up to date until the appointment of a curator in 2018. This paper presentation will discuss assessing previous collection development decisions, setting collection development priorities for the collection, and expanding cataloging practice beyond inventorying to follow more current practice. This will include details on conducting a collection analysis to identify gaps in the collection, developing policies that include ensuring various experiences and identities were represented in the collection, and cataloging material focused on the LGBTQIA2S+ community ethically and empathetically. A focus for the examples will be on the art prints and posters collected, many from lesser-known artists. The cataloging part of the presentation will include tips for working with this material - including a list of best-practices and resources, using both Library of Congress Subject Headings and Homosaurus as controlled vocabularies, and considerations when creating Library of Congress Name Authority File headings for underrepresented groups.

Photobooks as Resistant Objects: Politics, Propaganda, and the Colonial Gaze
Speaker: Margherita Naim
Many library holdings worldwide include photobooks on politically significant topics from several historical periods and regions of the world. At times, these photobooks can be considered sensitive materials due to both contained images and accompanying texts. This may be the case with war and propaganda materials, photojournalistic reports, or publications originating from colonial contexts. As such, these photobooks must be viewed not only as particularly significant sources for research into the history of photography, but also within a transdisciplinary framework.
I refer to them as ‘Resistant Objects’ (Thomas, K. and Gu, J. H., ‘Resistant Objects’, Conversation, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, October 10, 2025), as they hold a resistant potential in reframing perspectives on historical narratives as well as reconstructing creative processes.
In this context, I would like to present a case study from the Martin Salter Collection, a private collection of photobooks recently acquired by the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (KHI). The collection consists primarily of photographers’ monographs from a wide range of countries, veritable book objects, some of them very rare. An overview of the ‘Resistant Photobooks’ included in this collection will be matched by descriptions of other photobooks held by the KHI, and by other libraries.

What’s in an Artist File? The Future of Artist Files
Speakers: Amelia Nelson, Alexandra Reigle, Kathleen O'Reilly, and Bridget O’Keefe
Artists’ files are a uniquely rich and dynamic resource, that may include zines, correspondence, artist statements, exhibition ephemera, and other documentation that illuminate artists’ careers and practices. Despite their significant research value, the idiosyncratic nature of their content and varied methods of acquisition often present challenges for libraries.
Increased attention to documenting regional artists, particularly those historically underrepresented in traditional art historical narratives, has underscored the critical importance of artist files. In many cases, these files serve as the only record of underrecognized artists, regionally significant artists, and artist-run spaces. In this presentation, members of the Artist File SIG will share and synthesize the results of a survey of institutions that collect artist files to provide a snapshot of current practices, perceived value, and resource needs. Building on these findings, SIG members will propose community-driven best practices and tools to support those responsible for creating, maintaining, and activating artist files.

This panel explores feminist resistance as practiced by artists whose work and lives are documented in archival collections at the Getty Research Institute, examining how their creative, political, and bodily interventions challenged prevailing cultural narratives around gender, sexuality, power, and representation. Drawing on the papers of feminist artists, as well as digital and programmatic approaches to engaging feminist legacies, the panel demonstrates how resistance takes form—materially, performatively, and structurally—through art, writing, and institutional activism.

The first presentation, The Female Experience: Works by Faith Wilding and subRosa, explores the papers of an artist whose solo and collaborative projects focus on critiquing dominant perceptions of women’s health and social identities. Through performance, installation, activist interventions, writing, and pedagogy, Wilding and subRosa challenge societal views of women’s bodies and traditional roles. This feminist resistance is documented in an array of materials in Wilding’s archive—from cyberfeminist websites, workbooks, and videos to installations and solo performances reflecting on both mundane and distinctive female experiences.

The second presentation, Harmony Hammond and the Work of Making Space, examines the papers of a multidisciplinary feminist artist who mounted sustained resistance to the erasure of lesbian identity in the art world. Through interconnected strategies—including co-founding A.I.R. Gallery and the Heresies Collective, publishing Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History (2000), and maintaining her own creative practice—she challenged institutional exclusion on multiple fronts. Hammond’s archive reveals how her scholarly interventions, institutional activism, and artistic works operated as acts of resistance against systemic marginalization.

The third presentation, Resisting Erasure: Institutional Strategies to Support Feminist Art Historical Research, addresses institutional approaches that support feminist research, examining strategies that facilitate scholarly investigation into women’s artistic practices and resistances. As part of a larger research project that aims to examine the relationship between feminist performance art and its archives, this presentation will focus on the various ways that the research project has aimed to share resources pertaining to the holdings at our research institution. The speaker will primarily highlight the newly revised and expanded LibGuide on feminist archival resources, which was updated to bring attention to latent stories within our institutional collections and to take a feminist approach to historiography and the erasure of histories in the artistic canon. Throughout, the speaker will reveal the considerations underpinning decisions around accessibility within the shifting political landscape in the U.S.

The fourth presentation, Valentines for a Feminist Future, addresses programmatic initiatives that activate these feminist archives, with particular emphasis on networks of care and issues of bodily autonomy. Inspired by our collections of women artists’ archives, the speaker will describe events and partnerships that serve to illuminate the histories of feminist activism and resilience with the urgency of our contemporary moment.

Taken together, these presentations demonstrate how libraries and archives function as essential sites for preserving and activating feminist resistance practices. Through research, cataloging, and dissemination, the resistance strategies documented in these archives continue to contribute to the vital work of contemporary cultural workers.

Exploring Wikidata’s Potential for Managing Artist Identities at the National Gallery of Art Library
Speakers: Jung Soo Bae, Amy Watson, Emily Sawyer

The Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) has traditionally offered centralized, standardized authority control of artist names, artwork titles, and subjects in library metadata. Built on human-readable, string-based access points and controlled vocabularies, these legacy records are less adaptable to today’s interconnected information environment. Furthermore, the training and review process required to contribute to the LCNAF can pose barriers to participation and slow innovation.  

In response, libraries have begun working collaboratively to explore a shift from traditional authority control toward more flexible, URI-based entity management within a Linked Open Data (LOD) framework. The Entity Management Cooperative (EMCO) Early Adopters Program supports this transition by promoting interoperability and discoverability of authority data in LOD ecosystems, developing shared data models for entity description, and supporting community-driven experimentation.

As part of this program, the National Gallery of Art Library conducted a pilot project to assess the potential for the management of artist identities in Wikidata in comparison to LCNAF. This presentation outlines our workflows and highlights key findings, including challenges encountered and opportunities uncovered, and provides practical insights for institutions considering similar approaches. 

Enhancing Records, Expanding Access
Speakers: William Blueher, Daisy Paul

Cataloging is a shared enterprise. A bibliographic record created by one cataloger in Connexion can be added to and enriched by catalogers around the world. But if your library catalog is not synched to Connexion, many of these bibliographic enhancements – things like summary notes and tables of contents – won't ever appear in your records. We work in one such library, so we developed a process for adding these enhancements (specifically the 505 and 520 fields, though the process could be adapted to work for other fields as well) from Connexion records into our integrated library system.

Since implementing this workflow, we’ve enhanced thousands of records in our catalog, greatly increasing the accessibility and discoverability of our collection. While it is an involved process, we have broken it down into manageable steps that other libraries will be able to replicate and modify to their own needs. In addition to Connexion, we relied on open-access tools such as MarcEdit and Notepad++ to efficiently batch edit data.

We will provide a detailed report on the impact this workflow has had on our library catalog. We will examine not only the number of enhanced records but also provide a breakdown of what types of records have the highest probability of having available enhancements, allowing for a more targeted implementation of this workflow. We will also provide access to step-by-step documentation so that the audience can replicate this work at their institutions.

Just as cataloging is a shared enterprise, we believe these sorts of technical workflows ought to be as well.

Hidden in History : Curating a Featured Collection for Indigenous Architecture Library Materials
Speakers: Aubree Tillett, Tina Gross

There are few books documenting the architecture of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas from an Indigenous perspective. Last year the Design Librarian experienced difficulty locating enough materials related to Indigenous architecture to create a robust book display that had been requested to support the Minnesota American Institute of Architects (AIA) Indigenous Design Camp. A more comprehensive search of the library catalog was initiated and colleagues with subject and cataloging expertise were consulted. Through this process it became clear that most of the books with information about Indigenous architecture in the library collections are not assigned a Library of Congress Classification of NA for Architecture. Instead they were cataloged with LC classifications for E and F: History of the Americas. Academic libraries' indiscriminate adoption of LC cataloging tools and practices, such as ""collocating"" resources about Indigenous Peoples' practices in specific areas (such as architecture, astronomy, education, medicine, etc.) with resources about that Indigenous group rather than with the specific endeavor, has significant drawbacks. Within the University of Minnesota Libraries, books classified as history and social sciences are held in different libraries spanning three distinct geographic locations. Additionally, the items related to architecture in E and F are not next to each other on the shelves in the same library; the materials are first organized by Indigenous community then architecture. The separation of related items creates barriers to browsing and the serendipitous discovery of books related to Indigenous Architecture.

This session will explore one solution to overcoming these barriers, a digital featured collection created to showcase Indigenous architecture. Presenters will share their process for identifying and selecting items in the library catalog for the featured collection They will share the inclusion criteria; item review process; and their observations of items ultimately comprising the final collection. Many of the resources in the final list are archaeological, anthropological, or historical sources rather than design-focused materials due to the destruction, appropriation, and subjugation of Indigenous Peoples, knowledge, and cultural practices. The authors will address the ethical considerations of choosing to include books in the collection that document cultures and civilizations with a historical and often colonialist lens when the Indigenous perspective is not available.

DIY In the Stacks: Building a Circulating Zine Collection from Scratch to Success
Speakers: Claire Payne, Amanda Tillapaugh

In summer 2024, Amanda, the new serials acquisitions specialist at RIT Libraries, approached Claire, the art and design librarian, with an idea: could we circulate zines at the library? Claire had asked herself the same question a few times in the preceding few years, as it had become clear that zines were a popular format for student expression on campus. However, it had seemed like creating a new collection would make unwelcome or impossible demands on staff time and library resources. Amanda, as a serials specialist, had a suggestion: what if zines were treated like serials? Instead of being cataloged individually, zines could come in and out of the collection more casually, reflective of the often ephemeral nature of the publications themselves.

In this presentation, the speakers will detail how a change in cataloging approach allowed us to ideate and develop a circulating zine collection from scratch to success in a one-year time frame. By bringing together a small cross-departmental team and using existing resources creatively, the library has built a (still-growing) collection of approximately 150 zines that successfully engages our campus community. While not a no-cost project, this talk will provide a model for creating a worthwhile collection on a shoestring budget through creative collaboration.

The information landscape is rapidly shifting, from print to electronic and from still text to immersive media. Libraries must employ adaptive strategies to navigate this new terrain, not merely resisting the seismic shift, but reinventing our collections. As we move into a digital landscape, art and design students still yearn for the tactile and material experiences that libraries offer. Compounding this challenge is the era of scarcity in which we find ourselves. As art librarians, we can reframe our thinking—not by seeking new resources, but by exploring what we might do with what we already have. What can we reuse or reimagine to stimulate renewed enthusiasm for research and learning?

Art librarians can embrace change by reconsidering how our collections relate to the past, present, and future. This panel centers on four case studies that highlight these time frames followed by a moderated discussion about the application of this sustainability mindset to the broader field of information work.

In REviving Discards, we learn about a library undergoing a transition to a more digitally-focused resource, where print books are being replaced with ebooks, slide collections are being replaced with online repositories, and outdated periodicals are being discarded for digital options. These tangible resources have completed their library service, but what if we could give them a second life? The library has developed a new collection of visual resources where students can explore these retired assets and transform them into new creations.

With libraries shifting to electronic resources, REactivating Spaces becomes crucial. Empty shelving and now inactive areas provide places for students to engage with new opportunities. On the arts level of a university library, the vacated periodicals area was transformed into a student exhibition space. Blank walls in the makerspace were lined with material samples, and the defunct dumbwaiter offered the potential for small displays of miniature books.

In REarranging Collections, due to budget reductions a librarian has been unable to purchase new print publications for her art and architecture library. Rather than let the stacks become stagnant, she is rearranging the current collection to create new curated browsing opportunities. Some collections are permanent, such as crafting a graphic novel collection, while others are temporary displays that expose connections between subjects and titles, such as highlighting books on architecture from the arts section.

Yet, what is absent from a collection can tell us as much as what is present. If what our collections contain is indicative of what society values, then absence reveals what society has found unimportant or, worse, chosen to suppress. REclaiming Lost Narratives examines how a librarian worked with a Women in Architecture and Design class to reclaim lost narratives of female designers by creating an exhibition of book covers, based on library research, dedicated to the monographs that should have been and could potentially be in the future.

By adopting a sustainability mindset, we resist the potential decline of libraries due to budget cuts and online convenience and reimagine what is possible with the resources at hand.

The work of archivists is often performed in parallel to librarians. Although the approach to managing an archival collection is different from managing a library collection, many of the same issues are raised in both fields. Attendees to this session will hear about current issues and topics within archives.

Establishing the NYC Trans Archives: Archival resistance in action
Speaker: Elvis Bakaitis (they/them)

NYC Trans archives is a newly founded, community-based archives located in New York City. We collect personal papers, art, digital media, zines, comics, and other forms of self-expressive works by and about transgender individuals and communities. This talk will provide a focused introduction to the start of an entirely new organization, based on a model of collective agreement/discussion, and operating on a limited, non-institutional budget. As a non-profit organization, NYC Trans Archives has been the recipient of two grants and will host an intern from the Mellon-funded FOCAS project in Fall 2026. The presenter will outline the NYC Trans Archives' origin story, a form of "resistance" in a time of systemic hostility to gender diverse lives in the United States. The purpose of this talk is to inspire connection at ARLIS between professionals in the field and the shared project of preserving histories of gender diverse people across the world.

滋賀重列: A case study of mutual influences and the archival traces they leave behind
Speaker: Emilee Mathews

In this paper I discuss archival traces across Japan and the United States regarding 滋賀重列|SHIGA Shigetsura, a Japanese architect who studied at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the 19th century and went on to develop the leading theory on late Meiji period Japanese housing typology. Perhaps most poignantly, only one building remains of SHIGA-san’s work: his own family home, which is still occupied by his descendents. That he was known for his expertise on housing and his own home still stands today is a testament to his understanding of the building typology. His own theory, one more defined by relativism than absolutist dictates, builds in flexibility and empathy to the individual circumstances of home ownership. SHIGA-san’s considerable body of writing and association with multiple institutions and publications left traces across both the University of Illinois archives and historic collections, and several repositories in Japan. It is a case study that illuminates links between Japan and the U.S. that are often acknowledged, yet our understanding of those influences still has much to improve. By telling this story through the lens of archival research, we can illuminate mutual dependencies between libraries across nations to tell expansive stories and celebrate cross-cultural accomplishments.

There’s Tea on the Table: end of life and legacy work in archival donor relations (or what I wish I had known before talking about death at work)
Speaker: Lucy Pauker

This paper addresses the challenges and offers potential aids to navigating trauma and grief in donor relations, from the perspective of an early career archivist. It explores these themes through the author’s role as Processing Archivist at a community archive (Jewish Public Library Archives) and leans specifically on the author’s relationship with a Montreal artist whose fonds is housed at the JPL-A. The presentation aims to dive into the trust building and difficult conversations that occur when pursuing legacy collections in which the donor is also the creator. By exploring examples of conversations with donors who are approaching end of life, or the families/colleagues of the recently departed, the author hopes to outline both the messiness of grief in the workplace and supports needed to aid in this process.

The NeverEnding Story: Current and Ongoing Issues in Architecture Archives
Speaker: Tellina Liu

This paper addresses three issues in architectural archives: increasing access and use, backlog and accruals, and donor relations.

In French we say, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," meaning "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Some of the changes we have experienced in the field of librarianship are here to stay, but some are not. From generative AI to library closures and job changes, change is all around us.

The Roots of This Tree Are Rotten!: Resisting the Institutional Push for GenAI
Speakers: Torie Quiñonez

The rapid rise of AI integration into our lives this past year has been startling. At all levels of the academy, educational organizations are announcing partnerships with tech companies seemingly without any critical consultation, thoughtful deliberation, or educator input. These expensive alliances are coming at a time of extreme budgetary contraction. Why are universities investing massive amounts in contracts with private companies when budgets are so tight? Who benefits? The call of “Will our students be ‘AI’ ready?” drowns out the more important question: “is AI ready for our students?” Research shows that Gen AI tools are often “confidently wrong,” offer up biased and racist responses, extract a devastating toll on the environment, provide venues for bad actors to exploit vulnerabilities, and harm critical thinking and analytical skills through repeated use and reliance.
While some educators talk about “ethical use of AI,” we argue that there is no ethical use possible when looking at all parameters. Even before addressing the resultant systemic issues, the tools themselves were created using stolen content and are currently being argued over in 47 legal cases (and counting). Our student artists and writers are in the crosshairs of these ethical issues. AI “helpers” have been inserted into many products without a stated desire or demonstrated need for them. The use cases we are given to convince us to uncritically adopt tools we never asked for are at best offering moderate levels of time-saving “efficiency,” and at worst replacing opportunities for actual care and communication with inferior electronic substitutes. Are they actually helping students learn? Or are they instead creating an added layer of obfuscation between a human and the information sources they need, while furthering disinvestment in education and people?
In the face of a forced narrative of tech inevitability, we want to give our university community another option: resistance. In the tradition of DIY resistance literature that came before us, we created a zine to provide a voice that goes against the stream of hype and normalization. In "The Roots of this Tree are Rotten!" we explain how we were inspired to look critically at the hype and call out GenAI, especially the way it has been an engine of shoddy substitutes for the things our students actually need: care, support, and mentorship. Instead of giving in to the convenient insistence that “it’s not going away,” we instead propose ways to resist, opt out, and push back on the narrative that “everyone is using it.” Attendees will learn about some of the major ethical concerns about Generative AI, how to identify and pop hype bubbles that push a narrative of tech inevitability, and ways to both resist uncritical adoption of GenAI tools and normalize opting out.

Final Chapters: How Academic Art Librarians Navigate Institutional Closure
Speaker: Becky Alexander

In the past decade, with increasing frequency, academic librarians at art colleges have arrived at work to learn that the libraries they have stewarded for years—sometimes decades—are closing along with their institutions. This is an unprecedented professional experience for which few librarians have experience or training. What does it mean to do the work of permanently closing a library under circumstances that are often confusing and emotionally fraught, and for which there are no clear or “right” answers?

This talk presents research by Becky Alexander, a librarian at the now-closed San Francisco Art Institute and currently an archivist at the San Francisco Art Institute Legacy Foundation + Archive. Drawing on interviews with ten other academic art librarians who experienced institutional closure, she examines how librarians navigated the dismantling of collections, the preservation of archives, the support of students and faculty, and the personal and professional ramifications of losing both a workplace and a community. By foregrounding librarians’ lived experiences, this presentation shares lessons learned, ethical considerations, and forms of solidarity that can help guide others facing similar institutional crises.

Lineages of Solo Librarianship at the Center for Book Arts
Speakers: Gillian Lee, Nicole Rosengurt

In this talk, the former and current librarian at a small educational arts nonprofit discuss the challenges and successes of the transfer of responsibilities, and the real do’s and don’ts of leaving and beginning a “lone arranger” position.

We also dive deeper into the human connection and the professional lineage inherent to becoming a predecessor or a replacement. What relational and institutional considerations does one make when leaving a job? What relationship can grow between the “old” librarian and the “new” librarian? How can this relationship be grounds for fertile connection on a small scale that then blooms outward?

This talk also explores the ways in which the two librarians employ a collection of artists’ books and zines to be a powerful stage for resistance. Examples include: (re-)introducing students to physical/analog printing and binding technologies through artists’ books; small space and lone-arranger status allowing changes to curricula; teaching self-publishing to encourage self-expression; and making curatorial choices regarding accessioning new works.

How can librarians support and commemorate student-led protests? This timely topic will be considered in the context of recent protests and encampments, while keeping in mind lessons learned from protests dating back to the 1970s.

Vociférer par l’image : les affiches du Printemps érable
Speakers : Catherine Ratelle-Montemiglio, Catherine Bernier

En droite ligne avec la thématique du congrès ARLIS/NA 2026, soit la résistance, cette présentation aura pour objectif de présenter deux corpus d’affiches créés durant le mouvement étudiant de 2012. Surnommé le « Printemps érable », ce mouvement étudiant s’est formé d’abord pour lutter contre la hausse des droits de scolarité, pour par la suite embrasser des préoccupations sociétales plus larges. Les affiches sélectionnées pour cette présentation sont celles créées par le collectif de l’École de la Montagne rouge ainsi que par l’artiste Clément de Gaulejac. Ces corpus sont conservés par une institution patrimoniale, au sein d’une collection d’affiches regroupant plusieurs milliers de documents. Nous aborderons les enjeux d’acquisition et de conservation liés à ces documents éphémères. Nous présenterons également le corpus du point de vue du graphisme et de leur condition de création, soit dans l’urgence d’un mouvement politique. Nous souhaitons également aborder des sujets plus larges, comme la place des documents politiques et militants dans les collections institutionnelles.

Archiving Potential History: Pop-up Art Libraries and the 2024 Student Protest Encampments
Speaker: Maggie McLaughlin

This presentation uses the 2024 student protest encampments for Palestine liberation as a lens to activate the art library’s potential for resistance, social justice work, and student activism. In particular, this presentation concerns one specific encampment at a large public university and its combination art tent, zine collection, and pop-up library that sat at the center of the camp. This triangulation established the space as one of creativity, critical inquiry, and mutual aid, leading to a series of interdisciplinary teach-ins with collaborations between teaching faculty and university librarians. Rooted in this case study, this presentation considers the generative entanglement between art libraries, student activism, and information literacy. This presentation views art libraries as sites full of possibility and potential to document and archive a history of diversity and dissent. It offers activating the art library as a space of messiness and movement, bringing together the study and practice of art in ways that help students assess their own critical and ethical engagement with the contemporary information landscape, especially as relates to social justice.

Art Students’ Resistance: Studying the Past, Informing the Future
Speaker: Rachel Resnik

In 1970 students across the United States held protests to oppose the Vietnam War. On May 4th at Kent State University four students were killed and nine others were injured during one such protest. Twenty-eight National Guard troops had fired 67 rounds of bullets at the protesting students.

Already involved in the anti-war movement and enraged by the killings at Kent State, Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) joined a national student strike. Classes were canceled and faculty and students engaged in community service projects. The most enduring project, The Graphic Workshop, operated from 1970-1992. Over its two decades in operation, the Workshop produced hundreds of silk-screened posters with styles and subjects reflecting the group’s changing priorities. The MassArt Archive holds many examples of Graphic Workshop posters; 162 examples are now available in the JStor Image Library.

The similarities between the state of affairs in 1970 and those today are striking. How can the work created in the early Seventies by the Graphic Workshop inform our interactions with students today? How can these posters inspire us to use our fear and frustration to make works of resistance that are meaningful, beautiful, and enduring?