ARLIS/NA 54th Annual Conference

How can libraries, museums, and the vendors they partner with embody resistance in the face of privatization, censorship, and inequity? This panel will explore an emerging partnership between Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), an organization dedicated to preserving and providing access to media art, and Pratt Institute Libraries, which is working to expand ethical, sustainable access to these collections. Positioning themselves as allies rather than vendors, EAI is actively developing initiatives that resist barriers to access by highlighting marginalized art histories, supporting educators in underfunded schools, and collaborating with organizations such as Art Resources Transfer to distribute publications and curricula to public libraries and prison systems.

The panel will examine how libraries, artists, and cultural organizations can collaborate to resist exploitative market dynamics, expand access to underrepresented voices, and preserve media art as a vital cultural record. Rebecca Cleman, Executive Director of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), will outline EAI’s mission and history of providing educational access to media art, with a focus on the Educational Streaming Service and recent partnerships with academic institutions. Nelson Henricks, a Montreal-based educator and artist with media art in distribution through Video Data Bank, will discuss his experience using EAI in the classroom. Matthew Garklavs, the Electronic Resources Librarian at Pratt Institute Libraries, will address his collaboration with EAI to develop a shared cataloging infrastructure and reflect on working with vendors to support sustainable, long-term access to educational resources.

While touching upon current developments in the field, this panel will position collaborations between vendors, libraries, and creators not as transactional relationships but as opportunities for solidarity and shared purpose. In contrast to conventional subscription models, EAI is piloting new pathways, such as subsidized streaming for schools and open sharing of MARC records, that align with libraries’ commitments to openness and equitable access. By including an artist’s voice, the panel will also foreground the stakes for creators whose works risk invisibility without the stewardship of organizations committed to long-term preservation and accessibility.

Anchored in Montreal, a city with a deep history of cultural resistance, this panel will resonate with the conference theme by showing how art information professionals can transform professional practice into a form of resistance, expanding access, amplifying marginalized histories, and reimagining collaborative partnerships over commerce.