More Artist's Collections

 Last week I worked on processing a few more small artist's collections. These collections are fun to do because I get to see the various forms of art and they're small enough to work through quickly.

Specifically, I worked on Karen Hanmer's, Nancy Plotkin's, and Margaret Lanterman's collections. These three women are linked by the fact that their worked has been featured at Artemesia Galleries, which I wrote about in an earlier post. The director of the archives told me that the majority of these new artist's collections came to the archives as a result of her recent presentation at an Artemesia event.

I questioned her about the process of finding donors and gathering collections. She said it can be done on a personal level where someone contacts the archives and an archivist goes to their home or office to assess the size and condition of their materials. Also, its can be done on a larger scale like she did with Artemesia. In either case, the goal of the archivist is to inform the potential donor about the benefits of having their materials archived. The archivists talk about how these materials will be preserved meticulously so that they last much longer than they would in an attic or a basement. They also talk about the value of having these women's materials in the archives as a contribution to the collection of women's history materials.

It is essential that more women donate their materials to archives like the WLA because the aim of this center is to preserve, share, and celebrate women's history. Archivists emphasize that all women make history whether it is Amelia Earhart or Jane Doe. Each of these women's stories and contributions to society are equally important and are necessary elements in the greater collection of women's history.