The Harry Brorby Experience
During the spring semester of 2015, I filled three roles for The Harry Brorby Project: researcher, archivist, and provenance reconstruction project manager. For my part, this was an unexplored field. As well as a unique undergraduate opportunity, I felt the experience was as rewarding as it was challenging. Being able to delve into an artist’s life, especially one from a time not so far removed from my own, was a fascinating adventure. Initially, facing sixteen beer boxes of seemingly random artifacts was daunting. Never having attempted a project of this nature and clueless about where to begin, I dove into the material in an attempt to get my bearings within the life of Harry Brorby.
The class was divided into five project teams: Provenance, Archiving, Digitization, Timeline, and Content Management. I was the project manager for the Provenance team, as well as a member of the Archiving team under Stephanie Harron. As a member of the Archiving team, I found it rewarding when our class met with a local professional archivist to learn the tricks of the trade. In the course of the project, I aided in the basic processes of archiving: sorting, labeling, preserving, and organizing.
Our goal for the Provenance team was to reconstruct a history of Brorby’s artwork, including the date a piece was created, prizes, exhibition appearances, sales, location, and any other pertinent information we came across. As manager, the project offered a great opportunity to learn how to manage and communicate with a group. In order to tackle our project as efficiently and in as clear a manner as possible, I chose to divide the goal of provenance reconstruction into four main components: the initial organization of all related primary documents; the collection and synthesis of information from those documents, meaning combining information for a piece from multiple sources onto a single, cohesive document; a timeline of exhibition/gallery showings with related artwork information; and the creation and application of an accession numbering system. I contributed to the organization of materials, synthesis, made a timeline of exhibitions, and created an accession numbering system and applied it to a number of works. I also headed the design of our poster for the Celebration of Undergraduate Research, and presented it along with group members Rachael Corey and Stephanie Harron.
Our project is an ongoing endeavor as more pieces fall together as a result of our research. The difficult part of the task was synthesizing the copious amounts of information from such a variety of sources (photographs, letters, gallery correspondences, exhibition pamphlets, sales ledgers, handwritten lists of art, and more). It was a challenge to organize all of the materials in a clear format, especially with all of the information gaps. However, we learned from trial and error and continued to move forward. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, as well as discussing the validity, ethics, and purpose of archiving and how it pertains to our collective cultural experience.
The class was divided into five project teams: Provenance, Archiving, Digitization, Timeline, and Content Management. I was the project manager for the Provenance team, as well as a member of the Archiving team under Stephanie Harron. As a member of the Archiving team, I found it rewarding when our class met with a local professional archivist to learn the tricks of the trade. In the course of the project, I aided in the basic processes of archiving: sorting, labeling, preserving, and organizing.
Our goal for the Provenance team was to reconstruct a history of Brorby’s artwork, including the date a piece was created, prizes, exhibition appearances, sales, location, and any other pertinent information we came across. As manager, the project offered a great opportunity to learn how to manage and communicate with a group. In order to tackle our project as efficiently and in as clear a manner as possible, I chose to divide the goal of provenance reconstruction into four main components: the initial organization of all related primary documents; the collection and synthesis of information from those documents, meaning combining information for a piece from multiple sources onto a single, cohesive document; a timeline of exhibition/gallery showings with related artwork information; and the creation and application of an accession numbering system. I contributed to the organization of materials, synthesis, made a timeline of exhibitions, and created an accession numbering system and applied it to a number of works. I also headed the design of our poster for the Celebration of Undergraduate Research, and presented it along with group members Rachael Corey and Stephanie Harron.
Our project is an ongoing endeavor as more pieces fall together as a result of our research. The difficult part of the task was synthesizing the copious amounts of information from such a variety of sources (photographs, letters, gallery correspondences, exhibition pamphlets, sales ledgers, handwritten lists of art, and more). It was a challenge to organize all of the materials in a clear format, especially with all of the information gaps. However, we learned from trial and error and continued to move forward. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, as well as discussing the validity, ethics, and purpose of archiving and how it pertains to our collective cultural experience.
Visit The Harry Brorby Project for more information.
© 2015 by Erin Schregardus. All rights reserved.