Welcome to the Library
 

 

 

 

 

 


Online Newsletter of Roxbury Community College Library

 

March 2006

 

 

ART DONATIONS

 

TAC_logoThe library environment has been significantly improved by the donation of 20 pieces of original artwork.  Fourteen artists, mostly from the Boston area, donated their creations to the library in coordination with The Art Connection, Inc.   For the last ten years, The Art Connection has arranged for the distribution of original art to non-profit and public agencies that have no budget to purchase art themselves.  The graphic works donated to the library are in numerous media:  acrylic, woodcut, wood engraving, mixed media, oil on canvas, silkscreen, serigraph, oil on paper.  There is also a 7-foot steel and branch sculpture. 

 

The installation of the artwork in the library is the culmination of a 6-month application and review process.  The Art Connection requires that art be placed in locations where there is significant client usage and also where the art can be protected.  The library was judged an excellent donation site because users make 100 thousand visits per year and because of its security mechanisms.  The Art Connection does not place art objects in staff offices nor locations like hallways or the cafeteria where there is limited security.

 

An Art Selection Committee sorted through some 250 images available from The Art Connection before selecting 20 works for installation.  Committee members and Rob Moody of Facilities picked up the pieces from the various artists studios.  Committee members included:  Jennifer Hughes, RCC Curator, Marshall Hughes, Director of Visual, Performing & Media Arts, Judy Kahalas, Writing Center Coordinator, Mark Lawrence, Library Director, Marie Magloire, Library Assistant III, and Giselle O’Brady, Student Government Association President.   Bill Larson of Facilities installed most of the pieces and Juan Diaz also of Facilities repainted the group study room to give several art pieces a better home.

 

Here is a list of the generous artists who have shared their creations with the RCC community along with names and descriptions of works and artists’ web page links.  Selected images are also shown but they are pale shadows of the originals that should be experienced in person.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note:  The artists retain copyright of all images. No image may be reproduced without the express permission of the artist.

 

The Art Connection’s art placement program is made possible through the generous support of individual donors and is funded in part by NEFA and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.  For more information visit The Art Connection’s website at www.theartconnection.org, call 617.338.7668, or email: info@theartconnection.org.

 

 

RECEPTION HUGE SUCCESS

 

Nearly 100 people attended a very successful reception in the library on January 19.  Visitors enjoyed displays of new art work (see above) and displays from the library’s archives and special collections, especially those featuring the Boston Black United Front and memorabilia from the 1983 Boston Mayoral campaign of former state representative Mel King.  Mel has recently donated his papers and other material from this campaign to the RCC Archives.  They are currently being processed.  To kick off African American History Month, reception attendees also browsed through displays of 150 newly received books on the African American experience and an updated 35-foot long Timeline of African American History.  This display and the Mel King display were up throughout February.

 

Attendees included 3 donating artists (Jo Ann Rothchild, Eleanor Rubin and Ellen Sperling), Joyce King (representing Mel King who had a prior commitment), Leonard Durant (who donated the Black United Front papers), RCC Trustees Chair Dr. Phillip Clay, several representatives from The Art Connection, Inc., half a dozen representatives from neighborhood colleges, and RCC faculty, staff and students.

 

The event was a fine occasion for fellowship.  Many people looked through old yearbooks on display, reminisced about the history of the college and laughed at how young some people looked in the pictures.  There were many creative conversations and even more that were just social and fun.  Refreshments, supplied by Vice President Brenda Mercomes, were excellent especially an unbelievably delicious cake for which there was keen competition among several departments for leftovers.

 

Thumbnails of candid reception photos, most taken by Milton Samuels.

 

Click on pictures to view!

 

 

 

 

 

RCC ART JOURNALS

 

Since the library now has a fine collection of original artwork, it is timely to feature the 3 art journals to which the library subscribes and 62 full text art journals available in the library’s databases. 

 

·        African Arts is a quarterly journal devoted to the plastic and graphic arts of Africa, broadly defined to encompass sculpture in wood, metal, ceramic, ivory, and stone, and less familiar work in fiber, hide, mud, and other materials. Included in this mandate are architecture, arts of personal adornment, contemporary fine and popular arts, and the arts of the African diaspora. In addition, the journal encourages dialogue on other forms of African expressive culture: film, theater, dance, and music. 

·        ArtNews is the lifestyle magazine reporting on the art, personalities, issues, trends, and events shaping the international art world. Our editorial combines award-winning journalism with spirited criticism to provide readers with fresh insight, authoritative information, and entertainment in a lively, colorful format.  Founded in 1902, ARTNews has the largest circulation of any fine-art magazine in the world. 

·        International Review of African American Art offers an insider’s grasp of the complexities of African American visual and material culture and covers both the history of the art and the contemporary scene.  Recent special issues have included:

-Post-Black, Post-Soul, or Hip Hop Iconography. (v. 20, no. 2).

-Prodigy Dashed By Misfortune:  John Farrar.  (v. 19, no. 2).

-MathArt in the African Diaspora.  (v. 19, no. 3).

-Charles Alston, An Appreciation.  (v. 19, no. 4).

-Special Issue on Collecting.  (v. 17, no. 3).

 

This image copyrighted and used by permission. Downloading forbbiden.

·        Online Art Journals.  The library’s databases also give access to 62 full text art journals.  Fifty more art journals are indexed.  To access these:

·        Go to the library’s web page www.rcc.mass.edu/lib

·        Choose Databases

·        Choose Alphabetical List

·        Choose the 1st database, Academic Search Premier

·        Choose Publications in the green strip at top of page

·        Under “Browse Publications,” enter ART and choose the “By Subject & Description” option

·        The list of art journals will come up.  Choose year and issue and browse.

 

 

 

To build a better college library and provide superior customer service, we need your comments.  Send both praises and gripes to mlawrence@rcc.mass.edu. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you missed earlier issues of Welcome to the Library, click on “Read the Library’s newsletter” on the library website http://www.rcc.mass.edu/lib.  If you wish to be deleted from the distribution list, click here and write Discontinue Newsletter in the email subject.

 

Welcome to the Library, published by Roxbury Community College Library, Roxbury Crossing, MA

Mark Lawrence, Library Director