AMERICAN THEATRE ARCHIVE PROJECT
www.americantheatrearchiveproject.org
Fall 2012 Progress Report
29 October 2012
This progress report includes information on ATAP team activity, funding pursuits, and training development from the past quarter as well as fall objectives. Please send fall updates to ken.cerniglia@gmail.com by January 15 for inclusion in the Winter 2013 Progress Report.
Teams
Northwest – Helice Koffler, chair
- Implemented a monthly meeting schedule and continued to build capacity and identify local funding sources in Washington and Oregon.
- Added new members in Eugene and Salem as well as one who splits his time between Portland and Seattle and another who is based in Seattle and New York.
- Second year iSchool student from the University of Washington, Lydia Vernon, was hired to compile a comprehensive inventory of theatre holdings in the UW Special Collections with funding from the University of Washington Friends of the Libraries. Lydia officially began work on the project in October.
- Helice made initial contact with West Coast respondents to the Minneapolis survey (representing Alaska, California, and Oregon). She had exchanges of varying length with a few, providing some basic advice via phone and e-mail to Jubilith Moore, artistic director of the Theatre of Yugen (San Franciso). She and Portland area members have a more extensive conversation planned with José González, executive director and founder of Miracle Theatre Group (José attended the first archives forum at the University of Minnesota – see below).
- Kate Bredeson (Reed College) and Rachel Kinsman Steck (Willamette University) are pursuing a pilot project to assist companies in the PDX area with developing standards for creating and managing archival performance videos.
Arizona – Berlin Loa, chair
- Following up on last year’s preliminary contact with several theatres in Tucson to gauge their interest in participating.
- Pursuing new members through contacts at the Library School and the local chapter of the SAA.
- Carrie Cole attended the Theatre Archives Symposium in Albuquerque (see below) and is integrating an archival project in her theatre history course at the University of Arizona.
New Mexico – Brian Herrera, chair
- Linda McAlister spearheaded a grant application to the New Mexico Humanities Council to fund a day-long symposium on preserving New Mexican theatre history on October 27. With funding approved, Brian, Susan Brady and Ken Cerniglia traveled to Albuquerque to present a keynote and two interactive working sessions with local theatre practitioners. 50 local theatre makers attended. A New Mexico ATAP team is being formed.
Minneapolis – Cecily Marcus, chair
- Cecily and Sara Zettervall facilitated two-day theatre archives forums in August and September with theatre makers and administrators from across the country. (More information below under Funding.)
Chicago – Maren Robinson, chair
- Working on forming a team, using existing momentum at the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Theatre History Project.
Central Illinois – Ann Haugo & Travis Stern, chairs
- The team is steadily working through the papers of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. We have built a relationship with the University Archivist at Illinois State, and she has trained three of our current graduate students in the MA/MS program in Theatre to help with the cataloging of the materials. The School of Theatre and Dance at Illinois State has granted some assistantship hours for the project that we hope can continue beyond this year. At the present time, the students are working through several boxes of ISF materials that were already deposited in the Archives but had not been organized or cataloged. Our next step will be to sort through several storage areas – paper storage, props storage, and costume storage – to locate more materials. For the long-term, we’re also hoping to build an oral history project into the process, to document the Festival’s history and impact on the local community.
- Ann has begun to build a relationship with a local community that has a nearly intact opera house in its downtown. The papers have all been gathered in the town’s local museum but have not been organized or archived appropriately. The museum just received a grant to help them process these papers as well as other records, and they’re excited to get some assistance from our students. With the help of our University Archivist (who has a background in theatre and is very excited about ATAP), we’re hoping to get some student volunteers to assist the museum, as well as see the space itself and talk with the current owner. The opera house itself hasn’t been used for decades, but rumors are that it still has tour posters on the walls, etc., and was never converted into use for another purpose.
Michigan – Jarrett Drake, chair
- Jarrett Drake (U Michigan School of Information) joined the team following Susan Brady’s talk at the SAA conference.
- The Michigan team is getting underway with contacting prospective repositories in the Ann Arbor area. At this point, we have assembled a core group of Michigan students to join the team and are nearing the completion of our Inventory Form. The students, who will come from the UM student chapter of SAA and the UM Community Information Corps, are led by Anne Simpson, a second-year archives student at the School of Information. The primary goal of the fall semester has been to organize a small team and account for prospective repositories and theaters. We have been successful in that regard, with many thanks to Anne.
Boston – Jessica Green, chair
- Sofia Becerra-Licha (Archivist, Berklee College), Eugenia Kim (Archival consultant, Jeannette Neill Dance Studio), and Jessica Green are submitting a panel proposal for the 2013 New England Archivists Spring meeting about strategies and considerations for working with performing arts institutions on their archival collections.
- We are helping Eugenia Kim find assistance in digitizing and cataloging about 30 years worth of videos and photographs at the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio in Boston.
New York City – Martha Steketee and Lea Lange, chairs
- Lucille Lortel Foundation-funded assessments have been completed at New York Theatre Workshop (Eunice Liu and Ken Cerniglia) and Atlantic Theatre Company (Rose Yndigoyen [continuing the work of Tiffany Nixon] and Martha Steketee). In addition, Gwynned Cannan, Arminda Thomas, and Camille Dee assessed and reported on the Lucille Lortel Foundation archives. Case studies are forthcoming. Second Stage needed to postpone its assessment to a later date, a replacement theatre is being determined.
- We are compiling a proposal to the Lortel Foundation for a second round of theatre assessments.
- Ken Cerniglia will follow up with ART New York, a service organization for non-profit theatre companies in New York City, later this fall.
Florida – Beth Osborne, chair
- Due to other commitments, Beth is stepping down from the ATAP Steering Committee and her chair of the Florida team. She is looking for interested parties to pick up the baton.
COMMUNICATIONS
- Streamlined the home page on www.americantheatrearchiveproject.org.
- Created a discussion listserv to give interested theatre practitioners direct access to ATAP members in an informal setting.
- Ken Cerniglia presented on ATAP at the International Federation for Theatre Research conference in Santiago, Chile, in July, which elicited substantial international interest.
- Susan Brady presented on ATAP as the Society for American Archivists conference in San Diego, California, in August, and contacted more archivists with interest in theatre.
Funding
- Archivist/documentarian teams are executing a $4000 Lucille Lortel Foundation grant at three NYC off-Broadway theatres. These projects aim for completion by mid-November. A comprehensive report will be submitted to Lortel, with a reapplication for funding for more theatres to follow. (See further details above under New York City.)
- Brian Herrera oversaw a successful grant application to the New Mexico Humanities Council to fund a day-long symposium on preserving New Mexican theatre history on October 27 in Albuquerque. Speakers included Brian, Susan Brady and Ken Cerniglia.
- The Performing Arts Archives and the University of Minnesota won an IMLS grant that funded a national survey and two forums on getting archival programs started in active theatre companies, particularly theatres of color. Ken Cerniglia attended the August forum, and Susan Brady and Tiffany Nixon attended the September forum. The Steering Committee is following up with other attendees.
- The Steering Committee continues to investigate large foundations for national funding potential.
TOOLS & Training
With a combination of local efforts and national planning, we continue to develop and pilot the following print, presentation and training resources:
- Why Theatre Archives Matter – a simple, call-to-action trifold brochure to share with theatres.
- Why Archive Theatre? – a 20-minute script and slide show to present at conferences and service organizations that outlines the benefits of a living theatre archive and why every theatre should establish one today!
- Establishing Archives at Theatre Companies – a half-day training session for archivists who are new to theatre and scholars, practitioners, students, and others who are interested in serving as documentarians for the ATAP “Getting Started” Program.
- ATAP “Getting Started” Program:
- Preserving Your Theatre’s Legacy – this interactive 2-hour orientation provides an overview of the work ahead and generates a provisional archives mission statement that reflects the theatre’s values. It’s the “theory” before the practice begins.
o Assessment Templates – guides to surveying a theatre company’s current records and storage habits.
o Establishing Your Theatre’s Archives – this interactive 2-hour workshop introduces and applies basic archival principles and practices based on the recommendations from the assessment. Theatre staff will leave with a refined mission statement, goals for the next quarter, specific tasks to take on immediately, and a formal committee to oversee the work ahead.
- Creating Your Archives: A Manual for Theatre Companies – a straightforward “how to” for theatre practitioners, particularly those without immediate access to an ATAP team. (coming soon)
FALL 2012 Objectives
· Communication:
o Improve member and team communication and reporting.
o Investigate a database in which team members can share and keep track of what theatres they have or will be contacting.
o Create password-protected area of the website for team members to share non-public information (e.g., theatre contacts) and create list of other potential info that should be password-protected.
o Analyze broader question of what we make accessible to members and non-member “viewers” (theatre companies and others).
· Training:
o Draft Creating Your Archives: A Manual for Theatre Companies.
o Revise and post “Getting Started” guide materials.
· Funding:
o Continue investigating potential grants and involve regional teams in this activity.
o Create template for ATAP grant proposals
· Partnerships:
o Approach the American Theatre Wing and Broadway League for support.
Thank you for your continued interest in ATAP. Please contact us with questions or comments.
Susan Brady, Archivist, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University susan.brady@yale.edu
Ken Cerniglia, Dramaturg and Literary Manager, Disney Theatrical Group, New York ken.cerniglia@gmail.com
Co-chairs, ATAP Steering Committee