ART | Library deco
Words by kYmberly Keeton
To be an agent of change one must have the audacity and courage to walk away from traditional librarianship and create a fresh opportunity.
ART | library deco, “sweet as the moment when art went pop!” is an online virtual art library documenting the visual experience of art and literature through the eyes of African American artists and institutions. We are a cultural institution with a mission to provide access to knowledge. We also collect and maintain cultural heritage materials, preserve digital and physical archives, and provide accessibility to valuable primary sources for researchers.
My mother introduced me to the visual world of art museums and galleries, and I still ponder, at times, about never being invited into the art libraries within these institutions. I remember when I walked into the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston as an undergraduate at the University of Houston. Later, as a graduate student librarian, I was surprised when I learned that they had an art library housed in the museum! My practicum application at the University of North Texas included two opportunities for me to intern at the Houston Museum of African Culture and the Hirsch Library at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. During the practicum, I realized that most art libraries exist in white institutions and that there is a need for their existence in African American museums, galleries, and cultural complexes. ART | library deco was born through this experience in May 2013, during a time of curiosity and observation. Access or perceived access became a critical focal point for me. I knew, at that moment, that this would be my life's work.
Today, I am a Doctoral student in Information Science, and Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of North Texas. My scholarship is archived at BGLAM.blog. As an African American writer, artist, and advocate for a change, building a tangible legacy for future generations is my vision of success. Professionally, as an entrepreneurial art librarian, I revisit the past often to re-envision a new future. The inspiration that helped bring ART | library deco into fruition is a plethora of African American artists, librarians, curators, and scholars I continue to learn from throughout the journey of building a Black art library and gallery. The innovators I learned from are Regina M. Anderson, Lillian B. Horace, Camille Billops, Vivian Ayers, and Mayme Agnew Clayton. I began working countless hours without knowing how I would generate funding to do such a thing!
An open-source creative information practice emerged, helping to define ART | library as unique within the independent Black Galleries, Libraries, Archives, & Museums institutions (BGLAM). The artistic praxis is an actively growing digital library and repository available to the global community. The African American virtual art library features curated art news, exhibitions, collections, and original reporting. Moreover, students, faculty, and lifelong learners have access to comprehensive African American art lib-guides, art collections, and memorabilia. Research areas include history, nostalgia, artwork, photography and genealogy, and literature.
You are personally welcome and invited to walk through the virtual doors of ART | library deco.
kYmberly Keeton is a native Texan, a nationally published writer, an art librarian & archivist, and genealogy curator. By day, the ALA Emerging Leader and Library Journal 2020 Mover & Shaker is the Chief Artistic Officer of NOVELLA MEDIA, LLC, a creative information agency and the founder of ART | library deco, a virtual African American art library and repository. Currently, the writer is working on a PhD in Information Science, Interdisciplinary Studies, at the University of North Texas. A creative-mixologist, scholar, and cultural philanthropist, kYmberly can be seen on the regular with her dog, Roxy Blue.
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