Bob Vietrogoski receives a plaque commemorating the donation from MSNJ president Christopher Gribbin.
Peter Carmel, president of the Medical History Society of New Jersey, addresses attendees of the reception at Smith Library.
In 2016, Rutgers University was not the only major New Jersey institution celebrating its 250th anniversary. On July 23, 1766, at Duff’s Tavern in New Brunswick, a group of physicians met and formed the Medical Society of New Jersey (MSNJ). The MSNJ is America’s oldest state medical society, and indeed, is America’s oldest professional society.
The George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences, Rutgers University Libraries, is pleased to announce that the MSNJ has donated its 20th- and early 21st-century records to Smith Library’s Special Collections in the History of Medicine. The donation consists of 52 archival boxes of records, and 85 volumes of MSNJ Board of Trustees minutes from 1931 to 2005. These valuable historical records will be preserved and made available to MSNJ administrators, members, and officers; Rutgers University students and faculty; historians of medicine; and local and family historians.
Special Collections already holds a nearly complete run of MSNJ journal publications from 1848 to 2005, as well as substantial archival holdings of its constituent Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Hudson, Monmouth, Passaic, and Warren County Medical Societies, and the records of the Medical Society of New Jersey Alliance (formerly the Women’s Auxiliary).
An exhibit of materials from this accession was curated by Bob Vietrogoski, with the help of Nancy Blankenhorn, medical student Stephanie Yuen, and Tim Corlis and his preservation team. On display are a selection of artifacts related to the 200th and 250th anniversaries of the MSNJ; Board of Trustees minutes discussing physicians joining the military during World War II, plans for a New Jersey medical school in 1952, the introduction of the polio vaccine in 1955, and the discouragement of smoking in hospitals in 1967; photographs from two issues of New Jersey Medicine on the history of New Jersey’s pioneering women physicians; and meeting posters from the Essex County Medical Society from 1954 to 1979 concerning the perpetual topic of “New Legislation Affecting the Medical Profession.”
The exhibit opening on April 19 was attended by MSNJ administrators including its past, present, and future presidents; members of the Medical History Society of New Jersey; Rutgers New Jersey Medical School faculty and students; and Rutgers librarians. At this reception, MSNJ President Christopher Gribbin presented Special Collections librarian Bob Vietrogoski with a plaque commemorating the MSNJ archival donation. This donation brings together Rutgers and the MSNJ, two New Jersey institutions founded in 1766.
Congratulations to Consuella Askew for being named a 2018 Senior Library Fellow!
California-Bound!
Congratulations are in order for Consuella Askew, who was recently announced as one of the 17 library leaders who have been selected to participate in this year’s Library Senior Fellows program at UCLA.
Consuella will join an international cohort of fellows at UCLA in August for a three-week residential program combining management perspectives, strategic thinking, and practical and theoretical approaches to the issues confronting academic institutions and their libraries. We can’t wait to hear all about it!
Where Literature and Medicine Meet
Kayo Denda and Victoria Wagner are at the heart of a new partnership with Robert Wood Johnson Medical School that will expand the dialogue surrounding issues of gender, sexuality, and identity in campus hospitals. The Literature and Medicine series brings free film screenings and discussions to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital one Monday each month. Next up: A presentation on transgenderism and the military on April 16. Learn more.
Ryan Womack meets a parking lot attendant in the Mongolian airport.
Teaching Data in Mongolia
Ryan Womack was recently invited to the Mongolian University of Life Sciences’ School of Economics and Business, where he taught a weeklong seminar on applied multivariate statistical methods using R. The seminar drew participants from schools across the university as well as Mongolian governmental offices. He also participated in meetings to discuss improvements to the academic and data infrastructure of the university and talked with undergraduate statistics majors about trends in data science. Read more on our website or the RyanData blog (which has a ton of great photos from the trip!).
Happy Birthday Paul Robeson!
April 9, 2018 marks the 120th birthday of Rutgers alum, actor, artist, and activist Paul Robeson. In honor of this milestone, Paul Robeson Library is hosting events throughout the month of April including an exhibit about his life, a documentary film screening and panel discussion, and a birthday party on Rutgers Day. Learn more about the planned festivities.
The 32nd annual Bishop Lecture comes to Alexander Library on April 25.
Who Spoke Up?
The 32nd Annual Louis Faugères III Bishop Lecture will be held at Alexander Library on April 25. Join us as we welcome David Greenberg, professor of history and journalism and media studies at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and author of Republic of Spin: The Inside History of the American Presidency. Greenberg’s lecture, titled “Who Spoke Up?: Liberals, the Left, and the ‘Great Debate’ over Entering World War II,” will paint a vivid portrait of the personalities and debates surrounding America’s entrance into World War II, illustrating the importance of political papers projects for this type of original historical and political research.
As a scholar of political history, Greenberg frequently uses political papers in his research. For his most recent book, he visited no less than six presidential libraries and used political collections at the Library of Congress and Princeton University.
An opening reception was held for New Jersey First: The Life and Legacy of Senator Frank R. Lautenberg on February 21.
Attendees explored the new Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit in the SCUA Gallery.
Dr. Krisellen Maloney welcomes attendees to the final briefing of the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers reception
Rita Mitjans, Chief Diversity & Corporate Social Responsibility Officer for ADP, gives remarks about the collection and acknowledges Lautenberg scholarship recipients.
Ellen Lautenberg spoke on behalf of the Lautenberg family, describing how important it was to the Senator that his papers end up at Rutgers University because it is the state university of New Jersey.
Krisellen Maloney looks on as Ellen Lautenberg speaks.
(l. to r.) Ronald Becker and Francine Newsome Pfeiffer RC’95 at the final briefing for the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit
Attendees view the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit prior to the event
(l. to r.) Bonnie Lautenberg and Robert Cumins at the final briefing for the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit
Bonnie Lautenberg at the final briefing for the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit
(l. to r.) Stephanie Crawford, Flora Boros, Tara Maharjan and Timothy Corlis RC’81 at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers reception
Senator Lautenberg campaign buttons for attendees at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit
Guests chat at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers reception
(l. to r.) UNKNOWN and Lois Lautenberg at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers reception
(l. to r.) Sheridan Sayles and Nan Morgart at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers reception
Live music entertainment provided by Mason Gross School of the Arts music students at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers reception
Guests arrive and talk about the Lautenberg Papers exhibit opening reception
Attendees at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers reception listen to remarks
Members of the ADP group at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit
The Lautenberg family at the Senator Frank Lautenberg Papers exhibit
William Ayala looks at the Senator Frank Lautenberg exhibit
On February 21, the Libraries welcomed Senator Lautenberg’s family, friends, and colleagues to a special exhibit opening for New Jersey First: The Life and Legacy of Frank R. Lautenberg. The event was held in the reference room of Alexander Library and attendees could tour the exhibit in the downstairs gallery. Hosted in partnership with the Rutgers Foundation and Rutgers University Federal Relations, the event was appropriately celebratory and sentimental with Ellen Lautenberg remarking that her father “was very proud of Rutgers as a university. It was important to him that his papers were here at this university because it is the university of New Jersey and he really was a kid from New Jersey. I am glad that we were really able to see the project through.”
While the focus of this event was the launch of the exhibit, Lautenberg also expressed gratitude for the work that has gone into the papers project, thanking archivist Sheridan Sayles among others and noting, “He would really be very gratified that the collection is here. It looks amazing. So much hard work has gone into this. It will allow people to not just see some of the items that were associated with his service but also to do their research to get ahold of all the papers. It is really quite amazing what is now available to people for his almost thirty years in the Senate.”
Rita Mitjans, Chief Diversity & Corporate Social Responsibility Officer for ADP, spoke about the role of giving at ADP and the importance of supporting projects like the Lautenberg Papers. She also acknowledged the many Lautenberg scholarship recipients in the room, noting that the senator believed in the power of education to change lives.
Robert Kirkbride accepts the NJSAA Author Award for “Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital.” Credit: Casey Ambrosio / The Daily Targum.
NJ Academics Unite!
The New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance held their annual Author Award Winners Panel at Alexander Library in December. These awards recognize works that reflect a new understanding of New Jersey’s history and culture, demonstrate evidence of original research in the application of New Jersey resources, or reveal new insights into a given topic.
This year’s winners? Garry Wheeler Stone for Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle in the nonfiction scholarly category; Rusty Tagliareni and Robert Kirkbride for Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in the nonfiction popular category; and Maxine Lurie and Richard Veit for Envisioning New Jersey: An Illustrated History of the Garden State in the reference category. Read more in the Daily Targum’s recap of theawards.
The Creative Life of Douglass opens at Douglass Library on January 16.
Celebrating a Century of Creativity
The Creative Life of Douglass—an exhibition of materials from the University Archives chronicling ten decades of dance, theater, music, visual arts, and literature produced by the women of Douglass Residential College–opens at Douglass Library on January 16. The display, part of the #Douglass100 centennial celebration and held in partnership with the Center for Women in the Arts and Humanities, was curated by the Libraries’ Kayo Denda, Erika Gorder, and Fernanda Perrone.
kite+key now offers payroll deduction for full time employees.
A New Way to Get Your Tech On
kite+key, the Rutgers tech store, is now offering payroll deduction as a payment option for all full-time Rutgers faculty and staff. Employees can spread $250–$3,000 over one year, or 26 paychecks (10-month faculty payment schedule varies) with no interest! Payments as low as $9.62 per check for a $250 purchase to $115.38 per check for a $3,000 purchase. For more information and to view the Terms and Agreement, visit kiteandkey.rutgers.edu/payroll-deduction.
Lookin’ Fresh
The Libraries’ website refresh launched just before the holiday break and it looks fantastic. Kudos to the Web Improvement Team for their hard work in pulling all the changes off in time for the spring semester. Interested in learning more about the refresh and the research that informed the changes? Amy Kimura’s post from last month’s Agenda is definitely worth revisiting. And if you have any comments or suggestions for the team, head on over to their feedback submission form.
Regina Koury begins as director of Paul Robeson Library on January 16.
A New Year, A New Vision
This month we will welcome Regina Koury as the new director of Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers–Camden. Regina comes to us from Idaho State University, where she served as assistant university librarian for discovery and resource services.
“It is a particular honor to have been selected as director of Paul Robeson Library,” she said when her appointment was announced. “I look forward to working with excellent library staff, students, and faculty; to continue expanding outstanding library services, collections, and spaces; and to collaborating on existing and new initiatives in support of the Rutgers–Camden community.”
And we look forward to helping her achieve her vision! Read our press release to learn more about Regina.
Marty Kesselman Will Give the 5th SAPAC Talk of the Year on January 16, 2018, 12 p.m.
Marty Kesselman will present “Report of the Consumer Electronics Show,” on Tuesday, January 16, 2018, 12pm-1pm, in the Pane Room of Alexander Library (remote to Dana Library Special Collections Room, Robeson Library Conference Room, and Smith Library Conference Room). Topics to be covered include:
New technologies of potential use in libraries and how and why librarians can attend.
Report from the one day session, Transforming EDU that focuses on how technology is changing the face of teaching in various ways, e.g. credential vs. degrees, non traditional students, use of new technologies (e.g. virtual reality) in the classroom (and libraries), makerspaces, etc.
University innovation programs that encourage young science entrepreneurs and a potential new role for libraries.
How quickly this area is moving and how does one keep up.
Feedback and discussion with those that attend.
A glimpse at the Milton to Milton exhibit on display at Alexander Library through February 28.
Closing Soon: Catch These Displays while You Still Can!
The closing reception for the Opposition book arts exhibition is slated for January 17.
The Opposition Lives On
Wednesday, January 17 5:00–7:00 p.m. Alexander Library, Rutgers–New Brunswick
Rutgers University’s Special Collections and University Archives will hold an exhibition closing reception for Opposition, an exhibition of artists’ books, installations, and related textually based or inspired artwork on Wednesday, January 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. Following a panel discussion moderated by Karen Guancione with other Opposition artists including Asha Ganpat, Susan Happersett, China Marks, and Dikko Faust and Esther Smith of the Purgatory Pie Press, and a premiere of Karen Guancione: Book Arts, Installations & Assemblages, a digital archive of photographs and texts conceived by Grace Agnew, we will serve light refreshments in a room adjoining the gallery. The Closing discussion will be held in the Pane Room on the main floor of the Alexander Library, at 169 College Avenue, New Brunswick. The resistance will continue, but come say goodbye to Opposition. RSVP to Michael Joseph (mjoseph@rutgers.edu). For a peek at our digital archive visit https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/projects/guancione/.
Lenoard Cassuto will discuss 21st century graduate education on January 31.
The Future of Graduate Education
Wednesday, January 31 5:00–6:30 p.m. Alexander Library, Rutgers–New Brunswick
This semester, the School of Graduate Studies is inaugurating a new lecture series titled Provocations: The Future of Graduate Education to promote universitywide discussions about key issues, challenges, and innovations to generate ideas for advancing graduate education at Rutgers. Leonard Cassuto, professor of English and American studies at Fordham University, will present a talk titled “Graduate School 2.0: Rethinking Graduate Education for the 21st Century.” This will be an interdisciplinary discussion open to all students, faculty, and staff at Rutgers.
On Campus over Break? So Is the Zimmerli!
Tuesdays through Fridays: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays: Noon to 5 p.m. First Tuesday of each moth: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers–New Brunswick
Visit the exhibitionsSubjective Objective: A Century of Social Photography, On the Prowl: Cats and Dogs in French Prints, and Absence and Trace: The Dematerialized Image in Contemporary Art before they close on January 7.
Looking for a preview? Place on Stone: Nineteenth-Century Landscape Lithographs is set to open on January 13. For more information, visit the Zimmerli Art Museum website.
Rutgers–Camden’s Julianne Baird will lead a special performance of “The Music Hamilton Heard” at Kirkpatrick Chapel on January 12.
The Music Hamilton Heard
Friday, January 12 7:00 p.m. Kirkpatrick Chapel, Rutgers–New Brunswick
Join Rutgers’ Division of Continuing Studies at Kirkpatrick Chapel for a special concert with internationally renowned soprano and Rutgers–Camden Distinguished Professor of Music Julianne Baird and the Lord Camden Chamber Players as they perform the pieces enjoyed by the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Led by Dr. Baird, the Lord Camden Chamber Players will perform the music that our great founder actually enjoyed. As the United States embarked on its first steps into the world of nations, its composers and artists began to express what Ben Franklin called, “the American Muse.”
Lemony Snicket’s Bewildering Circumstances: An Evening with Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket comes to Rutgers–New Brunswick on Saturday, January 13.
Saturday, January 13 6:00 p.m. College Avenue Student Center, Rutgers–New Brunswick
Novelist Daniel Handler, known to despairing readers everywhere as Lemony Snicket, attempts to chart a course from the troubling questions of his childhood to the literary success of his adult life, with the sinking feeling that these are actually the same thing. How do the questions that haunt us as children lead us into our supposed adulthood? Mr. Handler will either answer this question or explain why he can’t.
Tickets are $10 for Rutgers students and come with a free book! $15 for Rutgers faculty or staff; $20 for general public. For more information, visit the Division of Continuing Studies website.
The Big Read Lecture Series: School of Nursing Faculty
Wednesday, January 31 5–7 p.m. Location TBD, Rutgers–Camden
A cross-section of School of Nursing faculty researchers will discuss health equity through the lens of Citizen: An American Lyric. Panelists include: Patricia Supplee, PhD, RNC-OB studies maternal health in low-income urban communities and the healthcare needs of African-American women and families; Rashida Atkins, PhD, APNc studies depression in black single mothers, healthcare disparities, and develops evidence-based interventions; and Bonnie Jerome-D’Emilia PhD, MPH, RN studies health disparities associated with breast cancer screening, diagnoses and treatment. For the latest information, visit the Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts website.
Join the Graduate School of Education for the DeMarzo Lecture on Teaching Excellence on February 15.
Building a Coherent and Equitable System of Assessments in Science in a District: A Partnership Approach
Thursday, February 15 3:30–5:30 p.m. Bloustein School, Rutgers–New Brunswick
The Graduate School of Education cordially invites you to the fifth annual DeMarzo Lecture Series on Teaching Excellence. This lecture series features outstanding scholars addressing a broad range of issues around teaching. Dr. William Penuel, professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder, will give this year’s lecture.
In this talk, Professor Penuel will describe the ongoing efforts of a research-practice partnership between Denver Public Schools and the University of Colorado Boulder to create a more coherent and equitable system of classroom and district-based assessments of students in science.
We had an extra reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving. After a long search process, we are delighted to welcome Regina Koury as the new director of Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers–Camden. Read our news release to learn all about Regina, and prepare to welcome her to her new position in the new year starting January 16.
Watch: Providing Hurricane Maria Relief
Digital Humanities librarians Francesca Giannetti and Krista White were on ABC7NY’s Tiempo with Joe Torres to discuss their initiative to host open data mapping events in support of Hurricane Maria relief efforts in Puerto Rico. Watch the entire segment on YouTube courtesy of Rutgers Today. Kudos to Francesca and Krista for this recognition of their work!
Dee Magnoni speaks at the Carr Library dedication ceremony. Credit: Jim Stapleton.
Watch: Honoring Rutgers’ First Black Graduate
As you are all well aware by now, earlier this semester we rededicated the former Kilmer Area Library in honor of Rutgers’ first black graduate, James Dickson Carr. In case you were unable to attend the ceremony, a full video of the event is now available online courtesy of RU-tv. Have a watch and enjoy!
Watch: Native American Arts in the Spotlight
In September, we joined the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission to welcome John Haworth to Alexander Library. Haworth, senior executive emeritus of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, delivered an engaging lecture on Native American arts and cultural practice in America. Check out the full video of the presentation, courtesy of our friends at RU-tv.
Honoring the Legacy of the Modern School
Special Collections and University Archives hosted the 45th annual meeting of the Friends of the Modern School, a group formed to preserve the history of the progressive education community located in Piscataway Township from 1915 to 1953. The event was well-received and even spurred a deep-dive into the history of the Modern School and the Modern School Collection, which is held by Rutgers, in the Daily Targum.
The Big Read exhibit at Robeson Library features a magnetic poetry board.
What’s On? Catch These Exhibits while You still Can!
The New Brunswick Libraries announced their schedule of #Stressbusters events for the spring exam period. Highlights include a photo booth at the Math/Physics Library, button making at the Art Library, and pet therapy sessions at Alexander, Douglass, Kilmer, and LSM.
MARAC Spring 2017 was held April 20–22 in Newark.
Don’t despair if you happened to miss out on the recent Mid Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in Newark, as Tara Maharjan put together a comprehensive Storify of the event (titled Adaptable Archives: Redefine, Repurpose, and Renew) that’s the next best thing to having been there in person.
Several new exhibits opened across the Libraries this past month:
At Paul Robeson Library, There’s a Run in My Tights: Classic Comic Book Covers from the Golden Age and Beyond is on display through May 4. This display, which opened in advance of the 2017 Camden Comic Con, highlights superheroes such as Bat Girl, Aquaman, Luke Cage and the X-Men, as well as villains like Cat Woman and misunderstood monsters like Werewolf By Night.
A group exhibition of works by students in the Women, Gender, and Creativity House of Douglass Residential College is on display now at Douglass Library. Students in this community explore topics of gender, sexuality, identity, creativity, perception, and visual communication of women in the arts. The exhibition highlights the self-portraits, sculptures, video performances, and written works produced by the student artists during the course of the academic year. It closes on May 1, so be sure to check this one out while you can.
Finally, many new resources were announced in April:
The Andrew Hill Collection at the Institute of Jazz Studies contains the papers, music, and audiovisual recordings of acclaimed pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator Andrew Hill (1931–2007). The collection was processed as part of the 2016 Jazz Archives Fellows residency.
Attitude Check (vol. 1 no. 1, 1969) via Independent Voices.
JAMAevidence provides guides to the systematic consideration of validity, importance, and applicability of problems and outcomes in health care. It consists of three textbooks, user tools, and forms useful to the critical appraisal process. See more in our deep dive.
Academic Video Online Premium provides access to over 50,000 videos from reputable producers such as BBC and PBS, mostly on the subjects of social sciences, American history/American studies, music and performing arts, science and engineering, and health sciences.
Independent Voices is a full-text database of alternative press periodicals published in the U.S. in the second half of the 20th century. It includes publications like Aegis (1978-87), Death Ship Times (Fat Albert’s) (1972-74), The Feminist Voice (1971-72), Meatball (1969-71), Off Our Backs (1970-76), The People’s Voice (1980-1983), San Francisco Good Times (1969-72), Up from the Bottom (1971-74), Where It’s At (1968-70), the Yardbird Reader (1972-76), and Zeitgeist (1965-69), among dozens of others.
From the western front to the home front, the experiences of New Jerseyans will be on display at Special Collections and University Archives through one-of-a-kind documents, photographs, and artifacts. The exhibit, curated by Flora Boros, opens March 9 with a reception and a Bishop Lecture by Dr. Virginia A. Dilkes on her father’s combat experiences. Everyone is invited to attend, but please RSVP to events@libraries.rutgers.edu.
About the exhibit:
New Jersey played an important role in World War I. Not only did the Garden State make significant financial, industrial, military, and psychological contributions from the outset of the bloody conflict, but it would ultimately provide 72,946 recruits and 46,960 volunteers, with an additional over 20,000 serving by the War’s end. In total, 3,836 New Jerseyans were lost to combat, accident, or disease.
“Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken!”: The Great War in New Jersey (on display March 9 – September 2017, Alexander Library, 169 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ) focuses on the individual experiences of these Jersey doughboys and servicewomen who bravely went “Over There,” and the families and neighbors who remained behind, “Over Here.”
The exhibit takes its name from Commander in Chief John J. Pershing who—predicting a swift resolution to the deadlocked western front—promised his men that they would be home by Christmas of 1917. His patented promise of “Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken!” became a national rallying cry for the nearly 1.8 million Americans that passed through Hoboken on their way to the European battlefront.
Split into two parts, the exhibit begins with “Over There,” featuring rare watercolors by Swiss artist Gustave A. Wendt, artist Lute Pease’s political cartoons for the Newark Evening News, soldiers’ frontline diaries, letters from the Rutgers College War Service Bureau, trench newspapers, albums and scrapbooks from servicemen and servicewomen, and a complete French gas mask kit. Continuing with “Over Here,” the exhibit features a homemade service flag hung in a Branchburg family’s window, volunteer armbands, the John A. Roebling’s Sons’ patented torpedo nets, memorabilia from Camp Merritt, and posters from our Liberty Bond Poster Collection.
The exhibit includes loans of 29th “Blue and Gray” Division artifacts and souvenirs from the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey, wartime medical supplies from the Johnson & Johnson Archives, and postcards from the Special Collections of the George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences.
On March 9, Special Collections and University Archives will open the exhibit with a reception and lecture by Dr. Virginia A. Dilkes who will present “Through the Eyes of a WWI Combat Engineer,” based on her father’s experiences during the war. This event is open to the public and begins at 6:00 p.m. at Alexander Library (169 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ).
This exhibit is part of a series of events around New Jersey to commemorate this anniversary. For a complete list, check here. Additional events will take place at the Libraries throughout the year including a WWI poetry reading during National Poetry month on April 18 and an additional exhibit in Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers University–Camden.
Spring Sutras, an art installation by Karen Guancione that features thousands of recycled catalog cards from Rutgers libraries, officially launched on June 2 and is on display through the fall at Dana Library. The artist statement, remarks, and acknowledgments below are mounted on a poster accompanying the exhibition. Congratulations to all Libraries faculty and staff who helped make this installation a success!
Spring Sutras
Artist Statement
“The Sanskrit word sutra literally means a thread, string or line that holds things together. It derives from the root siv- (to sew), and is related to suere in Latin, sew in English, and the medical term suture. It refers to Hindu or Buddhist texts, sometimes described as threads of wisdom or knowledge strung together.” (Wikipedia 2013)
Spring Sutras, credit: Ed Berger
Sutra began in 2013 when I was caring for my ninety year old mother who suffered with severe dementia. Normally, it takes months and marathon days of work to make an installation for a public space, but I could not leave my mother’s living room; I was well into an endless, exhausting, all-consuming caregiving hell. With the help of Rutgers University librarians I obtained boxes and boxes of the long discarded and forgotten hand-typed catalogue cards that I wanted to recycle for an installation. While caregiving around the clock in the house where my mother had lived for sixty-five years, I was able to work near her and string together the thousands of pieces of paper—a repetitive, meditative act that enabled me to continue making art. I named the installation Sutra. Caregiving is a process that requires compassion and, like art, sometimes tests the limits of patience and endurance. As I sewed, I was reminded of the piecing together of segments of all people’s lives, who, depending on individual or social circumstance, may themselves become long discarded and forgotten. The first installation using catalogue cards was created for the Noyes Museum and prominently displayed from 2013 to 2015.
In 2016 with the support of Rutgers University Libraries and Rutgers-Newark I was invited to create Spring Sutras, a site-specific installation in the John Cotton Dana Library. The public art project celebrates the nation’s largest and most varied collection of Japanese cherry trees in Newark’s Branch Brook Park and commemorates the city’s 350th anniversary. Thousands of recycled catalogue cards from Rutgers Libraries and hundreds of faux flowers were hand-sewn and suspended beneath a two-story-high skylight and throughout the fourth-floor space, which is also home to the Institute of Jazz Studies. Viewers are literally surrounded and touched by pieces of the hanging installation; the large-scale work transforms an entire area of the Dana Library.
In an age of digital information I have relished holding in hand the many singular pieces of paper that once spoke of a vast and impressive array of accumulated knowledge. The strung flower garlands celebrate new life and honor the old and departed.
Special thanks to librarians: Ann Watkins, Yoshiko Ishii, Michael Joseph and Grace Agnew for their help in procuring the cards from Dana Library, Alexander Library, Special Collections and Rutgers Law Library.
Karen Guancione
About the Artist
Karen Guancione has been awarded a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artists and Communities Grant, four New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowships, a Ford Foundation Grant, a Puffin Foundation Grant and an Arts and Culture Exhibition Grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and is in numerous public and private collections. Her interdisciplinary art includes large scale installations, public art projects, performance, sculpture, printmaking, papermaking, bookarts and video. She has curated many exhibitions, is an adjunct professor of art at the State University of New York (SUNY Purchase), Montclair State University and Middlesex County College and has been a visiting artist and lecturer at Pratt Institute, Rutgers University and numerous schools and institutions in the United States and abroad. For over a decade she has served as artistic director / guest curator of the annual New Jersey Book Arts Symposium and Exhibition. She is the first time recipient of the Erena Rae Award for Art and Social Justice. She collaborated on the critically acclaimed production of Cuatro Corridos, a multidisciplinary chamber opera about human trafficking that has been continually traveling throughout the USA and Mexico since 2013. She has just received a 2016 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for Works on Paper.
A Note on the Art of Karen Guancione
An artist, educator, curator, and longtime Artistic Director of The New Jersey Book Arts Symposium, Karen Guancione has been making books for over fifty years, and collaborating with artists and workers all over the world on installations that adapt traditional book making techniques. Spring Sutras continues a thread of her work that investigates the seam between art and value, here working with discarded catalog cards and plastic flowers to reach toward a vision of ecstatic renewal. Intriguingly, within the work’s central assemblage, a mobile hung from the Dana Library atrium, the catalog cards suspended like leaves or stars have been assembled in roughly alphabetical order, preserving and transforming not only the librarian’s tools of organization, but the original library vision: it, too, changes and becomes part of what is renewed and endures.
Michael Joseph
Acknowledgments
The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of Rutgers University Libraries and its staff for making this exhibition possible. This project was generously funded through a Rutgers-Newark Cultural Programming grant. Special thanks to Consuella Askew, Director, John Cotton Dana Library and Ann Watkins, Dana Arts Coordinator and Librarian for their administrative support and cultural commitment. A special note of appreciation to Jeff Baxter and Rutgers Physical Plant for expert installation assistance, Bob Nahory for technical advice, Bruce and Beverly Riccitelli for beautiful photography, Tad Hershorn for printing expertise, Mark Papianni and Yoshiko Ishii for lending a hand during installation, Michael Joseph for insightful writing and Roseann Reilly for help and comradery during many long sewing sessions.
Heartfelt thanks to those who have contibuted to this project in many ways: Grace Agnew, Mary Apikos, Matt Badessa, Isaiah Beard, Donny Bruno, Asha Ganpat, Gary Guancione, Angela Hidalgo, Liz Koepplinger, Susan Narucki, Jessica Pellien, Suzanne Reiman, Carol Van Savage, Lauren Vitiello and Sally Willowbee. Sincere thanks to the skillful Rutgers-Newark Physical Plant workers: Tony Sharo, Rob Pellicone, Bob Conklin and Dave Barbara, the Dana Library Custodial staff, and Rugers-Newark Campus Security officers.
“Winter Night” by Carson He (6th Grade Art Cycle, teacher Antonia Germanos)
“Deconstructed Still Life” by Amanda Lee (7th Grade Art Elective, teacher Anna Deacon)
“Rainbow Cupcake” by Katherine Mu (7th Grade Art Cycle, teacher Lisa Gombas)
This summer, Rutgers Art Library will host a free public exhibit of artwork by the sixth and seventh grade students at Hammarskjold Middle School in East Brunswick, NJ. Art teachers Anna Deacon, Antonia N. Germanos and Lisa Gombas hope the exhibit—on display from June 1 to August 31, 2016—will open students’ eyes to the world of artistic and educational possibilities outside their school classroom.
Antonia N. Germanos, sixth grade art teacher at Hammarskjold Middle School, describes the motivation behind the exhibit saying, “I hope that placing Hammarskjold Middle Schools students’ work on exhibit at the collegiate level will help our students realize their talent and creativity. I want them to understand that art is part of life and that it can, and should, be taken outside the classroom walls.”
For Megan Lotts, working with community partners to bring local artists of all ages to her exhibit space serves multiple purposes. “For many of these students, this will be their first and perhaps only art exhibition, but by inviting students and parents to visit Rutgers Art Library, we are giving them insight into what life and research is like at a leading university,” explains Lotts.
“These very well could be future Rutgers students and many students this age have no idea that art libraries even exist. It can be empowering at a young age to see a space of this nature, as well as have your art work shown in a gallery space.”
A Mason Gross alumna, Germanos is no stranger to the artistic scene at Rutgers University. She credits strong bonds between the East Brunswick community and Rutgers University with the decision to bring the exhibit to Rutgers Art Library.
“As a neighboring community, East Brunswick embraces and supports Rutgers University activities and many of our graduates have attended the university,” says Germanos. “Displaying our students work at Rutgers Art Library will hopefully strengthen the bonds between primary, secondary, and collegiate education; honor our students’ hard work and dedication to the fine arts; and create opportunities for students to explore grander aspects of the fine arts.”
The Hammarskjold Middle School art exhibit will feature a variety of pieces in different mediums, including:
Hand cut collages inspired by the Japanese term notan, used to describe the concept of dark versus light. Students embrace contrast through the use of symmetry, asymmetry, color, and shape to create balance. Don’t miss “Winter Night” by Carson He (6th Grade Art Cycle, teacher Antonia Germanos) which draws on associations of winter and white alongside black and night to conjure the feeling of a cold evening.
Drawings of objects from life, divided into four sections that use different art materials to create layers of color and value. Don’t miss “Deconstructed Still Life” by Amanda Lee (7th Grade Art Elective, teacher Anna Deacon) featuring playroom and household objects in oil pastels, graphite pencil, colored pencil, and Sharpie pens.
A series of Pop Art-inspired oil pastel drawings in which students pay close attention to their chosen light source and the effects of highlights and shadows to pay homage to the confectionery creations of painter Wayne Thiebaud and the bright patterns and thick lines of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. Don’t miss “Rainbow Cupcake” by Katherine Mu (7th Grade Art Cycle, teacher Lisa Gombas) which depicts a realistic cupcake set off by a dramatic background and lighting.
Bob Vietrogoski receives a plaque commemorating the donation from MSNJ president Christopher Gribbin.
