Collection Update Spring/Summer 2002

Now we are...five?
In January 1997, when the Roger Brown Study Collection officially became a special collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, we began to address the challenge of establishing this artists' study collection's identity and exploring methods for organizing and operating it, while respecting and preserving its history and inherent intelligence. It's been a breathless few years. This summer things have stabilized and quieted down a bit, and we are taking a breather. We know this will only last until the fall semester gears up, but the summer of 2002 has offered time for reflection and for completing unfinished projects. As usual, we thank the School administration for its ongoing support for preserving this treasure. Below are a few things that have transpired since January, 2002.

Preservation / Conservation
In April we received the completed report, Roger Brown Study Collection: Preservation and Conservation Plan from consultants Michael Ryan and Susan Samek. The planning document addresses a major aspect of the eventual building renovation, outlining the processes for documenting packing, moving, storing and reinstalling the collection. The project was been funded by a grant from the Historic Artists' Homes and Studios Program, an initiative of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation. The project was truly successful. Consultants Michael Ryan and Susan Samek, assisted by graduate student Duncan MacKenzie, approached the project with a deep level of commitment to the overall preservation of the RBSC. They went above and beyond the call of duty by surveying the entire collection, object by object. Their resulting Plan gives us a road map for a complex and critical process. In the course of the project we received excellent consultation from SAIC faculty and staff (Vince Michael, Jeannie Long, Claire Eike, and Elaine Harrington). Art Institute of Chicago conservators and registration staff Suzy Schnepp, Tim Lennon, Margo McFarland, and John Molini were immensely helpful, volunteering their time to share expertise on collection care and conservation issues. And, as usual, the Development Office (Jeannette Kim Schar, Karin Victoria), was helpful, efficient, and supportive. The planning document provides the last component necessary for addressing a fund raising strategy and a long-range plan. We will now begin to address activities that need to be accomplished prior to the renovation, which The Plan prioritizes. Many thanks to all who were involved in this project. The report is on reserve at the SAIC Flaxman Library.

The support of the National Trust through the Historic Artists' Homes and Studios program does not end with this project. The RBSC has become a member of the Associate Sites program, a national network of historic places grouped by theme and region, to encourage peer collaboration and professional development. In March 2002 the Henry Luce Foundation awarded the NTHP a grant in the amount of $350,000 to transition the HAHS to founding members and the first theme group of Associate Sites. Funds will allow the Trust to add 5 —10 new sites to the group and provide new workshops and grant opportunities.

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Jim Zanzi continues to present his inimitable tours of the collection to groups and individual students, and is developing the interpretation of the history of artists in the Lincoln Park/Old Town vicinity.

Sarah Martin (graduate, Art History, 2002) compiled information for a directory of works by Roger Brown in Chicago area public collections. This directory was created to assist visitors to the RBSC, who often want to know where they can see work by Roger Brown. Chicago is home to three Italian glass mosaic murals and one painted mural, and a number of outstanding paintings by Brown. The directory lists works that are permanently or regularly on view in Chicago-area public collections. Click here to find out more about the Roger Brown Works in Chicago Area Public Collections.

Two grade school students, Ivy Hoffman and Loren Spiegel, used the RBSC archive to research Chicago Imagist art history for their Chicago History projects.

Dennis Adrian taught his art history course "Who Chicago? Imagist Art from the 1950s to the Present" at the RBSC. Some student projects explored aspects of Brown's career or objects in the RBSC. Final projects included an examination of an enigmatic painting in the RBSC by Peter Charlie Besharo, an exploration of "Roger Brown's Roger Browns"--paintings Brown kept for himself over the years, and a transcription Brown's file entitled "art writings" from the RBSC archive. Student projects are key to the mission of the RBSC, and become part of the creative record of the collection.

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New Frontier: Collaboration With (art)n
Ellen Sandor and collaborators Pete Latrofa and Keith Miller of the (art)n lab are working on the creation of a PHSCologram (virtual photograph) in honor of Roger Brown's singular artistic vision and his place in Chicago's art history. Working with Karl Wirsum and Ed Paschke for the past few years, Ellen Sandor and (art)n collaborators have created astonishing PHSColograms, allowing the artists to translate their ideas and expand the medium of painting into a new realm of color, light, and dimensionality. Ellen Sandor was interested in including Roger Brown in this series honoring Chicago Imagist artists, and the relevance of their works to the medium of virtual photography. In this project (art)n began with an enigmatic photo of Roger Brown dressed as one of his signature buildings (1980), and incorporated this image into one of Brown's Virtual Still Life paintings (Casa Grande Virgin with Candy Apple Red, 1995) to create a hybrid of iconic Roger Brown imagery. We are deeply honored and thrilled that (art)n has included Roger Brown within their scope, and we enthusiastically thank Ellen, Pete, and Keith for focusing their collaborative energies on this project. The PHSCologram homage to Roger Brown is in progress, and will appear on this and the (art)n website when it is completed.

The following description is from the (art)n web site:

"The (art)n group collaborates with outside artists and scientists to create works which place the most current issues in art, science, and technology into the public sphere. (art)n is unusual amongst artist's groups in that it holds landmark patents in 20th century visual technology. In 1989, after six years of research and development, the group patented what is called the PHSCologram (pronounced skol-o-gram), the very first virtual photographic hard copy process. 'PHSCologram' is a word coined by Ellen Sandor in 1983. It contains the acronym 'PHSC' for photography, holography, sculpture and computer imaging. In practice, it includes a process of digitally combining color images with computer generated models and outputting these composites as 3-D image hardcopies."

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The David and Alfred Smart Museum at the University of Chicago mounted the exhibition Outside In: Self-Taught Artists and Chicago, which runs from July 11 - September 15, 2002. The exhibit features works by Chicago self-taught artists and artists from elsewhere who were influential and included in Chicago collections. The exhibition examines the impact of self-taught work on the broader artistic and cultural life of the city, includes a number of works from the George Veronda collection. (Veronda was a close friend and associate of Brown's from 1972 until his death in 1984.) The RBSC hosted a tour of the collection for the Smart Museum's Educational Department and will host a reception for Smart Museum members.

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Volunteers
We thank our established volunteers for hanging in with us: Jane C.H. Jacob, Jamie Young (curator of our Garage Sale Museum Shop), Bob Wimp, Cathy Schroeder, and Beth Nagy. We welcome new volunteers: conservator Dan Cochrane (who assists tours, as well as with cleaning and environmental monitoring), Dahlia Tulett and Margo Klein, who are assisting with tours, and Hannah Tashjian, who will assist with tours and with the organization of archival ephemera. Docent training continues, as we develop methods for conveying information about the collection and its history to our interpreters. We are grateful to all our volunteers, whom we enthusiastically thank.

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Steering Committee
In 1996 Roger Brown requested that four of his friends and colleagues--artists Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Barbara Rossi, and Ray Yoshida--serve on a steering committee, to ensure that Brown's integrated vision and the spirit in which the RBSC was formed remain intact as an aspect of the collection's identity. Since that time Gladys, Jim, Barbara, and Ray have guided many major and minor decisions and activities, and have kept us on track, in general. As a part of the general effort to get information (presently stored in our memories) recorded in some form, they agreed to gather informally for a tape-recorded discussion of the origins of the RBSC and the elements that are essential to preserve over time. The session (which has yet to be transcribed) took place on June 10. We are grateful, as always, for their ongoing participation.

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Roger Brown Estate News

Great American Farmer, 1990

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art purchased Brown's painting Great American Farmer from the SAIC / Roger Brown Estate Painting Collection. Painted in 1990, when Brown adopted the side show banner format for a series of paintings, Great American Farmer is an outstanding composition that both celebrates and examines our agricultural heritage and its future. We know Roger Brown would have been especially thrilled that this painting has been accessioned into an excellent museum and is in the company of an incomparable collection of works by Grant Wood.

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Loans: Paintings from the SAIC/ Roger Brown Estate Painting Collection

It's a Wonderful Lie, 1991

The painting Hawaiian Shirt will be loaned to the Laguna Art Museum for the exhibit Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing (July 28 ­ October 6). Stealth Building: Takes Off, Lands, and Hides Anywhere, and It's A Wonderful Lie will be included in Art in the "Toon Age at the Kresge Museum at Michigan State University, (September 3 ­ November 3). Other loans include Where Have All the Fishes Gone?, which is in the ongoing exhibit Jellies: Living Art at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (through May, 2003). Upcoming exhibits that will feature works from the SAIC/ Roger Brown Estate Painting Collection include: Splat, Boom, Pow: The Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art, scheduled to open at the Contemporary Art Museum (Houston), on April 12, 2003; solo exhibits of Brown's works are scheduled for the Midwest Museum of American Art (Elkhart, IN) in 2003, and at the Brauer Museum of Art (Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN) in 2004.

For further information please contact collection curator, Lisa Stone, at 773.929.2452, fax: 77.665.4804, or lstone@artic.edu.