NYPL Returns: Winter Session
THE ARTIST AS RESEARCHER: EXPLORING THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S ART COLLECTIONS
This past spring, we collaborated with the New York Public Library's Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs to host a series of rare opportunities to explore their expansive visual art resources alongside knowledgeable librarians and curators. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but the schedule and space constraints meant many people were unable to attend! In response to your requests, we are holding this series once again, at a hopefully more accessible time slot with more lead time between each of the four sessions.
This series was developed specifically for practicing visual artists, with the goal of not only enhancing research skills, but also exploring the breadth of content–and inspiration–available with just a library card.*
The first workshop at The Picture Collection will be Saturday, October 21—sign ups are open now! The next workshop about Fluxus will be Saturday, December 2 and the following programs about Rare Manuscripts and Japanese Photography respectively will be announced in the new year.
Workshops will be held on Saturdays. Coffee and light bites will be offered at 10:30 AM before each workshop, with each program beginning promptly at 11:00AM. Invitations to this series are being extended to the artist communities of the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Program.
Attendance for each workshop is capped at 35 people. Since space is limited, we encourage you to sign up quickly, but also only for the workshops that most interest you and you are certain you are able to attend. Please note if you attended the last session, this iteration will mostly be interesting to you if you wish to experience that collection again. The Picture Collection format is the same, but of course, has limitless possibilities.
*Please note you do not need a valid library card to attend, but you can sign up for one after the workshop is over!
The Picture Collection
Saturday, October 21, 11:00AM–12:00PM
The Picture Collection Reading Room, Room 119
Since its creation in 1915, The Picture Collection has been an unparalleled resource for artists, illustrators, designers, teachers, students, and general researchers. It offers 1.5 million circulating images clipped from books and magazines across 12,000 subject headings– from pictures of Abacus in the letter A to Zoology in Z.
This arrangement of printed images into subject headings (as nouns, verbs, people, places, concepts, and times) makes it a unique instrument for visual thinking for many creative fields– in particular the fine arts; costume, set, and prop design; fashion design; and illustration.
Join Picture Collection librarians as we dive into this world of images! Librarians will facilitate a group activity inspired by the verbal / pictorial dialogue in the 2009 book, Interview by Hans-Peter Feldmann and Hans Ulrich Obrist. In the book, Obrist poses questions in writing and Feldmann responds with a picture. The results are frequently surprising, and an exercise in visual thinking and communication.