Over the last couple of months, I’ve discussed potential books and digital projects that could develop out of the dissertation. For every book I’ve envisioned, however, there have been at three least different journal articles, it seems. Today then, we’ll go over some of my ideas for articles and other manuscripts.
Article Idea: Art Centers in New Mexico
One article that would be relatively easy to put together is one addressing community art centers in New Mexico. I’ve already gathered voluminous amounts of information from the Roswell Museum Archive. When I visited the National Archives last summer, moreover, I photographed hundreds of documents pertaining to New Mexico’s other CAC sites. These sites include San Miguel, Melrose, and Gallup, as well as unrealized projects at Taos and Albuquerque. As a result, I have more than enough material to begin an article on New Mexico’s community art centers.
Beyond convenience, this article could form the basis for a future chapter of the book I’ve envisioned on CACs. As I mentioned in last month’s post, I’ve imagined developing a book where I discuss the program’s racial politics. By analyzing how these different sites engaged their respective Hispano and white communities, I could have the article serve as the raw material for a future book chapter.
I’ve honed this approach through my time at William & Mary. Knowing how finite my research time is, I try to scaffold projects and activities. I’ve turned seminar papers into conference presentations, which in turn have become articles and book chapters. I see no reason why I can’t do the same with books.
Another Idea: Community Curation and CACs
Another topic I’ve considered in relation to CACs is the role of community curation. One of the shows that’s most intrigued me is a display of the Index of American Design that happened in January 1938 at the Roswell Museum. In addition to showing plates from the Index, the Museum invited the public to bring in antiques to display alongside the plates. The goal of this invitation was to identify potential objects for inclusion within the Index of American Design. But there’s also a community curation element that I find intriguing, especially in light of current museum politics and calls for more egalitarian approaches to museum work. The motives aren’t the same, to be sure, but I think there are some interesting parallels worth exploring.
Article Idea: The VMFA Artmobile
I’ve also thought about turning Chapter 5, which discusses the VMFA Artmobile, into an article. A lot of my reasoning for this is practical. I’ve already published articles and chapters addressing my other case studies, but I haven’t published anything with Chapter 5. Given that it’s arguably the best-written of my chapters, it seems apt that I publish something from it.
Publishing material from Chapter 5 would also expand my public scholarship beyond the interwar period. For the most part, my publications have focused on the 1930s and 1940s. There’s nothing wrong with that, but having a publication set in the postwar era would demonstrate I’m not exclusively limited to the New Deal work.
Another Idea: The Perils of Art Transportation
In addition to period-specific articles, I’ve also envisioned a thematic piece where I critically address the challenges of art transportation. In this manuscript, I’d look into the environmental influences on art access. I’d examine how vibrations from New York’s elevated trains indirectly influenced the decision to not show glass after the accidental breakage of a piece. Then I’d potentially discuss how the mountainous ecology of western Virginia and the toll it exerted on the truck’s engine shaped its touring schedule. I might also address how the repeated moves of Exhibition Section gradually destroyed frames and crates, thus changing the schedule.
Beyond the anecdotal interest of these stories, this article would critically examine the physical and environmental conditions underpinning art access. One thing I argued throughout the dissertation is that outreach exhibitions embody the tension museums experience between providing access and preserving their collections. Traveling shows demonstrate the limits of museums when it comes to preserving collections. In putting their works on the road, museums place their holdings at risk. As these examples demonstrate, factors beyond their control such as train vibrations or local ecology can shape access.
Beyond Journals: Other Platforms
These are just a few of the article ideas I’ve had over the past couple of years. But journal articles aren’t the only format I’ve considered. I’ve also contemplated developing a podcast or a YouTube channel to share my research with a wider public. All of these methods involve a lot of work, which is why I haven’t seriously pursued them yet.
In short, I have no shortage of ideas when it comes to dissertation-related projects. And that’s not including the ideas I’ve had independent of my dissertation-related materials. Next month, we’ll wrap up this series by considering some of them.