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Are You Excited About Archiving Your Work?
Image of Pickup Performance Co(s) archive project: Fellow Patsy Gay, stage manager Ed Fitzgerald, and visiting fellow Kat Bell pose with a David Gordon cutout in the PUPCS archive/office room.
You don’t have to do this alone. Here are some resources that address big factors like money, time, space, and expertise. To assess what resources you already have and what you will need, consider who is going to do the tasks described in this toolkit, where the work will be done, where the records will be kept, when the work will occur, and how long the project may take. If you are working in an organization, start building support within your organization and among your board members for the investment of resources. Hold meetings to increase awareness of both the benefits of protecting your legacy and the resources required to do it. Have any of your peer organizations or artists embarked on their own archive project? They may be a good contact for advice.
Money
- Can you work the cost to document and preserve a grant-supported work into the grant budget? Funders who have shown commitment to your work may also be open to supporting projects to preserve your legacy.
- Apply for a grant specific to archive projects. The NEH offers Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Organizations that fund working with experts to improve the condition of archival collections.
- The National Endowment for the Arts Grants for Arts Projects program is open to projects involving archiving.
- The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has grants for digitizing archival collections.
- Seek out pro bono services. Taproot Foundation can help you connect to professionals with specialized skills.
- The Bay Area Video Coalition offers reduced rates on video and audio preservation services to artists and small- to mid-sized arts and cultural heritage organizations. For more digitization services, see the Digital Files page.
- Bloomberg Philanthropy’s Digital Accelerator Program supports projects including Digital Archives and Digital Asset Management Systems.
- The National Historical Publications & Records Commission of the National Archives has an assortment of archives-related grant opportunities.
- Many state and local arts councils, historical societies, and service organizations are interested in supporting the archives of artists in their regions.
- Find more advice and strategies in Architecting Sustainable Futures: Exploring Funding Models in Community-based Archives.
Time
- Archiving is time-consuming, but can save you time in the long run, as you and/or your team won’t waste time hunting for things.
- Think about what needs to be done, or something that might help the project. Is this something an intern could do? Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Local dance studios or library/archive programs may have students that are interested and qualified to work with your materials. To find accredited library science programs in your area with contact information, use the American Library Association’s directory.
Documentation and platforms
- Seek presenters who incorporate documentation into their programs (such as New York Live Arts in New York, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, American Dance Festival in North Carolina, the Brooklyn Academy of Music). Encourage other presenters to do more documentation. This will help you capture quality-video of your work in appropriate spaces, saving you both money and time.
- Contact a local television station, media center, or university dance (or video) program about free, bartered, or low-cost use of equipment, recording space, and expertise.
- The Performing Arts Legacy Project is an online platform to help older performers document their careers. It is an initiative of the Research Center for Arts and Culture (RCAC) at The Actors Fund (AF).
Expertise
- Form a relationship with a local library, museum, or archive; national performing arts library; the archivist at your alma mater; an historical society; or an ethnic studies institute. Look for regional non-profit video preservation and digitization groups such as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive (MARMIA), Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS) and New York’s XFR Collective.
- We are happy to answer your questions. We are also able to support assessments, and though these generally do cost your organization money, it is our first step to helping all dance organizations with their archive needs.