Archives of American Art Pandemic Oral History Project
Focus
Oral histories of responses to the global pandemic across the American art world, organized by the Archives of American Art, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has a research center in New York City.
History
Oral Historian, Ben Gillespie, and Oral History Archivist, Jennifer Snyder reviewed and contacted list of potential candidates they were considering interviewing for our normal Oral History Program. There were additional funds available through the Latino Initiatives Pool, which is administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, so they were able to add 35 more artists to the project.
Collection
From the project website: “To document the cascade of public health, social, and financial crises set in motion by COVID-19, the Archives of American Art created an oral history series that recorded responses to the global pandemic across the American art world. Conducted virtually, the Pandemic Oral History Project features eighty-five short-form interviews with a diverse group of artists, teachers, curators, and administrators. Averaging twenty-five minutes long, each interview provides a firsthand account of and urgent insights into the narrator's triumphs and tragedies in the summer of 2020. With more than thirty hours of recorded video and audio, the series bears witness to an unprecedented era as it unfolded in real time.”
Form of Collection
Video files, audio files, caption files.
Emphasis
The project documents experiences of a diverse group of artists, teachers, curators, and administrators from the American art world during the spring/summer of 2020.
Time Period
Early pandemic period: spring/summer 2020 (interviews were conducted in late June/July/early August)
Public Access
Available online:
• https://www.youtube.com/user/SmithsonianAAA
Director
Ben Gillespie, Oral Historian (gillespieb@si.edu)
Jennifer Snyder, Oral History Archivist (snyderj@si.edu)
Contact Person
For further information about this project, contact:
Ben Gillespie, Arlene and Robert Kogod Secretarial Scholar for Oral History, Archives of American Art, GillespieB@si.edu