Creating Media Group Folders in Luna

Folders can be used to organize multiple media groups created in Luna. Folders can contain single media groups, or can house multiple sub-folders.

  1. To begin creating the main folder, select the gray “Create Folder” button in the top middle section.

2. Name your folder, making sure that none of the “Parent Folders” are selected. Hit submit.

3. The folder now lives under “My Media Groups”. By hovering the cursor over the name and selecting one of the icons to the right, you can create a new sub-folder, edit the main folder, delete the folder, or create a media group.

4. To create a media group within the main folder, select the icon with three squares.

This brings up a window to name the media group and select the folder it lives in. Click save. This group functions like any other Luna media group, storing a selected set of images.

5. To create a sub-folder, select the icon of the folder with a + sign.

6. This opens a window to name the sub-folder and select the Parent Folder it lives under. Be sure that a Parent Folder is highlighted. Click submit.

7. Expanding the parent folder will reveal any sub-folders and media groups it houses (i.e. parent folder “Paper #1” houses sub-folder “Subtopic Folder #1” and the media group “Main Image”). Subfolders can be used like main folders: hovering over the name will reveal the icons that allow you to create a media group or another folder within it.

As you are working with multiple folders, be sure that images are added to the correct media group through the “Active Media Group” tab at the bottom. You can toggle between which media group you want to save the image to via the blue drop down menu. 

How to Create a Luna Module in Canvas

View and share your images directly within Canvas! Creating a Luna Module in Canvas is a great way to provide your students with easy access to sets of images for review and close-looking. You could also use it to share a bank of images for test prep or assignments.

  1. Under the “Modules” tab on the left task bar, start by either creating a new module for your Luna collection, or working with a pre existing module

2. Add an item to your selected module by clicking the + button, select add “External URL” from the drop-down menu and name your group of images.

3. To get the URL for your LUNA images, open the group and select “Share” from the top menu and copy the provided URL.

4. Paste this URL in the Canvas menu and complete by clicking the red “Add Item” button.

Optional: checking “Load in a new tab” will open Luna in a new browser tab instead of within Canvas.

5. Be sure to publish both the new item and the overall module it lives under. Once published, clicking on the item title will open the interactive Luna module within Canvas. The module acts similarly to Luna’s full website, but allows direct access to a curated set of images. Like the website, image records can be explored individually within the module, and images can be downloaded via the “Export” button. 


The Georg Stahl Mural Collection Now Publically Available in Luna

In the early 1970s, art historian Georg Stahl extensively researched and documented the Chicago Mural Movement. This material was used to teach a Mural Painting course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with the late UChicago Professor Emeritus, Harold Hayden. In late 2014, Stahl graciously reached out to the Visual Resources Center and offered his material to help build our digital collections of Chicago Black Art. Over 600 slides, maps, and charts were digitized and now make up the Georg Stahl Mural Collection. Please visit http://stahl-collection.lib.uchicago.edu to browse the collection!

Public Art at the University of Chicago

The University of Chicago has recently released a new web resource called Public Art on Campus which seeks to catalog, document, and provide contextual and critical information about the works of art on campus. There is an accompanying video which provides an overview of the works on campus. The website allows users to browse works by location, artist, and title and for selected works users can read an artist bibliography and an essay about the work. These selected works also include archival images and documents relevant to the work.

The VRC supports this project by maintaining the UChicago Public Art Collection and Archive in collaboration with the Smart Museum of Art, UChicago Arts, and Christine Mehring of the Department of Art History. This dedicated, password-protected collection is accessible to all on-campus users and off-campus users who have a CNetID and password. If you’d like to explore more, the Luna collection contains archival photographs, audio, video, conservation information, and other ephemeral documentation pertaining to the public works on campus.

Smart Museum of Art Images in Luna

The Visual Resources Center is very pleased to announce that thousands of images from the Smart Museum of Art’s collection are now available in LUNA. From the 14,000 objects in the Smart’s collection, there are now over 5,000 unique images of artwork from the collection encompassing multiple countries, cultures, and time periods. More images are being added on a regular basis. The collection can be found here

The collection in LUNA reflects the strengths of the Smart Museum of Art’s collection, which include modern, Asian, European, and contemporary art. Through this project, the VRC has made available PDFs of 17 sketchbooks belonging to H.C. Westermann and two Japanese albums of prints.

The collection is password protected and can be accessed using a CNet ID and password, making it available to all on-campus users. There is also a link provided to obtain a high-resolution image for publication or research. As the Spring Quarter begins, this is an invaluable resource for instructors, and students, who are interested in utilizing the museum collections in their own work.

Images clockwise from upper left:

 

Access to Luna Commons Collections

Luna is currently making some changes to its database, including the Luna Commons Collections. As of today, we no longer have access to the following collections through the University of Chicago’s Luna login. If you would like to access these collections, you’ll need to visit the individual collections websites listed below. Access to these collections will eventually be restored to the University of Chicago’s Luna login.

Users still have access to 13 existing Commons Collections—including the popular David Rumsey Historical Map Collection—through our instance of Luna. The VRC will keep you updated on access to Luna commons collections and other improvements coming to the database, including their planned interface redesign.

If you have any questions about changes in Luna or access to your content, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at visualresources@uchicago.edu.

New Module in Archivision Collection

The Visual Resources Center is very pleased to offer over 6,000 new images of architecture and outdoor sculpture loaded overnight to the Archivision Collection. Archivision is a subscription-based collection of almost 78,000 high-resolution, high-quality images of architecture, urban design, gardens, and outdoor sculpture from around the world and all time periods. The collection is curated by Scott Gilchrist, a trained architect and professional photographer.

The latest upload, Module 10, contains a wealth of images of architecture in the United States, including modern and contemporary works in California and the desert southwest. There is also early Modernist buildings from the Netherlands, important buildings in India, campuses of both the Cranbrook Academy and Yale University, topographic views of many US cities, and even images from Yellowstone National Park.

All images are cleared for educational use and publication rights may be obtained at contact@archivision.com.

The Robert Sengstacke Photography Archive Now Available in LUNA

The VRC is excited to announce its new publicly available LUNA collection, Images of Black Chicago: The Robert Sengstacke Photography Archive.  Born in Chicago on May 29, 1943, Robert “Bobby” Sengstacke is one of the city’s most prolific documentary photographers who is best known for capturing the African American experience.  Having grown up in the newspaper business (he is the grand-nephew of Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender), Sengstacke was able to learn from established African American photographers at a young age and had unique access to important events and people.  With the help of Art History Professor Rebecca Zorach, the VRC has scanned over 3,000 negatives featuring the artistic community and street life of Chicago’s South Side in the late 1960’s. To obtain high resolution images and permission contact Robert A. Sengstacke (robert.sengstacke@gmail.com or 773-744-7487).