ARTstor Digital Library Updates

ARTstor recently updated features for the Fall 2011 quarter:

  • Filter search results by Time Period, Classification, and Geography
  • Choose the number of thumbnails displayed
  • Mouse-over to view larger images
  • Compatibility with Firefox 5
  • ARTstor Mobile for iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone
  • Batch download to PowerPoint

Additionally, new image collections include:

Check the ARTstor blog’s release page for more new releases, or see their Collections page for a full collection list. If you need help making the most of these collections and features, please contact the VRC to schedule an ARTstor training session.

UPDATE: ARTstor has also changed their download policy so that users must be logged in to download images. To register for ARTstor, click here and then select “Register” at upper right. If you choose to use your Cnet email address, do NOT use your Cnet password (for security reasons).

1001 Chairs for Ai WeiWei

Chinese artist Ai WeiWei is still missing after having been detained while trying to board a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong in early April.

A question posted on Facebook about what we, as an arts community, can do to support the safe release of Ai Weiwei sparked great ideas, including one by curator Steven Holmes to reenact Ai Weiwei’s project Fairytale: 1,001 Qing Dynasty Wooden Chairs—an installation which was comprised of 1,001 late Ming and Qing Dynasty wooden chairs at Documenta 12 in 2007 in Kassel, Germany—in front of Chinese embassies and consulates around the world. This Sunday, April 17, at 1 PM local time, supporters are invited to participate in 1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei, by bringing a chair and gathering outside Chinese embassies and consulates to sit peacefully in support of the artist’s immediate release.

Via Facebook.

UofC Lantern Slides in the New York Times

Lantern slides that belonged to the University of Chicago Visual Resources Center were donated to Theaster Gates’ Dorchester Project, which was featured in a recent New York Times article.

Mr. Gates has combined a former candy store, a single-family house and a duplex across the street into a site of artistic and community change for a neighborhood that has suffered years of blight and cultural neglect. The installation is an entry in a growing art movement to create “hybridized” arts spaces that serve multiple functions, taking inspiration from installations in Houston and Los Angeles, as well as in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood in a community center called the Experimental Station.

 

Winter 2011 Emergency Scanning Hours

Need images right away? Place an emergency scan order in the VRC! Emergency scans are any image orders that are due in less than two weeks. For the Winter 2011 quarter, emergency scanning hours are from 1pm-3pm, Monday through Friday. These are the hours during which VRC student workers and staff are guaranteed to be available for rush orders.

Please keep in mind that emergency scans are limited to ten per requester, per week. They will be delivered via an emailed link to Webshare. Pink emergency scanning forms are available in the VRC.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the VRC.

New and Improved VRC Coffee Station

The VRC has a a new and improved coffee station just in time for finals! Our new Keurig coffee maker brews individual cups of coffee or tea on command. Bring your own mug, then choose your own blend or flavor. Suggested donation: 50 cents per cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate; 25 cents per cookie or treat. Stop in, try it, and let us know what you think!

Need Some Emergency Scans?

Emergency scans are any images needed in less than two weeks. For the Fall 2010 quarter, emergency scanning hours are from 2pm-4pm, Monday through Friday. These are the hours during which students and staff are guaranteed to be available for rush orders. Please keep in mind that emergency scans are limited to ten per requester, per week. They will be delivered via an emailed link to Webshare.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the VRC.

Humanities Day 2010

Join your colleagues on Saturday, October 23rd for a day of discussions, lectures, tours, screenings, and exhibitions in celebration of the 32nd annual Humanities Day at the University of Chicago. All programs are free and open to the public. The Department of Art History’s Katherine Taylor will be giving her lecture Robie House, 100 Years New during session three at Breasted Hall, at 3:30pm on Saturday. See the online program for full schedule details and additional information, and go here to register.