Josh T Franco is head of collecting at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. In this role, he leads the team that works to identify, investigate, and acquire personal papers, institutional records and other primary sources that tell the stories of American art. In addition to ensuring the preservation of these records at the Smithsonian, Franco advises researchers working in the Archives, making them aware of materials relevant to their pursuits. Franco also oversees the Oral History team at the Archives. From 2015-2017, he was Latino collections specialist at the Archives. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, Franco was an Artist-Guide at 101 Spring Street, Judd Foundation, the preserved New York home and studio of artist Donald Judd. He completed his PhD in Art History at Binghamton University in 2016.
This panel will address the subject of the proliferation of research tools, libraries – both public and private – collections of ephemera associated with modern and contemporary art practice, and other sources of information within the fast-growing field of studies in the history of twentieth and twenty-first century art by Latin American and U.S. based Latinx artists throughout the Americas as well as in other parts of the world.
A distinguished group of researchers in this area will convene to discuss their own work and the institutions they represent. Each expert will share with the audience the widely diverging methods they employ to disseminate vast and diverse forms of knowledge, from the papers of artists, scholars, and collectors, to ephemera, traditional assemblages of books and journals and, of course, the fast-evolving new digital tools employed to understand the ever-expanding modes of information gathering and diffusion.
The event will be presented onsite at the James B. Duke House and live-streamed to those who join us by Zoom. Zoom details will be available here upon registration for virtual attendees. All in-person attendees must be in compliance with NYU’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements (fully vaccinated and boosted, once eligible and by NYU’s deadline) and be prepared to present proof of compliance. Please review the University’s COVID guidelines in advance of your visit.
ABOUT THE LATIN AMERICAN FORUM
The Latin American Forum is a platform sustained in partnership with ISLAA that brings artists, scholars, and critics of the arts of the Americas to The Institute of Fine Arts, providing a platform for discussions and debates about diverse issues pertaining to contemporary arts and visual cultures throughout the hemisphere.
This series of public programs and events is coordinated by Edward J. Sullivan, Helen Gould Shepard Professor in the History of Art, the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and organized by graduate students. Since partnering with ISLAA in 2011, NYU’s Latin American Forum has hosted more than thirty events. For more information on the Latin American Forum, please visit this link.
Ruth Halvey has held the position as the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Bibliographer for Latin America at the Museum of Modern Art Library since 2019. She received her Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese from Princeton University, specializing in contemporary Mexico. She has worked as an editor and translator and has taught at Fordham University and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Louisa M. Raitt is a PhD Candidate at the Institute of Fine Arts. Specializing in art of the Global Iberian Empire from the 16th-18th centuries, Louisa’s specific research interests pertain to artistic expressions of religio-political controversies, the fabrication and trade of export objects, and production and collection as vehicles of self-fashioning. Her dissertation, “The Frontiers of Femininity: Self-Fashioning in Female Portraiture in Viceregal New Spain, 1665-1821,” offers new insight into female religious and secular portraits and their function as vehicles of social mobility. From 2020-2021, Louisa served as the Marica and Jan Vilcek Curatorial Fellow for Colonial Latin American Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Upon completion of her fellowship, she was hired in the Thomas J. Watson Library as a Research Associate and Bibliographer for Latinx and Hispanic American art for a year-long collection assessment and expansion project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Lori Salmon is the Head of the Institute of Fine Arts Library at New York University, where she administers the Stephen Chan Library of Fine Arts and the Conservation Center Library through the Division of Libraries.
Edward J. Sullivan is Helen Gould Sheppard Professor of the History of Art at New York University. He is the author of more than thirty books and exhibition catalogues on Latin American and Caribbean art.
