New Archival Internship:  The Skirball Cultural Center Archives, Moshe Safdie Building and Design Collection

The Skirball Cultural Center by Sadfie Architects

"Responding to the steep topography at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, the Skirball Cultural Center is organized as a series of building clusters nestled into a planted hillside. Indoor and outdoor spaces flow seamlessly throughout the complex, creating a network of gardens, courtyards, galleries and public event spaces. The center holds a museum dedicated to Jewish heritage and American democracy." (Safdie Architects)

Returning to my roots!  My father is an architect whose idea of a swell family vacation was to go to Montreal to see Moshe Safdie's 1967 landmark project, Habitat 67, a "pioneering vision of urban housing using the technology of pre-fabricated construction." At least we didn't have to move there...

Taking Note:  Creating an inventory for a private art collection

I'm fortunate to be working with an important and beautiful private collection of mid-century African-American and Latin-American art.  Comprising over 1,000 items either  framed and hanging on the walls, or lovingly stored in flat files, the collection represents the owner's lifelong interest in and advocacy for the vision of these formerly underrepresented artists.  

The job requires that I photograph, measure and research each work of art, a task that allows me to immerse myself in the imagery and history of the pieces, including the cultural context in which they were created, exhibited and collected.  Works by these artists are just now beginning to fetch record breaking prices at auction after being ignored or undervalued by mainstream museums and collectors for decades.  

Charles White, I Have a Dream, 1976. Private Collection.