ARCHIVING AND RESEARCH INTERNSHIP
With the mentorship of Anne Focke
Spring quarter 2023, UW School of Art + Art History + Design
“This is history! And you’re still alive!”
– Karen Lark, MA in Art History, 2020 & intern with Anne Focke, 2016-2017
I’m seeking a full-time intern to work with me and my archive. I have records of 50+ years of artmaking, activism, creative start-ups, and organizational work with art, artists, and civil society in Seattle and across the country. The records fill many boxes in a storage unit and in my home. My aim now is to improve the organization of the archive and develop communication tools that will help the history in the boxes become visible and useful.
Benefits for an intern
- Investigate the raw materials of history
- Gain research skills and archival experience
- Get a singular view of the past half century of arts in Seattle and beyond from someone who lived it.
- Delve into questions such as whether or how history matters today
- Receive 5 credits for completing the work
- Receive a flat-rate stipend of $2,800
Commitment by an intern
- 150 hours
- An interest in the material and the process.
- A facility with detail.
- The ability to work independently, though I’ll definitely be involved.
- It will also be helpful to have a computer with Microsoft Word and Excel.
To apply
Please write a short statement about how you think this internship would contribute to your present academic learning goals and/or future career goals, and why you think you’re a good fit for this internship. Send it to me at: annefocke@gmail.com
You can read more about me at these sites:
http://www.annefocke.net/?page_id=2
http://artscatter.com/general/a-little-folke-wisdom/https://www.historylink.org/File/11259
Additional information and background
In the 50+ years since graduating from the School of Art + Art History + Design with a BA in Art History, I’ve covered a lot of ground. While my formal education is a foundation, what I’ve done with my life might not be what you’d expect from an art history grad. I’m known for leading and assisting in the start-up of nonprofit, for-profit, and informal organizations, mostly in the arts but also in overlapping worlds. Most of my work has been in Seattle, though some has a national reach.
Some examples are: Artist Trust (serving artists across Washington State), Artech (a fine arts handling service), Seattle Arts Commission (now the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture), Orcas Conference (a national gathering about creative support for artists), Arts Wire (an early online system for the arts & artists nationwide), The Neddy (a northwest artist award), and Grantmakers in the Arts (a national association of funders of the arts), And there’s much more, though a lot of it remains only in memory and in my files.
Together, all of this has generated folders-full of documents, correspondence, and ephemera now filling 160 banker boxes in a storage space plus at least 60 more housed either at the UW Libraries or in file cabinets at home. Together they’re like an eccentric “core sample” of an era. A colleague of mine who helps with this archive looked me in the eye one day and said, “Not meaning any disrespect, but you know, Anne, this isn’t just about you!” And he’s right. I’ve been really lucky that my work has intersected with so many amazing artists, scholars, organizers, projects, and organizations. My aim now is to help their stories be visible, or as archivists would say, to help them be “discoverable.”
What, more specifically, will the work involve?
- Help refine the inventories that already exist, or create new ones if necessary.
- Discover in the materials a few stories you find interesting.
- Write or otherwise document the stories in ways that might interest others.
- If time and interest allow, we’ll create a way to share your stories with others.
- Much of the work will be done on site at my storage space, located 2-3 blocks from the Capitol Hill Light Rail station. I’ll be present much of the time or available at home nearby.
Deadline to apply is March 27th!
