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Bio: Brenna Edwards is currently the Project Digital Archivist at the Rose Library at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina's School of Information and Library Science, where she concentrated on archives management. While at UNC, she worked with PlayMakers Repertory Company on organizing their archives and updating their inventory list. Outside of work, she is a team leader for the Atlanta team of the American Theatre Archive Project, working with theatres across Atlanta to help them plan to archive their materials.
Statement: I would like to be Co-Chair of the Performing Arts Section as I have worked with theatres and their archives in both a professional and independent manner. Working with ATAP has taught me the value of communication and collaboration within leadership and working with the performing arts community. I have also participated in the Lyrasis Performing Arts Readiness Project webinars, and think protecting these naturally ephemeral materials are of great importance. I think working with the steering committee and other co-chair of PAR would allow me to expand more on these skills, as well as integrate me more with performing arts archives across the country.
Bio: Kimberly Peach is Lead Archivist with The Winthrop Group, an archival services firm based in New York City. She has prepared records retention schedules and a recommendations report for development of the Archives at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and surveyed archival records for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. Most recently, Kim planned and now oversees the Archives Processing Project for the Dramatists’ Guild of America. She also has managed numerous digitization projects and, having processed the collection of an independent filmmaker, brings expertise in audiovisual collections to her work.
Statement: As a member of the Steering Committee, Kim will work to address current PAR membership interests, with a focus on copyright and digital preservation (as identified in the recent membership survey), through quality programming and tours at annual meetings, as well as virtual programs and local collaborations throughout the year. Kim is an advocate for knowledge sharing and will make it a priority to promote creative content through the PAR newsletter and support the continued development of the PAR webpage as a trusted platform for the exchange of standards, best practices, and tools to empower performing arts archivists.
Bio: Dance archivist and curator Libby Smigel PhD joined the Music Division, Library of Congress, in August 2015, where she has responsibility for acquisitions and archival processing of dance collections. Previously, as executive director of Dance Heritage Coalition (DHC) from 2009-2015, she oversaw the pilot phase of DHC’s video digitization project that both preserved the content and created secure streaming access for verified educational IP addresses. Smigel also developed appraisal standards and sustainable archival solutions for dance companies and artists, and she secured IMLS funding to expand DHC’s intern opportunities into a robust multi-year fellowship program for early-career library professionals. In 2009, Smigel and IP attorney Peter Jaszi co-authored the DHC Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use of Dance-related Materials, and in 2006 she authored DHC’s Documenting Dance: A Practical Guide in 2006. Her final project with DHC involved convening IMLS-funded focus groups representing artists of theatre, music, dance, and visual and multi-media to explore how the archival profession could assist in saving and sharing their legacies. In 2014 the Congress on Research in Dance awarded Smigel the Dixie Durr Outstanding Service to Dance Research honor.
Statement: I would be honored to serve on the Performing Arts Section steering committee to work collaboratively with the committee and SAA membership for greater access to materials documenting performing arts legacies. With the multi-format collections we acquire and process, and the complex interconnect rights issues that performing arts documentation entail, our commitment to and collaboration in making these primary sources available for teaching and research is among my highest priorities. I look forward to supporting the initiatives of others in the PAS and ensuring communications for large and small collections are enhanced, and I hope to find new ways that my position in the Music Division and Performing Arts Reading Room at the Library of Congress can develop new initiatives and strategies for our collective mission.