2024 Visual Materials Section Steering Committee candidates

Candidate for Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (one 3-year term):

Paige Adair

Biography

Paige Adair is the Senior Archivist, Fine Arts Specialist at The Portman Archives in Atlanta, GA, collaborating to provide access to the archival collections of architect and artist, John C. Portman, Jr. She is responsible for visual materials-based collections of photography and artwork, maintaining both digital records and physical works of art.  Paige has been an active member of Society of American Archivists, participating on the Design Records Section as the Web Liaison from 2021 to 2022 and presenting at the 2023 Visual Materials Section’s Annual Meeting. In addition to SAA, she is also an active member of Society of Georgia Archivists.

Paige received her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and BFA from Georgia State University with focus on Painting and Time-Based Media and began her career in Archives through a work study program with the Penn Museum Archives in Philadelphia. Prior to her time at the Portman Archives, she worked with the photography collections at the Kenan Research Center Library of the Atlanta History Center.

Candidate Statement 

The opportunity to serve as Vice Chair for SAA’s Visual Materials Section would be an exciting chance to connect with the VMA community, generate, and implement ideas to structure the years ahead. I value the activities and expertise of my fellow visual materials leaders and hope to aid in coordinating the platform where we share ideas and information. This role would bridge my past experiences on the DRS committee and many years on planning committees for my local community’s SGA with my present intent to engage with the VMA community.  Presenting at last year’s annual meeting was very rewarding, so I know I would look forward to serving the community in a greater capacity through coordinating the section’s upcoming sessions, events, and more!

Candidates for Member-at-Large (one 3-year term):

Sabrina Gorse

Biography

Sabrina Gorse is the Intake and Accessioning Archivist for Archival Technical Services (ATS) at The Ohio State University, where she has been managing intake and pre-accessioning operations, overseeing administrative and logistical procedures, and accessioning (and, depending on the accession, processing) archival acquisitions of varying formats, sizes, and complexities for the University Libraries Special Collections units since September 2023. Previously she worked for over seven years for the Missouri Historical Society, processing, cataloging, and inventorying photographic and print collections. She holds a B.A. double-majoring in Classics and English from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) and a M.L.I.S. specializing in Archives and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Candidate Statement

Visual materials have played a large role in my career as an archivist. During my time at the Missouri Historical Society, my daily work revolved around handling, caring for, describing, and promoting the access and use of its unique formats. In the process, I learned how it is not enough to preserve the materials, but that it is just as important to establish intellectual and physical control over them and ensure their accessibility. My current work at The Ohio State University has introduced me to how the steps taken in receiving, instituting legal and administrative control over, and accessioning acquisitions lay down the foundations needed to ensure a long-term, stable place for archival materials in an institution’s archives and build the relationships needed to support these collections.

If elected as the new Member-At-Large, I plan to bring this energy to my role, contributing to the Visual Materials Section’s Steering Committee’s efforts to connect archivists working with visual materials together in a collaborative community, help grow ways in providing access to and sharing knowledge crucial to caring for visual materials, and promote greater understanding of these materials to the wider archival profession. As a former co-chair of the Association of St. Louis Area Archivists (ASLAA) (2021-2023) as well as previously serving on ASLAA Serves (2016-2022) and ASLAA’s Professional Development Committee (2021-2023), I aim to utilize the experience which I gained to help support the Steering Committee’s goals and foster an environment built on the advocation of its membership. Thank you for your consideration.

Ashley Tooke

Biography

My name is Ashley Tooke and I am an Archivist Specialist with the Office of Campus Planning for MIT. I earned my MLIS in Archival Management and MA in History from Simmons University in 2023, and have worked several archival positions over the last 4 years. Most of my experience has been in analyzing visual materials including artwork, photographs, and architectural drawings. My first experience with visual materials came from an internship in Spring 2021 with MIT’s Department of Distinctive Collections where I helped process and catalog their tarot and artist book collection. I have also held positions at the Unitarian Universalist Association, Harvard Botany Libraries, and Lamar University. My academic interests have also involved visual histories from historical representation of flora and fauna in the 19th century, the anthropological study of race through photography, and finally the influence of gender and space through video games and interactive media. 

Currently, I work for the Office of Campus Planning at MIT where I process digital collections of construction documents and architectural drawings both physical and digital. My involvement with the SAA Visual Materials Section has allowed me to stay plugged in to the community, as I have written a blog post (2021) and book review (2024) for Views. 

Candidate Statement

Throughout the last few years I have found real value in the Visual Materials Section as a resource to grow into my career. It has been the only section that I have been actively involved in and I have felt real value in that. This is why I am interested in the position for Member-at-Large. I believe that the section can continue to serve as a touchstone for community and learning within the visual materials world. If elected, I hope to not only serve its current goals, but brainstorm new ways that we can get members and future members involved. This involvement is key to fostering a community that is useful and informative, especially as we see radical changes for visual archives over time. Thank you, and I hope you will consider my candidacy for Member-at-Large for the Visual Materials Section.