Having trained as both an artist and an archivist, Sauda Mitchell is uniquely qualified to create works that convey artistic reinterpretations of historic texts and records. So ZSR Special Collections & Archives is delighted to be able to host her as visiting artist-in-residence during the 2024-25 academic year. Sauda’s residency is funded primarily by the Dr. Samuel T. Gladding fund, which supports programming in the humanities at ZSR Library.
Sauda kicked off the semester with a keynote lecture “Making Meaning: Reimagining Archival Engagement through Creative Connections.”
Throughout the fall semester Sauda worked with students in Dr. Rian Bowie’s African-American literature class (ENG381) as they created their own artists’ books in the form of hand-printed broadsides.
At the beginning of the semester, Sauda gave a presentation to the class in which she described her own artistic process and shared examples of her work, which takes inspiration from a variety of archives documenting the African-American experience. The students were introduced to the concept of the artist’s book: a work of art inspired by or taking the form of a “book” in its broadest sense.
With guidance and input from Sauda, the students worked collaboratively to design three broadsides (single-page publications), inspired by materials in Special Collections and the literary works of the African-American women authors who they had read over the course of the semester.
With some intensive training and support from librarian Craig Fansler, the students set type, created linocuts, and printed their broadsides on the ZSR Library Letterpress, a 1906 Chandler & Price press donated to the library in 2012.
Sauda will incorporate the students’ broadsides into a creative project as part of her residency in the spring of 2025. Drawing on the Maya Angelou collection and other sources in Special Collections & Archives, she will create an artist’s book for ZSR’s permanent collection.
Watch this space for information about Sauda’s spring events in ZSR!
3 Comments on ‘Words, Art, and Inspiration in the Archives’
It was a unique and rewarding experience to work with Sauda and Dr. Bowie’s class, and experience printing with Dr. Bowie’s students and Sauda’s insight. They did a great job.
Thank you, Sauda, Rian, Megan, Craig, and our WF students for doing/creating this important work for the historical record. And a special thank you to Sam Gladding for the gift, and to Claire Gladding, for her support and continued encouragement.
Such a great program! Congrats on this great collaboration and experiential learning opportunity for our student!