The SSCAC Permanent Art Collection - Cataloging Your Collection Part I

Over the years, many diligent individuals have helped to maintain the SSCAC's landmarked building. However, like many buildings, this historic Georgian Revival is in need of repairs, restoration and updating. Most pressing in my mind is the basement of the building which currently houses the SSCAC's extensive collection of African American Art. Although many other areas of the building are in need of restoration, the preservation and proper storage of the Center's collection has been deemed as our most critical next step. The Center's Board has already taken steps to assess the collection. We are now looking to architects for recommendations and foundations for funding so that we can begin the process of creating the proper storage and display of our collection. Our long term goal - to create an archive space where we can store our collection, house historical documents and books in a library and provide tours to individuals and groups. We are working towards this goal because the emphasis on carefully and purposefully cataloging and sharing our history with the community will ensure that the SSCAC lives on with our youth and others unfamiliar with the many contributions African Americans have made in the arts.

Which raises an important thought - are you, as an art collector, cataloging your own collection. If not, start today! Many times we acquire our collections over time without realizing how much we actually have. While preparing to move to a new home, my wife and I recently realized that we had not properly catalogued our collection. Acquired through purchases and as gifts from artist friends, our collection has blossomed from a few pieces I inherited from my mother to the point of storing pieces we have no wall space for - I call it collecting for our big house. Although it is important to catalog price, value, artist name and other information, what occurred to me was that we failed to keep track of where pieces came from, who had given them to us, and what they represented in our lives at that moment. As our children grow, I realize that it is so important to capture our own family history, and for us art plays a large role in that history. My children personally know many of the artists we have collected and when we do pass some of our collection to them, I want them to understand exactly what that piece meant to my wife and me.

All that to say keep track of what you are collecting for insurance and asset purposes but also for your own personal memories. The way you write dates and notations on photographs is the same way you should catalog your art – I mean isn't a sculpture or painting really a picture of your life and thoughts at that moment?