Mia Morettini, Curatorial Assistant (2019 - present)
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: I'm a first year MAVCS candidate with a background in writing, painting, and drawing. I've spent the last few years collecting found objects-- mostly toys-- and reconfiguring them through mixed media projects. At RBSC I'm interested in seeing how art and objects, when stripped away from the pristine gallery setting and contexts, can cohabitate and form new stories and relationships around each other. My favorite items in the collection tend to be the tiny objects tucked in the backs of shelves or behind much larger pieces. They can feel like little tricksters hiding in wait to be discovered by those who look very closely... Through my work here, I'm also actively engaging with the works of the Imagists and am currently scanning masterwork transparencies of Roger Brown's paintings.
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for fall 2019: Graceland - Paul Simon,Always - Patsy Cline
Marian Thompson, Curatorial Assistant (2020 - present)
Bio: I’m a first year MS in Historic Preservation student with an interest in object collections, archives, and documentation practices. I did my BFA with an emphasis in Writing at SAIC, and worked for a few years researching and cataloging antique collections for an auction house. I’m interested in information accessibility and interpretation outside of the physical confines of an archive setting and the long term stability of electronic data. Outside of academic environments I’m an avid gamer and member of a few Chicago video gaming communities.
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for spring 2020: Patsy Cline - Stop, Look and Listen, and The Music Man Original Soundtrack
Gabrielle Christiansen, Curatorial Assistant (2019-2021)
Bio: I am an Art History Master’s candidate at SAIC who was drawn to work at the RBSC through my fascination with non-mainframe art production, alternative museum environments, and American visual culture. In my time working at this house museum I have come to appreciate the intimate and evolving connection one can have to art collecting and curating, and have found great pleasure in the ability to engage with artwork in a domestic context. My art historical research interests beyond the RBSC are largely concerned with issues pertaining to labor, class, and the intersections between popular visual culture and the art world. Before coming to SAIC, I lived and worked in my place of origin, St. Louis, Missouri.
Links and contact: instagram.com/ggabriellechristiansenn
Vinyl LP "staff picks" selections for Spring 2020: Tito Puente - Let's Cha Cha with Tito Puente and Roger Williams - In a Latin Mood: Amor
Christina Stavros, Curatorial Assistant (2019-2020)
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for fall 2019: The Beatles - Sg. Pepper. and Ray Charles - The Genius Hits the Road
Angelina Almukhametova, Curatorial Assistant (2018-2020)
Bio: Having always been drawn to collecting various trinkets and antiques, I have a deep fascination for Roger Brown’s collection. Every day at work is a learning experience; there isn’t a single day that I don’t notice a new object in the space. At the Roger Brown Study Collection, I have been working on digitizing the artist’s vinyl record collection. It’s amusing to draw connections between the records and Roger Brown’s life and work, as well as those that interweave the collection. I am currently in my third year of undergrad at SAIC. My experience with Roger Brown’s collection has motivated new branches in my writing work.
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for spring 2019: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears - The Mama's and The Papa's and The Mills Brothers Great Hits
Catherine Rose Lamendola, Curatorial Assistant (2017 - 2020)
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: I’m a dual degree MA student who came to the RBSC in 2017 through my love of vernacular artists and nontraditional art spaces. My focus at the collection is in examining the ecosystem created by site-specific objects, and connecting Roger Brown to Chicago’s history of self-taught art. More broadly, I’m interested in archival management, artist-built environments, and museum workers rights. Before coming to SAIC, I received my BA in Art History from McGill University, and spent time in my hometown of Dallas, Texas.
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for fall 2019: Pointer Sisters - Energy and Sarah Vaughan - The Magic of Sarah Vaughan
Links and contact: clamen@saic.edu | instagram.com/stecatherine
Xinran Liu, Curatorial Assistant (2019-2020)
Julie Stopper, Curatorial Assistant (2019 - 2020)
Pronouns: she/they
Bio: As an aspiring educator, I find conversations with students to be the most enriching aspect of my time at the RBSC. I am always curious about the experiential knowledge of the individual and I aim to facilitate discussion that engages history as well as reflects on the intersection of the identity politics of the maker, the collector, and the viewer. I feel a responsibility to myself, to the collection, and to our society to facilitate conversations that are most difficult in hopes that we may all learn through listening to each other’s perspectives and move forward as a healthier and more inclusive community.
Lauren Couey, Curatorial Assistant (2019)
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for fall 2019: Blood, Sweat & Tears - Greatest Hits and Jerry Jerome and His Group - Bright and Bouncy Hi Fi Dance Music
Taylor Morgan, Curatorial Assistant (2018 - 2019)
Pronouns: she/her/they
Bio: I am a senior in the BFA program at SAIC, in the painting and drawing department. A visit to the RBSC was one of my first class trips in the beginning of my freshman year and its been fascinating to learn some of the ins and outs of the historic preservation process. As a painter and 20th century print/illustration collector myself, I'm very inspired by the historic narrative of objects and images here. I have been scanning and archiving a wide variety Roger Browns's photographs and have learned a lot about Roger, and my abilities as an amateur sleuth.
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for spring 2019: Blue - Joni Mitchell, Honky Chateau - Elton John
Alessandra Norman, Curatorial Assistant (2017 - 2019)
Bio:
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for spring 2019: The Fantastic Guitars of Sabicas Escudero, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Links: alessandranorman.com | instagram.com/nasa_giftshop
Jeremy Marcelino Sublewski, Curatorial Assistant (2018 - 2019)
Bio: I am a fourth year undergrad student at SAIC. My work at the Roger Brown Study Collection is motivated by my interest in the home as a sacred place of discovery and creation. I am interested in the collection as an educational resource that allows students to engage critically with cultural artifacts (Western and Non-Western) whose functions and significance changes with time and its location or dislocation.
Link: jeremysublewski.com
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for spring 2019: Blood, Sweat & Tears Greatest Hits - Blood Sweat and Tears, Music of the Liturgy in English - Joint Commission of Church Music
Carolina Valeria Velez, Curatorial Assistant (2017 - 2019)
Pronouns: she/her
Bio: I started working in the Roger Brown Study Collection during my third year of undergrad after several visits during my first years at SAIC. I’m now in my last semester in the Bachelor of Fine Arts and have focused on weaving and painting. While in the collection, I constantly think about all the cultures and subcultures represented and what it means to have objects from them, both as a personal artist collection and as a house museum. I’m also interested in how the collection reflects both Roger’s individuality as well as his place in society.
Vinyl LP “staff picks” selections for spring 2019: King of Ragtime - Johnny Maddox, Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel
Links: carolinavelezmuniz.com | instagram.com/sijayesouinaam