TUESDAY - FEBRUARY 6TH
For the first couple of hours this morning before opening the gallery, I spent time
reading some articles that the library provided for me about Chris Petteys. While
I obviously had some prior knowledge on who she was and what she did, reading through
the articles gave me some more insight into who she was not just as a person, but
as a collector and academic. The more I read, the more I began to appreciate just
what a special opportunity I have to be able to pick up some of where she left off.
Since today was the final setup day for the UNC Arts Gala, Pam and her crew were off working hard at the UCCC. So, since those who usually work in the gallery were off working hard, I wrapped up the rest of my shift opening the gallery for a couple hours for the Skin Deep exhibition in Mariani Gallery.
THURSDAY - FEBRUARY 8th
Thursday's have become my designated day working in the basement of the library in
archives. Today, we wasted no time and I got straight to work. Over the course of
the last week, the archives had discovered two new boxes related to the Petteys collection
and so it became my job to sift through them and see what I could find. There were a
few books that appeared to be reference material Chris used in her research, Leslie's
– Chris's daughter – dissertation on an American pianist, a 1976 copy of the Denver
Post with an article that noted Chris, a travel journal Chris kept on her journey
from Rome down into Egypt, a packing list for said trip, some appraisal documents
for the collection, and a binder full of invoices and correspondence for the physical works
within the collection.
As nerdy as I can almost guarantee it makes me sound, I couldn't get enough of reading
the letters sent back and forth between Chris and the people she was buying work from.
It provided a new perspective into both the process of collecting art, as well as
just a cool look into the behind the scenes work Chris did with Robert (her husband) in
order to build up the collection to what it is now. Unfortunately, the end of my shift
came before the end of the boxes; So I honestly cannot wait to get back into those
boxes next week and see what else I can find!
Just a short one this week -- can't wait to see what more the next week will bring.
