As an artist’s career advances, documentation of the artworks, exhibits, collectors, correspondence and personal papers often falls to the wayside in service of creating in the studio. Suddenly there is a decade or two of materials to deal with, which can be overwhelming and time consuming to sort through. 

Over ten years the Joan Mitchell Foundation developed a range of tools for artists focused in the areas of studio organization, archiving, and inventory management, and trained a number of Legacy Specialists who were able to specifically advise and work with artists on these issues. Through the process of working with the Joan Mitchell Foundation, artists were then able to create comprehensive and usable documentation of their artworks and careers. Though the Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) initiative is no longer actively pairing Legacy Specialists with artists, the program did identify a series of resources that they post on their website, as well as some workbooks that will be useful in getting started on the work of organizing and documenting an artist’s career:

CALLResources.org
CALL Career Documentation Guide
CALL Estate Planning Workbook

There are also a number of video interviews with artists involved in the program, presented in collaboration with Voices of Contemporary Art (VoCA), providing some tips about getting started on what might seem like an overwhelming process. It’s an insightful look at the value of career documentation for artists. 

There is no getting around the time involved in getting an artists archive organized, but for those who wish to go beyond DIY resources, X Gallery is available to help guide the process as much as needed. We offer consultation and evaluation for visual artists at all stages of their careers, referencing the workbooks and processes recommended by CALL and with methods informed by archival standards.