The Business Meeting of the Decorative Arts Round Table was held Sunday morning, April 6 with approximately 13 members present. Jean Hines and Linda Kruger, co- moderators, brought the meeting to order and reviewed the agenda. The first order of business was the problem of costs for conference speakers who are not ARLIS members. Costs for attending ARLIS meetings can be prohibitive and ARLIS has very limited honoraria for outside speakers. ARLIS does not pay for the travel expenses of non-ARLIS members. There was a discussion about fund raising, getting sponsors such as publishers and other means of defraying the travel expenses of non-ARLIS members so that they might participate in the conferences. It was expressed that while it is understandable that ARLIS members be encouraged to be participants, it does limit the expertise available. Jeanne Brown, the Board liaison, will bring the matter to the attention of the Board and report back to DART.
A Decorative Arts Listserve was the next topic. However, it was decided that at this time the general ARLIS Listserve (ARLIS-L) is not so crowded that a separate one is needed for DART.
Proposals for future conferences took up most of the remainder of the meeting. Stephen Van Dyk has proposed a panel on the use of auction catalogs as a service to the business and museum communities. There was much discussion about different aspects of auction catalogs and appraisals and the issues of conflict of interest and valuation. Sources useful to libraries and how they are to be used are of great interest to the group. There was some discussion of specific sources such as Art Fact and Leonards as well as which libraries have these sources.
There was some discussion about a session on interior design. Robert Kaufmann cited a number of experts in Philadelphia who might make significant contributions to a session on historic interiors and color use. There are quite a few historic homes in the Philadelphia area which were mentioned for possible tours. Other important sites were mentioned including Winterthur, the Mercer Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was suggested that we find out what tours are being planned by the Conference committee and that DART submit a list of sites important for the decorative arts.
As the session ended, it was decided that Jean Hines and Linda Kruger will continue on for next year as co-chairs of the Decorative Arts Round Table.
Dr. Sydney Starr
Pratt Institute Library
sstarr@pratt.edu