Archives Outside the Institution: A Review of Archival Needs and Impact in Small Arts Organizations

Abstract

Small organizations working to preserve their records and history face myriad challenges, including limited funding opportunities, finite resources, and gaps in staffing or expertise. Despite these obstacles, some choose to take on this important work because the alternative is far worse: seeing their records discarded, their stories misrepresented, or their history lost entirely. In this conversation, drawing on both our own experiences and extrapolating from research on community archives, we explore archival work happening outside traditional institutions. We’ll focus on small-sized organizations in the arts—from artist collectives to performance groups—highlighting their needs, which often go beyond conventional archival practice, and showing how they can benefit from archival activities. We’ll also explore ways in which the field can better support these organizations and others like them.