2025 | CAW Workshop in Baltimore
This year, AMIA is partnering with The Valerie J. Maynard Foundation for our Community Archiving Workshop (CAW)!
Who is the partner?
Valerie J. Maynard created her foundation in 2020, and their mission remains to “[uplift] her enduring legacy by preserving her art, advancing research, and nurturing the next generation of cultural stewards. Rooted in truth, sustained by culture, and inspired by her vision, [the foundation carries] forward a commitment to justice and creativity.” The foundation—which is in her former house—houses much of her artwork and a relatively small collection of audiovisual materials that the foundation hopes to inventory, catalog, and make available as a circulating library for members. Check out the website here: https://valeriejmaynardfoundation.org/.
Who was Valerie J. Maynard?
Maynard (1937-2022) was a prolific sculptor, printmaker, designer, and arts educator. According to the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) NYC, “she has been internationally renowned for an artistic practice centered on Black resistance to social injustice, the beauty of Black life in spite of those injustices, and the impact of ancestral memory on the descendants of enslaved Africans.” As a young arts student, Maynard always fought to make space for other Black students in the classroom and depict Black people through beautiful artwork. She also worked her entire life to improve opportunities for Black artists of all ages and backgrounds, and people who knew her spoke highly of her “ability to find friendship with others of all ages, bridging generational gaps.”
What is the Community Archiving Workshop (CAW)?
The CAW is a voluntary workshop that operates as part of the AMIA conference as a one-day event. The CAW is always in partnership with a local organization with a medium-sized audiovisual collection, and organization, inventorying, and basic cataloging is typically part of the workshop. However, CAW extends beyond this one-day event and can be considered also as a collective and a model. The CAW collective is “comprised of the core organizing members—trained archivists with significant experience in the field—who develop, refine, and scale the CAW model” and their mission “is to…facilitate grassroots audiovisual preservation, build peer-to-peer learning as a foundation for long-term access, promote community networking, and develop free resources to scale and share widely.” The mission of CAW as a model “to jumpstart audiovisual preservation in community-held collections by bringing together audiovisual archivists and community members to work collaboratively to inspect and inventory a collection- providing the necessary groundwork for its preservation.” CAW events can—and do—happen outside of the AMIA conference, all over the world. You can find out more information on the CAW website.
How can I help with the Baltimore CAW?
We’re so glad you asked! We have limited spaces to participate in the CAW: you can sign up when purchasing your AMIA conference ticket. You can also donate to our cause, either with a monetary donation or by purchasing needed supplies. You can find the supplies and a place to donate funds on our registry (link upcoming!).