Update - What's New at the Library



Garden Bulbs In Color SB425 .M25 1938

 Spring has sprung at the Chrysler! Lovely tulips have blossomed in both the Memorial Garden and Mary’s Garden. The galleries are also blooming with color – whether it’s the amazing watercolors of James Tissot: The Life of Christ or the brilliant flowers of Tiffany Lamps:Articles of Utility, Objects of Art. In the Library, too, all sorts of new things are springing up. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a Library update, so here are a few of the many things that are new:

New look –
You may have noticed - the blog looks a little different. After a brief hiatus we’re back with an updated look and some new features. You may enjoy checking out a changing selection of recently researched items, or linking our posts to your Facebook or Twitter page. You can also sign up to receive an email whenever the blog is updated.    We hope you like the changes – please tell us what you think.


New faces –
On April 6 we welcomed Special Project Librarian Chelsea DeAngio to the Library Staff. Chelsea is already hard at work making new materials available to Library patrons and helping with reference requests. She’s great! If you haven’t already, stop by and say hello.

The Museum also welcomed a new curator, Amy Brandt, in March. Amy is the new McKinnon Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and has been hard a work researching the collection. She’s already helped us build the Library’s collection of books about contemporary art with some much needed additions. You can read more about Amy here. We’re glad to be working with her.

New information -
Everywhere you look in the galleries, there something new and different to look at - new exhibitions, new collections, and new works of art. We’ve been keeping pace in the Library. You’ll find information about all of the current exhibitions on hand in the reading room, along with a number of newly acquired books.

Old and interesting –
If you’ve already visited the James Tissot: The Life of Christ exhibition you may be interested in taking a look at our 1903 New York edition of the completed illustrated Bible for which the watercolors were produced. The three volume set is on view in the reading room.

We’re also featuring new items from the Library’s “hidden” collections in the reading room display case. Along with The Civil War: Visual Perspectives, Then and Now exhibition on view in the Waitzer Community Gallery – a challenging look at the meaning and impact of the War on American history and culture from a variety of perspectives - you can see some intriguing archival materials relating to the Civil War in Hampton Roads from the Library’s collection and start a conversation with voices from the past.

I hope to see you in the Library again soon!

 - L.C.

A View from the Stacks: Intern's Journal Week 6

Our wonderful interns Casey and Chelsea have completed their internships and are headed back to school, but they left us with a vivid journal recounting their summer adventures in the Library. Stay tuned for future editions of "A View from the
Stacks" which will continue to appear on the blog during the next few weeks.

Week 6 - Outreach

This was a busy week for the interns in the library! With the library open house scheduled for Wednesday night, Chelsea and I scrambled to finish our independent projects, which included a Book Trailer and Book Collection. For my book trailer, I chose a 1918 book called, Das Werk Von Gustav Klimt. I wanted my trailer to resemble a movie poster. Using Photoshop, I collaged images found within this book and others from Klimt’s oeuvre. For my Collection, I decided to highlight images within the stacks corresponding with the alphabet. Both my Book Trailer and Collection were displayed alongside Chelsea’s at the open house and seemed to receive positive reviews (and should be posted online for viewing). The quiet library was shaken up Wednesday as the open house was a success and we received many visitors!
The second half of our week was spent getting our hands dirty by preparing materials for the upcoming exhibition of Victorian paintings. Chelsea and I looked through the stacks to find interesting books published in the 19th Century – many of which were covered in red rot. We started by pulling every book published during the Victorian era. This, however, proved to be a never-ending task and we switched to pulling attractive books, books with “creative” titles, art books, and books that could only be produced by the Victorians themselves. This narrowed our findings down to about 200 books – a much more manageable task. Each book was photographed, entered into a spreadsheet, and labeled so they could be pulled for later use during the Victorian show. The prettiest books will hopefully be displayed in the library and the others will be accessible to the public online. We hope all our hard works pays off and you enjoy our selections.

  - - Casey Nye, 2010 Summer Library Intern


 Casey and Chelsea's book trailers are below. I'll be posting their collections in the coming week - so stay tuned! The Victorian Books they selected are on now view in the Reading Room.

Chelsea's Art Fraud Trailer (Above)  and Casey's Das Werk Von Gustav Klimt Poster (Right).

Out of Storage and Into the Stacks

Are you a glass collector or enthusiast? This Wednesday May 5 at 6 p.m. the Jean Outland Chrysler Library will host Curator of Glass Kelly Conway in the Library Reading Room for a unique opportunity. Join us for Out of Storage and Into the Stacks and view fine pieces from the Chrysler’s glass collection alongside rare books from the Chrysler Library’s extensive glass research collections. Treasures from both collections will be on display and we will discuss how to use the Library’s resources for glass identification and research.


Whether you already have an extensive collection of glass or would like to learn more, this is a great opportunity to learn how to begin your research.

Space is limited to 20 participants and room is still available, so please R.S.V.P. For more information, contact Laura Christiansen at (757) 965-2035 or at lchristiansen@chrysler.org