tl;dr

  • The School of the Art Institute of Chicago dismissed multiple staff members at Video Data Bank.
  • Tom Colley, the former director of VDB, was one of those removed. All of these positions have been permanently eliminated.
  • VDB was founded at SAIC in 1976 to distribute and archive the work of video artists. It holds a collection of over 6,000 titles by around 600 artists, many of which are defining works in the history of video art and film art.

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Last week the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) dismissed multiple staff members at Video Data Bank (VDB), an indispensible organization for the programming, distribution and archiving of video art, which is on the eve of its 50th anniversary. Three of the five staff members were abruptly removed from their positions on November 12, according to Tom Colley, the former director of VDB, who was one of those removed. Elise Schierbeek and Nicky Ni, respectively the former digital collection and media manager and distribution assistant, were the other two affected by this decision. All of these positions have been permanently eliminated.

According to an email that Colley wrote which was posted to Instagram by artist Angelo Madsen, whose work is distributed by VDB, “other structural and mission changes are happening as well… without the knowledge or input of VDB staff,” adding that the organization's future was “precarious”. Colley concluded his email by stating that “We sincerely want to find a way forward for the Video Data Bank”. His letter was co-signed by VDB co-founder Kate Horsfield and longtime former director Abina Manning.

Martin Berger, provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at SAIC, stated in a response to a query by a professor at SAIC that “like many colleges, SAIC is facing financial pressures due to changes in federal policy… We have taken several actions to reduce spending, including the elimination of a limited number of staff.” The statement continues with the assurance that “the Video Data Bank is not going away.” This statement was reproduced in the comments section of Madsen's IG post. At the time of publishing the provost has not responded to our request for comment.

VDB was founded at SAIC in 1976. It holds a collection of over 6,000 titles by around 600 artists, many of which are defining works in the history of video art and film art. VDB has been instrumental in distributing these works to museums, festivals, libraries, educational institutions and other exhibitors. The downsizing of this institution has elicited condemnation from many artists, cultural workers and institutions. An artist-led initiative titled VDB Forever stated in an email on November 17 that the institution was being facilitated by Melanie Emerson, dean of the school's library and special collections. We will update this story as the situation unfolds.

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