about this site

This website built on two previous efforts from Randall Library and the Watson School of Education at UNCW. It was made possible by an NC Echo Digitization Grant provided by the State Library of North Carolina using fund from the Library Services and Technology Act at the federal level.

Visual Art is a powerful art form that affects many people’s lives. The University Librarian felt that the visual artist was disappearing from our history for several reasons. Primarily their work goes into the hands of individuals and thus is not widely visible to the public. In addition, the art museums can only collect and display a small amount of the artists’ work. When researchers have come to Randall Library or Cameron Art Museum to do research in this area we found the sources to be limited and scattered. The larger art community of Southeast North Carolina consists of much more than the visual arts. We limited our work on visual arts and by definition did not cover music, drama, film, dance and other art forms.

The principle partners in the grant were Randall Library - UNCW and the Cameron Art Museum. The principle investigators were Sherman Hayes, University Librarian, and Beth Roberts, Administrative Coordinator at Randall Library. The Cameron advisors were Holly Tripman, Registrar, and Deborah Velders, Director.

Many permanent and temporary staff members from the University (Watson School of Education, University Photographer, Randall Library systems, business office, cataloging and Special Collections, Art and Art History ) assisted on the project. We thank all of the art community for sharing their stories.

We are always surprised at the wide range of people and the number of people that use our “Content Websites.” We anticipate that it will be useful particularly for historians, people tracing artists and art works, students at all levels including primary students. We hope that teachers at all levels will find useful images, inspiring stories and even be encouraged to come and visit much of the art if that is possible. We know that genealogists that find their ancestors may have been artists will use this site. Many people that move to our area ask about the art scene and expect to participate in the arts. This source may give them insights in what to expect.