As you just heard from Kyle and John, Catherine Wallack is an architectural records archivist within Special Collections at the University of Arkansas and the curator of both the digital collection "The Fine Arts Center: The First Years" and the physical exhibition, which will be available to view starting from the building's reopening through July 10. Wallack is originally from Washington, D.C., and studied architecture at Rice University and Harvard before coming to Fayetteville. She worked at architecture firms until her first child was born, then began teaching at the University of Arkansas. We spoke this week about her career and her work on this collection. She learned about Edward Durell Stone and his work while researching his furniture in Special Collections. But her interest in the Fine Arts Center was her first connection to this project.
Catherine Wallack: My interest predates this event and also predates my interest in Edward Durell Stone. I first heard about the Fine Arts Center when I moved here and I lived in the guest house of Herb and Judy Fowler. And Herb Fowler was a faculty member in architecture during the 1950s when this all was happening. And I remember distinctly how magical his experience sounded, because all of these different disciplines, these creative disciplines, were housed under one roof, and they were all supporting each other and interacting. You know, there are stereotypes about academic life and being viciously competitive and that sort of thing. And this was just the opposite of that. People were really excited about what they were doing, and it was just an environment that fostered creativity. And that stuck with me.
Sophia Nourani: Maybe tell me a little bit about how — because architecture, that's buildings and structures and furniture as well — how that transition happened from the visual arts.
Wallack: Well, I think part of the requirement perhaps of being an archivist is an interest in history and culture. And actually my undergraduate degree, I had a double major — one was architecture and the other was art history. I had a pretty strong arts education, even in elementary and high school. I had friends whose parents were artists. And growing up in Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art, the East Wing opened during my childhood, as did the Hirshhorn Museum. So these important buildings dedicated to modern art were integral to my childhood experience. Another component that I should not neglect in the story is through the course of learning about Edward Durell Stone, I learned about David Durst. And David Durst was the chair of the art department when the Fine Arts Center was built. And I think he was really visionary. He was an artist and he was also very supportive of his faculty. And his kind of vision, I think, was really transformative. He was instrumental in bringing Stone here. And the first exhibition that he organized only lasted a month, but had 55 pieces of art in it. And this exhibition was extraordinary by any standards. It had Picasso, Braque, Miró, Henry Moore, David Smith, Stuart Davis — I could go on and on. All of these artists who are now recognized as being important 20th century artists, their work was here. And not only was it here, but it was in this new building that was designed so students on their way to class would pass by this work. The gallery wasn't locked. So had you been a student there, you might have walked past Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" on the way to your music class. The fact that that incredible exhibition was so little known just seemed a travesty.
Nourani: I think a lot of people associate the art in Arkansas with more traditional craft and that sort of thing, and the fact that the avant-garde art was right here in many forms — in dance and theater and visual arts and architecture — has been a little bit hidden. And it should be a source of pride. And I bet it was so interesting and amazing to go back into that archive and find photos and history. I was looking at the digital archive and there are letters, photographs. I bet that was just such a riveting process, but also maybe difficult. Obviously things are lost to time. Tangible items may not have the same quality that they did. Maybe tell me a little bit about what that process looks like — explain it to someone who maybe doesn't understand how that works.
Wallack: Well, I had the privilege of accumulating knowledge over time. Having worked in the archives, I kind of take mental note of items that I'd seen. But for a first-time user of an archive, we have over 3,000 manuscript collections. And that may sound daunting, but part of what we do is to try and make these things accessible and available to people because they have no value if no one can use them. We've long had a university archivist whose sole role is collecting university history. Outside of Edward Durell Stone's papers, we've got papers of a lot of people who have played a role at the university. We're lucky also that the University Museum has similarly collected artifacts related to university history. And all of those things — the University Museum has an incredible facility that a person can arrange to have a docent-led tour of. Anybody, not just a student. And Special Collections is open to the general public too. We want everyone to take advantage of it.
Nourani: So I wanted to ask about the ticket booth. That's a big piece of history for this Fine Arts Center. Maybe tell me — how was something so big salvaged and kept and maintained? Where was it?
Wallack: The ticket booth is, in fact, a large piece of history. I can't remember the exact dimensions, but I think it's something like 6 feet by 6 feet and 4 feet tall. And it's on wheels. So it's a challenge to move. But that has been in the University Museum. And I'm not exactly sure what year it moved over there. But it is a substantial thing, and I think it really suggests the character of the space and the design aesthetic. As I mentioned, it has wheels. So presumably it could be moved from the theater end of what's now the lobby space to the concert hall. It has a slightly tapered shape from the floor up, allows a person to sit within it, and has all sorts of cubbies for tickets and things inside.
Nourani: And that's going to be physically present at the exhibit?
Wallack: It's already there.
Nourani: That's exciting. Maybe tell me a little bit more about the process of getting those things into the Fine Arts Center and putting together the physical exhibit.
Wallack: We're still putting a few final touches on it. We have a lot of different materials — ephemera, furniture, artwork and explanatory graphics. And they came from different sources: the museum, the archives and individuals who loaned materials, including this collection of artwork by different artists who were on the faculty during the '50s and who worked with David Durst. And then we have photographs by a noteworthy mid-century architectural photographer. We've got a lot of ephemera, brochures and things related to the art department in particular that kind of show the graphics and the visual sensibility of the time, as well as some photographs of the key characters just trying to communicate the milieu.
Nourani: What's your favorite piece from the digital or the physical exhibit?
Wallack: That's hard to say. Maybe give me a couple then. Well, one little-known thing is that the artist David Smith, who's an important 20th century sculptor, taught here. And so we have a wonderful photograph of David Smith in the Fine Arts Center courtyard leaning against a wall. I think that's great. And maybe a catalogue from the 1951 exhibition. That's another wonderful thing. It has very quirky graphics and includes that list of incredible artists in it. I have tried over the years to get other people interested in this, and the 1951 exhibition in particular. And so this is really a career goal to do this — putting it together and having the space and the opportunity to do a physical exhibit and bring in these pieces of furniture to really illustrate the story in a way that is different from doing the digital exhibit is really exciting. There's an immediacy to being in a space with materials and seeing them with your own eyes. I'm interested in design. I'm interested in architecture, I'm interested in art. But the real privilege of being an archivist is having access to these materials and hearing people's stories. All these collections that we have in Special Collections that are meaningful to the people who lived their lives and who donated things — that's a real privilege. And it's a privilege to play a part in keeping this story alive.
That was Sophia Nourani speaking with Catherine Wallack, architectural records archivist within Special Collections at the University of Arkansas and curator of "The Fine Arts Center: The First Years." You can view the physical exhibition at the reopening on April 16, then weekdays through July 10.
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