The keynote panel was part of the larger symposium “Building a Planetary Solution: Regenerative Architectural Strategies for a Planet in Crisis,” which took place from Feb. 20-22 at the School of Architecture.

“We are really trying to get at the ways in which the material means and methods … that are engaged when we make buildings and, more importantly, cities might be transformed from forces of planetary damage and predation into mean of restoring the climate, social equality and opportunity,” said architect Alan Organschi ARC ’88, senior critic at the School of Architecture. 

Organized by Organschi, the symposium consisted of a series of panels and lectures on the social, economic and environmental impacts of the building sector.

Organschi acted as the panel moderator, directing questions at Berke, McInnis and Julie Zimmerman, the inaugural vice provost for Planetary Solutions.

The University’s own sustainability efforts were also at the center of the panel discussion and became a subject of critique. 

As a professor of green engineering, Zimmerman emphasized the importance of forming lasting connections across disciplines in order to promote innovations in sustainable technologies. Her work established the “Twelve Principles of Green Engineering,” a framework that outlines how to make chemical processes greener. 

“Anyone who’s been around Yale knows the saying, ‘Yale is full of lots of stars, but no constellations.’ We talked about Planetary Solutions as a constellation factory. Not only do we want to connect people on campus across disciplines, but we want to connect people on campus to people that are off campus,” said Zimmerman.

Forming “constellations” — meaningful and productive conversations — across disciplines was a major theme in the panel and symposium at large.

Organschi said he wanted the symposium to encompass the social and economic impacts of the building industry to create a “much broader discussion about society.”

“We could have a conference that really, putatively was about building materials, and the next thing we knew it was about the planet,” said Organschi.

According to Berke, Yale could do more to catch “low-hanging fruit.” Berke pointed to the wasted energy and money spent heating empty buildings.

“I don’t think we are careful enough, cautious enough, wise enough when we plan the buildings we are going to build,” said Berke.

Organschi expressed a similar concern for the “growth-oriented” and “consumption-oriented” economy under which the University operates.

Many of the questions regarding the University’s sustainability efforts were directed towards McInnis.

One audience member asked McInnis how cuts in federal funding could potentially impact upcoming plans to construct additional lab spaces and a Thermal Utilities Plant on Science Hill, as well as other sustainable efforts currently in the works. 

McInnis responded by addressing the potential impact of recent federal funding cuts and proposed increased taxation to the University endowment. She predicted that there may be projects that do not come to fruition due to funding issues. 

“We’re not gonna stop buildings mid-course. But of our 10 to 15 year plan, probably some things are gonna have to get delayed, and there might be some things we ultimately can’t afford to do. So you have to make choices,” said McInnis.

Nevertheless, Organschi remains hopeful for the future of sustainability at Yale. He praised the “enormous capacity” and “incredible programs” of professors and researchers.

According to Organschi, recent challenges to sustainability are opportunities for the University to grow and lead the effort.

“I think this new political crisis we are facing is an incredible opportunity for Yale to pull itself together as an institution with this incredible breadth of capacity, knowledge, research power, all of these things, to start to really push back against these forces we see as really deleterious to the planet,” said Organschi.

The Yale School of Architecture is located at 180 York St.

The post Yale School of Architecture Symposium examines Yale’s architectural strategies, shortcomings and sustainability plans appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The exhibit commemorates the YCBA’s upcoming March reopening after it closed in 2023 for maintenance and renovation. Before walking through the exhibition, viewers heard from the architect supervising the reconstruction. 

“One of the things that I’ve always admired about this building is it has an extraordinary restraint and self-possession. And I think, really, that’s true of most of Kahn’s work,” said George Knight, supervising architect and a senior critic at the Yale School of Architecture. 

Dozens of people, from New Haven residents to School of Architecture students, joined Knight in anticipation for the re-opening of the YCBA. During his welcome speech, he spoke on three components of the YCBA building: the relationship between the city and the University, the connection between the “two Pennsylvanians” — Paul Mellon, the benefactor of the center, and Louis Kahn — and finally, the partnership between Yale and Kahn. 

Knight, using original materials from the exhibit, described his appreciation for Kahn’s work, before discussing the various innovative facets of its design. 

“So much of this was new and revelatory,” said Knight. “The relationships to the Yale leadership at the time, Kingman Brewster being president, Paul Mellon as patron, Jules Prowne as founding director … I think it sets up a much richer background for us all to appreciate the center when it opens,” said Knight. 

The curators responsible for the exhibition are Jessica Quagliaroli, former chief archivist for the YCBA, and Kathy Bohlman, architecture records archivist for Haas Family Arts Library Special Collections.

This exhibition served to garner attention to the space of the YCBA — even when its doors remain closed. 

“We were asked to think of open-while-closed ideas — how to make the museum’s collections and services available to the public while its physical spaces were closed,” Quagliaroli told the News.

Quagliaroli and Bohlman began putting together the exhibition in October 2023, shortly after the YCBA closed its doors. Less than a year later, “People Look Up at Good Architecture” opened in September 2023. 

According to Bohlman, usually a minimum-time of a year is allocated to curate an exhibition. However, since they wanted to have the exhibition on display before the YCBA’s reopening, they were on a tight schedule. 

Bohlman said that the entire process consists of multiple stages of research, writing, selection, layout and final design. 

“It really takes much longer than you might think it would,” said Bohlman.

This process was made even more challenging because materials related to Louis Kahn and the construction of the YCBA remain scattered across the University’s many collections.

Nevertheless, Quagliaroli and Bohlman were able to bring together pieces from the University archives, the Yale School of Architecture collections and YCBA institutional records, among others. According to Quagliaroli, the exhibition includes materials from ten different collections across four repositories. 

“ I think one of our goals was wanting to join together these materials that live in siloed collections, bring them together, and recontextualize them in a new way altogether,” said Quagliaroli.

Haas Arts Library is located at 180 York St. 

The post “People Look Up at Good Architecture” exhibit unveils the history of the YCBA building appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Droth, who is a familiar figure in the Yale community, was previously the deputy director and chief curator of the YCBA. Taking the place of Richard Brodhead ’68 GRD ’72, former dean of Yale College, Droth will assume her role as the art gallery prepares to open in March, following an extended closure for renovations. 

“[Droth] has deep understanding and rich experience of the YCBA’s many roles: as a cutting-edge research center defining the field; as a teaching center inspiring students; and as a cultural center enriching our community,” said Benjamin Polak, a member of the search and professor of economics. 

Since February 2023, the YCBA has closed its doors to undergo renovations for maintenance and to improve energy conservation. The gallery will reopen under Droth’s supervision with two exhibitions that Droth herself curated. 

The exhibitions, titled “Tracey Emin: I Loved You Until the Morning” and “Hew Locke: Passages,” will allow Yale and New Haven community members to engage with contemporary British art. 

Droth is a prolific figure in the study of British art, working not only at Yale but with institutions abroad. Her initiatives have included collaboration with the Tate Britain, Fitzwilliam Museum and Getty Museum. 

She has been affiliated with the Yale artistic community beyond the YCBA, including her time as part of Yale’s Committee for Art in Public Spaces. 

“This is great news for the arts community at Yale and in New Haven,” wrote Alan Plattus, chair of Yale’s Committee for Art in Public Spaces. “Martina is a consummate scholar and curator, a superb colleague, and a perceptive and creative advocate for the arts and arts institutions in both a historical and contemporary context.” 

She has also lectured as a member of Yale’s Art History Department and fostered the first exhibit with the Yale School of Architecture. Droth’s work with Yale’s artistic spaces spans over 16 years. 

Droth will permanently fill the position left empty when former director Courtney Martin went to work for the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. 

David Sadighian, a member of the director search advisory committee and assistant professor at the Yale School of Architecture, expressed his excitement over Droth’s “scholarly rigor and creative vision.”

“Martina’s knowledge of the YCBA collection is unrivaled,” wrote Sadighian in an email to the News. 

Another member of the search advisory committee, Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art, praised Droth’s curatorial work at the YCBA. He said that “Bill Brandt | Henry Moore” was a “masterly juxtaposition of photographs, drawings and sculpture.” 

This exhibition was the YCBA’s last exhibition before its closure and featured a combination of photographs and sculptures. It was accompanied by an illustrated book that was co-edited by Droth.

The Yale Center for British Art is located at 1080 Chapel St. 

The post Martina Droth appointed new director of Yale Center for British Art appeared first on Yale Daily News.

When she opened her decision letter, she froze, staring at her screen in disbelief. As confetti burst across her screen, it finally hit her: she was one of just 66 QuestBridge scholars who were admitted into Yale’s class of 2029.

“Because I only ranked Yale, I knew that if I saw confetti on my page, it meant that I got into Yale,” she said. “I screamed while looking at my computer, and I immediately jumped up and ran out to tell my family.”

The QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship connects low-income high school seniors with full scholarships to partner institutions. Yale, as one of QuestBridge’s partner institutions, offers a binding admission process to matched students. Those who match with Yale are also guaranteed a $0 parent share award. 

QuestBridge Scholars can rank up to 15 schools in order of preference. Scholars match with the school ranked highest on their list that decides to offer them admission. Last year, 67 percent of QuestBridge finalists who matched received an offer of admission from one of their top five college partners.

This year, out of over 25,500 applicants, QuestBridge selected 7,288 finalists to be considered for the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship. QuestBridge’s 52 college partners matched with 2,627 finalists, the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients to date for QuestBridge.

“We are delighted to welcome this record-breaking number of QuestBridge Scholars. These Scholars will contribute a rich diversity of perspectives and experiences to our college partners, enhancing the vibrancy of their campus communities,” wrote Ana Rowena Mallari, co-founder and CEO of QuestBridge, in a press release.

According to Moira Poe, director of Yale’s QuestBridge partnership and senior associate director of strategic priorities at the admissions office, Yale continues to be a popular choice for students to rank. She said that the admissions office reviewed a fair number of finalists before moving into the early action review cycle.

Any student who did not receive a match but who ranked Yale is automatically entered into the regular decision pool. However, Poe explained that since Yale partnered with QuestBridge in 2007, the admissions office consistently admitted more QuestBridge finalists through regular decision rounds than the QuestBridge Match. She said that she expects to admit “many more finalists” during Regular Decision.

“We are proud to be a long-time QuestBridge partner institution,” Poe wrote.

QuestBridge at Yale

In the QuestBridge Match round, Yale can only try to match with those QuestBridge finalists who qualify for a financial aid award with a $0 parent share. In other rounds, Yale’s admissions and financial aid processes operate entirely independently. 

“I think [applying through QuestBridge] highlights the circumstances of where we’re coming from,” said Mary Ayala, a high school senior from Atlanta, Georgia, who was admitted to the class of 2029 through QuestBridge. “It shows to universities that we’re coming from unfavorable circumstances, yet we’re still able to succeed.”

Zoma Marino ’26, a QuestBridge finalist who was previously admitted to Yale during regular decision, explained that QuestBridge scholars often represent “firsts.” Whether they are the first in their family to attend college, the first from their high school to enroll in a prestigious university, or the first in their community to “reach impossible dreams,” Marino described QuestBridge scholars as some of the most hard-working and extraordinary people she knows.

Eugenie Kim, a high school senior from Kansas who was recently admitted to Yale’s class of 2029 through QuestBridge, shared how meaningful her decision was for her family. She explained that her grandmother, who did not have the opportunity to attend college, was one of the most thrilled in her entire family to learn that she was accepted to Yale on a full scholarship.

Upon arriving on campus, all QuestBridge finalists admitted to Yale — known as Questies — are welcomed by the Yale QuestBridge Chapter, a student organization dedicated to building community among QuestBridge scholars, whether or not they matched with Yale through the program.

“It means a lot to have a community where we can understand each other’s adversities, celebrate our achievements, and dream big together,” wrote Hang Chen ’26, co-president of the Yale QuestBridge Chapter. “I am so excited for this new class of QuestBridge Match scholars to join the vibrant community we have here at Yale.”

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.

The post 66 QuestBridge Scholars to join Yale’s class of 2029 appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Set in 1979, the play follows Marlene — played by Victoria Pekel ’25 — who is an ambitious career woman who was recently promoted to be the head of an employment agency. In the first of three acts, Marlene hosts a fantastical dinner party featuring guests from history, paintings and literature in celebration of her accomplishment. 

“It’s an impossible dinner party in many ways,” said Clementine Rice ’25, the director of the sold-out play.

“Top Girls” serves as Rice’s senior thesis project for the theater major. Rice, who’s been planning her senior thesis since her sophomore year, said the concept of “Top Girls” seemed  “exciting” and “compelling” even before she read it.

Characters from the dinner party scene include Pope Joan, a highly contested historical figure, and Dull Gret, a figure from Flemish folklore. The women discuss topics ranging from childbirth to gender identity.

“The play investigates gender identity and gender fluidity and the performance of gender in really exciting ways,” said Rice.

Rice pointed to the character of Pope Joan, who, according to legend, was a woman who pretended to be a man and reigned as a pope during the Middle Ages. 

The seven person, all-female cast is double, sometimes triple-casted to account for all the characters, leading to several quick changes over the course of play.

Kemper Rodi ’27, who led make-up and hair design for the production, said that she played around with the styles of each character. 

“It’s very 80s, so everybody has kind of huge hair or fun lipstick or there’s one scene where we do a New Romantic quick change,” said Rodi.

“New Romantic” is a niche style from the 1980s, characterized by flamboyant colors and extravagant hair and makeup. At one point of the performance, Alice Kasdan ’28, who plays three different roles, transforms into this New Romantic style in less than ten minutes.

According to Rodi, this entire process, which includes make-up, costume change and hair-teasing, takes six to seven minutes before Kasdan is rushed to the stage. 

Despite being set in the 1980s, Rice said the play is still “topical,” with the political themes that are deeply relevant to contemporary viewers.

“I hope people watch it as a reflection of what’s going on in the world around them as much as it is a period piece,” said Rice.

Ryan Pascal ’25, a co-producer of the show, echoed a similar sentiment, saying that the play is especially poignant because it features women speaking candidly about their political views.

“I think it’s taken a lot of different life forms throughout the changing political climates that we’ve experienced just over these past few months working on the show,” said Pascal.

According to Rice, the play also poses an extremely personal question to audiences: “What are you going to do with your life?”

“The act of choosing a life is really my scream for the direction — the biggest, most important, essential question or theme that I want people to see when they watch it,” said Rice.

The Theater, Dance and Performance Studies Black Box is located at 53 Wall St.

The post Caryl Churchill’s ‘Top Girls’ to premiere this weekend at the Theater, Dance and Performance Studies Black Box appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The School of Art student exhibitions this fall, which include the “Feedback Loop,” are unique because they have been curated, instead of student-led, for the first time. Madison Donnelly ART ’23, interim gallery and exhibitions manager, was responsible for curating and organizing the exhibition. Donnelly said that she aimed to create a journey for the visitors as they go through the gallery.

“The front room is kind of this ethereal heavenly space. The basement to me feels like hell — really chaotic and a lot of the work is a lot darker,” said Donnelly.

The theme of the exhibition — “Feedback Loop” — does not necessarily reflect the themes of the pieces found in the gallery. According to Donnelly, students chose the theme as it relates to their experience as students. The pieces were submitted long before students selected the exhibition’s name. 

Nevertheless, through Donnelly’s curation, the visitor finds that the pieces are tangentially related stories and themes.

“The Theater” and “The Theater, The Party, The Lovers” by Faith Couch ART ’26 can be found on the first floor of the exhibition. The picture and accompanying video feature a couple sitting in a movie theater in a collage of different images taken in the movie theater. The video follows the couple through different events and places: the theater, a party and a private moment alone.

As the video shifts scenes, the collage of moments from the theater remains still.

“Creating each of these cinematic collages are representative of an elongation of a moment,” Couch wrote in an email to the News.

Continuing on the first floor of the gallery is “Pig,” a sculpture by Amy Wang ART ’26. The sculpture is of a gutted pig hanging from a meat hook, seemingly ready to be sold. About 100 porcelain slip casts of Sumo oranges can be found inside the pig.

According to Wang, this unconventional work came to life as they were considering themes of consumption and marginalized bodies. To Wang, this sculpture also operates as a sort of self-portrait.

Specifically, Wang said that the orange casts and use of glycerin, which gives a sweat-like sheen to the pig, combined with the way the pig is hung, felt self-reflective.

“They just came together to make this work that is probably the closest and most reflective of just myself,” Wang said. 

Descending to the mezzanine level, viewers will encounter  “La Marea” by Kiki Serna ’26. The multimedia installation consists of a two-minute video projection with Spanish and English audio, weavings and graphite drawings on vellum. The video cycles through different clips of water, with subtitles occasionally being displayed as well — though they do not always match the audio.

In an interview with the News, Serna discussed migration and fluidity as important themes in her work — especially in the context of bodies of water. 

“Bodies of water connect each other and connect us to one another, even if we’re not in the same space,” Serna said.

As the viewer approaches the installation, their shadow interrupts the projection, momentarily participating and becoming a part of the art.

This interaction was carefully thought out by Serna.

Serna said she wants the viewer to be “submerged by the sound of the waves, the sound of the wind, the spoken word, the way the water glitters in the space.”

Finally, entering the basement, which Donnelly described as “hellish,” the art becomes conceptually darker.

Taken by Christian Badach, an untitled photograph captures a burning house. The blurry features and the orange glow outlining the house lend the photo a mysterious, yet melancholic quality.

Badach wrote in an email to the News that he was able to take the photo by reaching out to local fire departments, who are sometimes hired to burn down old, unsalvageable buildings. 

“With my images I hope that they can either grant clarity to certain complex feelings or dig something up in the viewer that they may have not known was there,” wrote Badach.

The School of Art is located at 1156 Chapel St.

The post Creating a ‘Feedback Loop’ — a look inside the First-Year MFA Exhibition appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s beloved novel featured original choreography, a tap-dancing Mad Hatter and a lethal inflatable pink flamingo.

“Everything — from the story and choreography to the props — really reflects YBC’s mission of making ballet accessible and enjoyable for our community,” wrote Virginia Peng ’25, who played Alice, in an email to the News.

Valentina Simon ’25, the artistic director of Yale Undergraduate Ballet Company and choreographer of “Alice in Wonderland,” encouraged the audience to laugh and clap during the performance.

According to Simon, their adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland” was great for families with young children due to the short runtime of an hour and the story’s wide appeal to young and old audiences alike. 

For Simon, the most exciting part was the unique characterization of each character.

“The Mad Hatter has a manic smile and wears tap shoes,” said Simon. “The duchess is bloodthirsty and tries to pepper the baby. The caterpillars are otherworldly and almost hallucinogenic.”

The Mad Hatter, played by Mia Kohn ’27, who is also an illustrations editor at the News, demonstrates how dance brings a character’s distinct features to life. The sharp blows from the Mad Hatter’s tap shoes was a show of eccentricity, standing out against the whimsical music and soft steps of the rest of the dancers. 

In the portion of the story where Alice drinks a size-changing potion, two different dancers leaped onto the stage and played “big” and “small” Alice. In other parts of the show, the White Queen, played by Kyra Bonta ’25, used an inflatable pink flamingo to attempt to kill the Red Queen. The tempo of the music changed accordingly with the performance, heightening the audience’s emotions and telling the story through musical cues.

According to Simon, the Yale Ballet Company and Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra collaborated in selecting music and creating original choreography. This partnership allowed them to “capture the spirit of the characters and bring them to life.” 

The Yale Ballet Company had done a similar performance with the Berkely College Orchestra in the spring 2024. Simon said that the show was a success and received a lot of positive feedback from the Yale community, which inspired her to do another performance that “incorporates a synergy between live music and live dance for the audience.”

Even then, the collaboration between dancers and a live orchestra was fairly new to both groups and presented unique challenges. 

Raoul Herskovits ’25, who conducted the orchestra for “Alice in Wonderland,” said that this challenge was fun and unconventional. 

“We have to keep the tempos, the speeds, within a specific range, because we have to make sure that the dancers don’t have to run around super fast,” Herskovits said. 

With 22 dancers in the ballet company and 20 musicians in the orchestra, the two groups were unable to practice together until a week before the performance date, said Simon. A full run-through of the show wasn’t possible until the dress rehearsal, a day before opening night.

Nevertheless, the two groups were able to come together and seamlessly blend their respective talents. Through the creative mix of music and dance, the magic of Wonderland was brought to the Dome.

A recording of the Nov. 15 performance can be found here.

On Feb. 15, the Yale Ballet Company will collaborate with Berkeley College Orchestra for another performance at Battell Chapel.

The post At the Dome, “Alice in Wonderland” creates magic through dance and music appeared first on Yale Daily News.

This scene is captured by Gregory Crewdson ART ’88 in “Starkfield Lane.”

Crewdson is a critically acclaimed American photographer and serves as the director of graduate studies in photography at the School of Art. His work has been displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as his Instagram page, which boasts over 180,000 followers. 

“In a still picture, it’s just one frozen moment, kind of stuck in time,” said Crewdson. “So what I try to do is invest that one moment with as much care and beauty and mystery as possible.”

His elaborately planned photographs are known for invoking a sense of uncanniness and mystery.

If Crewdson’s works seem like a still from a movie, it’s because the photographs are shot by a sizable production crew and top-notch equipment. Each detail included in the photo is meticulously curated to create one special moment.

“He directs you to a certain psychological space through the use of casting and directing, the specificity of the props and signage, the targeted lighting with lots of shadows, darkness and mist allowed to creep in,” Lisa Kereszi ART ʼ00, assistant director of graduate studies in photography, wrote to the News.

His work focuses on the American landscape and culture, as well as transforming the familiar and ordinary into something unexpected, Crewdson said.  

The psychological aspects of Crewdson’s works may be influenced by moments from Crewdson’s childhood. His father was a psychoanalyst who used their house’s basement as an office space. 

One of Crewdson’s earliest memories, he recounts, is of trying to listen to his father’s sessions through the floorboards of his living room. 

“I feel like that’s one of my first aesthetic moments, but it’s also defining of all the work I’ve done,” said Crewdson. “Like finding secrets in everyday life, something that feels forbidden or distant, voyeuristic.”

Crewdon’s process for starting a new series begins with location scouting — he drives around, looks for the right places and envisions the kinds of photos he will create.

The intimate landscape featured in his photography includes the Massachusetts towns of Becket and Pittsfield. Many of the photos are taken in the “same few towns,” said Christian Badach, Crewdson’s former assistant. Badach is now a first-year MFA student at the School of Art. 

“By then I’ll have like 15 to 20 images in my mind, and then I work with my team and we come together like a movie, and we shoot for like six weeks,” Crewdson said.

According to Crewdson, lighting is an especially critical character in his photographs. It’s the way he tells a story through his photographs, said Crewdson. He explores his fascination with light in “Early Work (1986-1988),” a collection of photos he made while he was a professional student at Yale. 

After the elaborate process of taking the photos, Crewdson further refines these pictures in post-production to perfect his vision. He documents some of this extensive process on his website, Crewdson Trail Log.

Despite the carefully staged and focused nature of his work, Crewdson said his photos are always based in “something real.”

“There’s always in the pictures the kind of intersection between everyday life and fiction,” Crewdson said.

Many of his photos are open-ended in nature, said Kereszi. This element allows viewers to connect and bring their own story to the picture. According to Crewdson, the “viewer finishes the work in a certain way.”

In “Woman at Sink,” a pensive woman stands limply at a kitchen sink — as if she awaits a climactic moment that never seems to come. What she waits for is unknown to the viewer.

The Albertina museum in Vienna recently held a retrospective of Crewdson’s work, spanning over three and a half decades. Across the years, however, Crewdson said the story he tells remains the same.

“Every artist has one story to tell, and then it’s just the task of kind of retelling that story over and over again and reinventing it, changing it. You can’t get away from who you are,” Crewdson said.

Crewdson maintains this sentiment in his teaching, helping students discover and capture their own story, according to Kereszi. In addition to his role as a lecturer, Kereszi said that she could lean on him as “an example, experienced mentor, and as a friend.” 

According to Shelli Weiler ART ’24, a former student of Crewdson, she finds an “instant and endless reckoning” within his photos. Understanding his works requires patience on the viewers’ end, said Weiler, as the photographs are about waiting. 

At the end of this waiting, you still won’t find a tidy conclusion. 

“In his photographs, a whole film feels at once condensed into a singular image and extended into eternity,” said Weiler. “The curtains refuse to draw and I am left suspended by something I can never know.”

The Yale School of Art is located at 1156 Chapel St.

The post Deeply psychological and intimate: a look into Yale lecturer Gregory Crewdson’s work appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Accessible via the red line shuttle, 344 Winchester is home to the Technical Services Unit, Special Collections Services Unit and Preservation and Conservation Unit. The 160 staff members support the acquisition, organization, preservation and accessibility of Yale library collections — both physical and digital.

Unlike typical librarians, the staff at 344 Winchester rarely interact directly with library patrons. 

“Most library users never meet technical services staff and may not even know they exist — but their role is critical to maintaining the infrastructure that allows users to find and access the information they need,” wrote Martin Kurth, associate university librarian for technical services, in an email sent to the News.

Each unit at 344 Winchester oversees a different aspect of library collections. The Technical Services Unit deals in processing all general collections, such as books and journals. They also manage the licensing and provision of electronic resources.

The Special Collections Technical Services Unit handles processing and organizing collections for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

The Preservation and Conservation Services Unit, which deals with both general and special collections, works to prolong the life of books. This includes repairing damaged items, maintaining and monitoring optimal environmental conditions for materials and digitizing collections.

The staff at 344 Winchester see a wide range of materials from different time periods and of different mediums during their work. Artists’ books, indie photo books, zines and 19th-century amateur newspapers are just some examples of the materials they work with, said Zoe Dobbs, a catalog/metadata librarian.

“Everyday you are exposed to new ideas, perspectives, and something else to learn,” Jeanette Norris GRD ’09, manager of monographic processing services, wrote. “I find making those resources discoverable, and accessible to the community by supporting colleagues who work at various stages in the process extremely rewarding.”

344 Winchester’s key functions, according to Patricia Carey, director of communications strategy for Yale University Library, are acquisitions, cataloging and metadata, processing, serial management and electronic sources management.

Acquisitions consist of purchasing, receiving and processing new collections. This includes physical materials, such as books and journals, as well as digital collections. Librarians and curators work alongside one another to decide which materials to acquire. 

In the process of cataloging and metadata, specialists organize material for ease of use and access. When a collection is received, it must be organized and described so it can be made available to researchers and students. 

When a researcher requests special material, they can do so through the Archives at Yale website. The website logs hundreds of thousands of entries, where items are identified through the descriptions and data.

The final — and increasingly important — function is electronic resource management. This includes acquiring, managing and licensing digital resources such as databases, e-books and other digital materials.

This process makes it so that students can easily find and access materials through digital mediums. 

The often unseen work done at 344 Winchester plays a critical role in the library system at Yale, ensuring that now and in the future, the Yale community will continue to have access to a wealth of information and resources.

“It’s exciting to be on the front line of history, and it’s also exciting to see our students and our Yale community interact with the materials,” said archivist Camila Zorilla Tessler.

In 2015, technical services staff moved from Sterling Memorial Library to 344 Winchester Ave.

The post Where does the Beinecke send its damaged books? appeared first on Yale Daily News.