Artist/Archivist Relationships in Memory Practices: Chicago Archives + Artists Project

How do artists and their communities, especially those not typically collected by institutions, build platforms for themselves and pursue creative archival strategies to create legacies for their own work and histories? Additionally, how might they intervene in existing archives? The Chicago Archives + Artists Project focuses on engaging artists and archivists doing this work, seeking to foster dialogue between them. CA+AP’s work is carried out through commissioned archive + artist collaborations, publishing projects, and the biennial Chicago Archives + Artists Festival. This paper will use CA+AP as a case study to explore the exchange of philosophies and practices between and among artists and archivists that contribute to an expansion of preservation work within and beyond archival institutions and repositories.