School of the Art Institute of Chicago Faced with Major Staff Cutbacks
The school’s Video Data Bank has seen its team shrink by more than half, in a move described by alumna and artist Suzie Silver as ‘sad and distressing’. Save to My OculaA leading video art collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) saw three of five members of its team laid off last Wednesday, with a further 17 SAIC staff made redundant, in a surprise move that has rocked personnel, students, and the wider community.
Among the disestablished roles are the Video Data Bank (VDB)’s director Tom Colley, digital collection and media manager Elise Schierbeek, and distribution assistant Nicky Ni. The decision leaves the organisation with two remaining staff to oversee a collection of more than 6,000 video art titles by over 600 artists, among them Sadie Benning, Coco Fusco, Joan Jonas, Bruce Nauman, and Martha Rosler.
SAIC alumna and artist Suzie Silver called the events ‘sad and distressing’, describing her reliance on VDB’s collection as a teaching resource in her role as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Meanwhile Kate Horsfield, a co-founder and former executive director of VDB, has expressed concern at the cuts, especially as the collection approaches its 50th anniversary next year.
‘I hope those at SAIC making the decisions about the future of the VDB would show professional respect for its importance as a globally known and dearly loved organisation and give the VDB a chance to survive intact,’ Horsfeld tells Ocula. ‘There is nothing like it anywhere else.’
Founded in 1976, the VDB collects and distributes video art to museums, galleries, and universities across the United States and globally, and just last year launched a subscription streaming service. Its other activities include preserving and digitising videotapes, commissioning essays, and hosting events.
Such activities have now ceased, according to Video Data Bank Forever, a group of artists, scholars, and cultural workers invested in the collection’s future.
A statement from an SAIC spokesperson cites ‘the financial pressures facing higher education due to changes in federal policy and their effects on enrollment’ as the cause for the layoffs.
‘SAIC remains committed to the Video Data Bank,’ they confirm, ‘and the value it provides to artists, other colleges and researchers, and the field.’ —[O]
Main image: Hilary Harp and Suzie Silver, The Sausage (2015) (video still). Courtesy the artists.
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