Georgia Art Museum's "Andrée Ruellan's 100th Birthday" video

The Georgia Art Museum's "Andrée Ruellan's 100th Birthday" Video

Programs can be produced by internal staff with minimal out of pocket expense. Outside services may donate time and materials in trade for credits and identification as sponsors in the finished product. As an example, a collaboration of multiple resources -- curatorial, communications and publications staff members at the Georgia Art Museum, museum docents, a professor in the University of Georgia's Lamar Dodd School of Art, a convention and visitors bureau, a local public relations firm and other organizations -- enabled the production of a well-received 15 minute video [1] in connection with the exhibition Andrée Ruellan's 100th Birthday, in celebration of the 100th birthday of Andrée Ruellan, an artist whose career spans the 20th century.

Production

During the exhibition, staff members from the communications and publications departments developed the idea of creating a related documentary video. Since the departments had no budget allocated for this project, they conceived of a plan to produce the video with donations of time and materials from museum staff, docents and outside parties.

Previously the museum had invested in a video camera that could be used for multiple purposes. Other than the capital expense for the camera, the museum incurred no material direct expenses for production of the video.

The Andrée Ruellan video has three themes: visits to the South, the Works Progress Administration period, and focus on racial discrimination. There are five sections of the narrative including an introduction, Journeys South, Bringing Light to Injustice, To Enrich the Lives of All, and Her Spirit Lives On.

Museum staff coordinating the project included Johnathan McGinty, Media Relations Coordinator, Bonnie Ramsey, Director of Communications, Rebecca Yates, Editor, and Paul Manoguerra, Curator of American Art. Mr. McGinty and Ms. Ramsey developed the script -- including quotes from Marlene Park's essay included in an earlier exhibition catalogue -- and operated the camera; Ms. Yates created the story board for the production, and Dr. Manoguerra narrated the voice-over for still images and gallery footage.

The public relations firm Jackson/Spalding donated the equivalent of two days of editing/post-production services in trade for being named in the video credits -- and being designated the lead sponsor for the production. The Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau provided a free license for inclusion of archival film footage of the Charleston area in trade for being listed in the credits. Still images of artworks were obtained from the museum's image collection. Andrew Ladis, Professor of Art History in the Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, was interviewed on camera. Also, footage was included of a training session relating to the exhibit held for docents.

Credits

Organizations acknowledged in the credits for assistance in the project include: New Deal Network, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, National Archives and Records Administration; Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Georgia Department of Economic Development, and the Georgia Center for Continuing Education's Public Affairs Division.

Photo and image credits include: John Vachon, photographer, LOOK Magazine Collection; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Collection [Reproduction number e.g. LC-L9-60-8812, frame 8]; Willie Wallace, Eyewitness Narrative, Nanchez, MS, www.jimcrowhistory.org; photos of Paris courtesy of www.aviewoncities.com; photos of the Great Depression, the WPA and Franklin Roosevelt courtesy of the New Deal Network; personal photos of Andrée Ruellan from her private collection.

Individuals acknowledged in the credits include: Executive Producer, Dr. William Eiland, Director of the Georgia Museum of Art; Producer, Bonnie Ramsey; Editor, Scott Hartman; Narrator, Paul Manoguerra; Associate Director, Rebecca Yates, and Director, Johnathan McGinty.

Uses

Upon completion of the video, PR announcements were sent to the media saying that the video could be seen by vsitors in the museum's Audio/Visual Theater. The Athens Banner-Herald subsequently published a related article on May 19, 2005. Even though the filming was completed just prior to the close of the exhibition on May 22, the museum received increased visitation because of the inclusion of the video feature. A DVD master was produced and copies made for future distribution. As a next step, the museum's staff seeks to stream the video on its web site.

Note:

1. 13 minutes of narration and 2 minutes of credits.

Go to:

Go back to introduction for online video

Go back to Online Educational Programming for Institutions

rev. 6/10/05

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