It All Started with Etienne: Developing Fine Arts Outreach with Nonprint Archival Collections

Artifacts created by artists working in varied genres of media pose unique opportunities and challenges to archives holding them. The distinctive character and content of a range of artworks (while posing standard questions of preservation and collection development) can also serve as the basis for effective strategies of community and professional outreach, public education, and research. This article will provide a case study of the work done in these areas by Chicago’s Leather Archives & Museum since its creation.