The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library hosted three student interns through the GLAM & FASS3000 Internship Program, offering hands-on experience in metadata enrichment and archival cataloguing. Working with the Noel Gray Artist Book Collection and the Sherman Galleries Ephemera Collection, the interns helped enhance access to and preservation of rare and overlooked materials.
Alisa Prasnicki – Noel Gray Artist Book Collection
Alisa's meticulous work catalogued over 50 rare artist books donated by Noel Gray to Professor Virginia Spate. Her work on the Noel Gray Artist Book Collection involved the detailed cataloguing of sketches, figure studies, and annotations. Her research highlighted the role of metadata in revealing artistic processes and deepened the library’s interpretive understanding of the collection. In her words, “this process has taught me patience and to appreciate specificity.” Her deep engagement with the collection culminated in a solo exhibition proposal featuring Gray’s figure studies and annotated sketches, reintroducing these overlooked materials to contemporary audiences.
Exhibition Concept: Tracing Life – Sketches of the Human Body
Highlights: 25–40 works on display, including original volumes and scans, and a contextual letter from Noel Gray.
Alisa Prasnicki (FASS3000 Intern, Bachelor of Arts)
Lily Tucker – Sherman Galleries Ephemera
Working with the Sherman Galleries Ephemera Collection, Lily focused on cataloguing materials such as exhibition invitations, press clippings, and correspondence. Her approach was shaped by a critical awareness of the invisible labour behind archival collections, and her reflections emphasized the importance of ephemera in preserving the histories of Australian contemporary art and gallery practice.
Lily proposed a compelling exhibition concept that positions ephemeral material not as peripheral, but central to public memory and engagement. Her curatorial vision seeks to foreground the intellectual and emotional labour of archivists and administrators in the GLAM sector.
Exhibition Concept: Ephemera – A Revaluation of Archivism
Highlights: 30–45 items from Ataman, Atkins, Ah Xian, Berkowitz, and Borgelt folders displayed in the Schaeffer vitrines; suggested public programming includes an opening night talk and panel discussion with archivists and curators.
Lily Tucker (FASS3000 Intern, Bachelor of Arts)
Yueqing Xu (Eliza) – Behind the Scenes: Constructing the Artist’s Image
Yueqing’s curatorial proposal investigates how Sherman Galleries actively shaped the public image of contemporary artists through design, media, and internal communication strategies. Through exhibition brochures, letters, reviews, and curatorial documents, visitors are invited to consider the unseen narrative labour behind an artist’s identity.
Exhibition Concept: Reorganising Files – Sherman Galleries and Visual Narratives
Highlights: 35–45 materials from nine artist folders including Howard Arkley, Gordon Bennett, Cai Guo-Qiang, and Dadang Christanto; innovative features include a simulated curatorial desk, interactive QR guides, and a message wall for visitor impressions.
GLAM Intern, Yueqing Xu（Eliza)