The main collection I worked on throughout the months of January - May 2025 involved the La MaMa Audio Collection that was initially started by Jenny Hsu, a previous MIAP intern. This collection contained a multitude of formats and involved personal items of Ellen Stewart, inspirational items for shows (commercial music, hymns, etc.), soundtracks for shows, and recordings of shows. I also was able to work on 3 other collections throughout my time at La MaMa. These include:
The TWITAS Collection Third World Institute of Theater Arts Studies. This was a collection of both audio and moving image with varied formats. Martha Coigney was heavily involved within this collection and worked together with Ellen Stewart to eventually develop ITI (International Theatre Institute).
The Moving Image Collection formed from the moving image materials discovered within the Audio Collection.
The MiniDV+Hi8 Collection was a collection started toward the end of April 2025 that consisted of MiniDV and Hi8 tapes that are mostly of shows and productions from La MaMa. Some consisted of behind-the-scenes or parties thrown for cast and staff members at the theater.
In the end, I managed to inventory 652 items. Throughout my time at La MaMa, I learned about archival research for assigning proper metadata to materials, as well as developing efficient workflows to manage a high number of items. Specifically, I was able to develop the skills for identifying vague or difficult-to-read labels.
La mama
