The Los Seis de Boulder Sculpture Project: A Case Study of Socially Engaged Archivist/Artist Collaboration at the University of Colorado Boulder

Authors

Megan K. Friedel, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
Jasmine Baetz, Scripps CollegeFollow

Abstract

As academic institutions and archivists around the nation grapple with the question of how to address existing monuments to racist histories at their institutions, how can archivists support the creation of new monuments on college and university campuses that reflect suppressed or oppressed histories of people of color? This case study explores the Los Seis de Boulder Sculpture Project, a socially engaged art project at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder), in which archivists in the CU Boulder Libraries' Archives supported and collaborated with a student artist and community members to create a public monument commemorating the deaths of six Chicano Movement activists and students in car bombs in May 1974. This study explores how such archivist/artist collaborations can be rooted in the social justice responsibilities of archivists and outlines the practical steps that the collaborators followed to create and sustain their work together and, ultimately, the long-term placement of the monument on campus. It also discusses the mutual, positive benefits that both the Archives and the artist received by working with one another and offers considerations and lessons learned for other archivist/artist collaborators who wish to work together on similar projects at public institutions.

Author Biography

Megan K. Friedel is Assistant Professor and Head of Archives at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries' Rare and Distinctive Collections. Jasmine Baetz is the Lincoln Visiting Professor in Ceramics at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Friedel, Megan K. and Baetz, Jasmine (2022) "The Los Seis de Boulder Sculpture Project: A Case Study of Socially Engaged Archivist/Artist Collaboration at the University of Colorado Boulder," Journal of Western Archives: Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/westernarchives/vol13/iss1/1