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Ninth Art@625 exhibit showcases staff creativity

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At 625 Massachusetts Avenue, which houses many staff members in Harvard Library’s Information and Technical Services (ITS), lunchtime is an opportunity to slip away from work and take just a few steps to an art museum. Staff discuss the pieces that fill the walls of the room, brightening the space and showcasing the—otherwise hidden—artistic abilities of many of the people who work in ITS.

“One reason I chose to participate is that it truly does build community to see your colleagues’ work and to showcase your own,” said Page Nelson. “So often we get defined by our jobs and titles, and we start to identify with those roles as well. Having the opportunity to exhibit artwork—something entirely different from what we do behind our desks—helps us realize that we are working with full people with unique interests, desires and perspectives.”

The show was organized by Murray Barsky, Sandy Wamsley and Delana Hirschy. Barsky noted, “These presentations are largely self-sustaining, as one or another of us is motivated to move from observer to creator. In one case, a poem—later published—that we had up in one exhibit drew explicit inspiration from an earlier staff work. And it’s gladdening to consider that this has become one of the ways we work together.”

This exhibit showcases pieces by Sean Crawford, Candice Feldt, Delana Hirschy, Jay MacIntyre and Page Nelson. June Rutkowski also installed a bonsai tree just outside the entrance to the exhibit area.