Maybe neither here nor there - I was always taught that Fine Arts had to do
with the "intellect and abstract" and Decorative Arts with "functional"
items - so you have Arts and Crafts. Then you have the Visual Arts vs Fine
Arts distinctions. I am no help, but I am very interested in the outcome of
your dilemma.

O

Olivia Anastasiadis, Supervisory Museum Curator
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
18001 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Yorba Linda, CA  92886
(714) 983-9125
fax (714) 983-9111
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On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 12:20 PM, Sarah Gillis <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Oh wise ones,
>
>
>
> I have been deeply rooted in a re-classification of the collection for the
> past year, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Well, I
> thought I could.  Before everyone signs off on the new, expanded types of
> classifications for the collection, there is one conundrum that I need to
> sort out, Decorative Arts.
>
>
>
> Here’s come context:
>
> Previously, all non-fine art objects shared the same classification of
> “Decorative Arts,” with different assigned departments such as “Americas”
> “Europe” “Asian,” etc.  Through collaborative meetings, a working group
> (containing both curatorial and non-curatorial staff) has come up with a
> new group of classifications, which eliminates the black hole of “Dec Arts”
> such as “Ceramics” “Metalwork” (with sub-classes) “Jades” and the like.
>
>
>
> Previously you had to search “Classification = Decorative Arts” AND
> “Medium = porcelain, stoneware, ceramic, terracotta” to get anything under
> the new stand-alone “Ceramics” classification, and there would always be
> something that fell through the search gap.
>
>
>
> It turns out, now that Dec Arts is on the verge of being eliminated, some
> of my colleagues are getting nervous about this and want it to stay at the
> root classification, with each new classification as a sub-classification.
>
>
>
> At present, we do not have a department of decorative arts, and I’m not
> sure that is on the horizon.
>
>
>
> SO, if Decorative Arts is being insisted to remain, then there needs to be
> an acknowledgement for what is considered Fine Arts.  Since there is no Dec
> Arts department, is there a way to create groups of collections together
> within the database?  From a tree perspective this would be in-between
> department and classification.  I know in other databases you can, but
> wasn’t sure if this was a new feature for TMS (we’re having upgrade issues
> so I’m still stuck on 2012!).  Ideally being able to assign a collection
> for Decorative Arts would solve the problem.
>
>
>
> How have other institutions dealt with the Fine Arts v. Decorative Arts
> conundrum? It has been such a prevalent classification for so long in this
> institution, that my colleagues don’t know what to do without it.
>
>
>
> Is there something that can be done in the backend that would accommodate
> database queries for “Decorative Arts”?  I thought about adding it as an
> attribute, which might solve the problem.
>
>
>
> Anyhow, I would love to hear anyone’s feedback on this.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> Sarah L. Gillis* assistant registrar, image management*
>
>
> WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / worcesterart.org <http://www.worcesterart.org/>
> fifty-five salisbury street / worcester, ma 01609
> direct 508.793.4427 <(508)%20793-4427> / general 508.799.4406
> <(508)%20799-4406>
>
> [image: cid:9858A6EF-D4FD-4D7C-AA04-57634F049BD7]
>
>
>
> *Spanish and Portuguese Colonial Art from  the Roberta and Richard Huber
> Collection *March 11 - July 9, 2017
>
>
>
>
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