Special Collections Center: Welcome

Summer Hours

Monday - Friday: Open by appointment 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., no drop-ins
Saturday - Sunday: Closed

Holidays: Closed May 29, June 19, and July 4, 2023 

Location
Ringling College of Art + Design
2nd floor of the Alfred R. Goldstein Library
2700 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34234

Download a campus map

Schedule a viewing appointment
specialcollections@c.ringling.edu

Sign-up for a research consultation
https://calendly.com/goldstein-library

Janelle Rebel
Digital Curation and Special Collections Librarian 
jrebel@c.ringling.edu
(941) 359-7583

Alexandra Vargas-Minor, CA
Archivist
avargasm@ringling.edu
(941) 309-4055

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The Brizdle-Schoenberg Special Collections Center specializes in artists’ publication projects, prints, and illustrated rare books.

Our educational mission is to introduce our publics to diverse voices and ideas that challenge staid constructions of the canon and the master work. The Center routinely juxtaposes the familiar and widely recognized with the lesser known and the underrepresented. Through our work, we hope that the next generation of thinkers and makers will draw inspiration from a nuanced web of references.

Hands-On Object-Based Research
At the Special Collections Center, you can gather ideas for a creative project, engage in scholarly research, or discover something new. Gain hands-on experience utilizing primary sources in our reading room, and explore our unique collections through an active exhibition program and campus events. From social justice activism to international folktales to the latest in fabrication techniques, the material objects at the Center can be a great way to explore questions about conception, production, circulation, readership, and cultural histories. 

Collection Types
The collections namely consist of artists’ books and photo-bookworks from the 1960s to the present; illustrated books and periodicals from the 1700s forward; historic and contemporary prints and printed matter from the 1450s forward; specialty archives and collections; and a new institutional archive.

You'll find: broadsides, campus materials, democratic multiples, documentation of time-based and performance projects, engravings, exhibition publications, experimental writing, fine press books, flip books, handmade editions, historic facsimiles, parlor toys, photographs, pop-up books, prints, rare books, zines, and more. See our SC Collection Guide for highlights and more in-depth info.

Open to Everyone
Open to students, staff, faculty, art and design practitioners, and the general public. Our Center functions as a reading room, classroom, print study center, and gallery. To schedule an individual appointment, research consultation, class visit, or group tour please contact our Center staff in advance.

Faculty Resources & Curricular Support
As a teaching resource for faculty, the Center can be utilized for class visits, critique sessions, performances, and extracurricular activities. For class visits, see How to Use the Center for a brief overview and the SC Educator Guide for more information about our educational offerings, lesson plan ideas, and ways to browse and learn about the collections. Interested faculty/classes are also invited to collaborate with the Center on Exhibitions and Special Projects.