The Joel Snyder Materials Collection makes art historical objects, materials, and tools available for instructor and student handling and practice. The materials are stored in the VRC and can be viewed at any time during our regular hours, Monday–Friday 9am–5pm. To reserve specific materials for a class session, or to borrow materials outside of regular hours, please write to visualresources@uchicago.edu.
The Materials Collection is being developed in consultation with instructors’ teaching needs. To request the purchase of materials or to suggest ideas, please write to bridgetm@uchicago.edu. Consult the Collections Development Policy for further details on adding materials to the collection.
Currently, the VRC and the Joel Snyder Materials Collection cannot fund class activities such as material demonstrations with professional artists. To support these types of events, we encourage you to apply to the Course Arts Resources Fund.
View and download high-resolution images of objects in the Joel Snyder Materials Collection on LUNA. For object availability and reference, please view via the Joel Snyder Materials Collection Gallery on Airtable.
Conservation Equipment
View the gallery of conservation equipment
Conservation equipment is available through the Joel Snyder Materials Collection and has been acquired in the context of COSI and the Suzanne Deal Booth Conservation Seminars. The equipment is available for check-out from the VRC by any Art History course for use on campus or at local museums and other sites. To make a reservation for the equipment, please write to visualresources@uchicago.edu.
Classroom Pedagogy
We welcome collaboration at any time. Please email visualresources@uchicago.edu to discuss ideas for your course. The VRC can support your use of the Materials Collection in the classroom in several ways, including:
- Reserve classroom sets of conservation equipment
- Request a list of curated resources for a specific course or project. Depending on your learning objectives, VRC staff may include supplemental research materials, bibliographies, curating videos of materials being created or used, etc. VRC staff can embed these resources into your Canvas course site.
CWAC Exhibitions
CWAC Exhibitions presents student- and course-curated exhibitions in the Cochrane-Woods Art Center. This opportunity provides a supported environment for short-term exhibitions on the University’s academic calendar. We encourage new curators, student artists, or those looking for additional curatorial experience in a non-traditional setting to apply. The CWAC Exhibitions program will draw on the Joel Snyder Materials Collection (JSMC), student artwork, and other objects that are safe to borrow and display in our context.
More Materials for Use
Other departments on campus provide access to materials for classroom or research purposes, including the Logan Center Shop, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, and the Smart Museum. Browse the full list via our guide to Materials Available through Other Campus Departments or reach out to the respective department for more information.