This past week, a number of former University of the Arts employees reached out to me about their experiences with the school's archives, and provided more details about the fate of the Richard Amsel collection. Some only spoke on condition of anonymity, while others were fairly open. Some of the testimonials were rather startling, but I'm trying to learn more about what happened.
The good news is that, last December, the Amsel collection was transferred from UoA to the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. I'm surprised that such news was not given any publicity. (Had I known, it would have saved me considerable trouble and stress -- and even the UoA people I spoke with admitted it seemed unusual.)
Yet I'm very, very relieved that Amsel's artwork is now in a much safer environment.
The academy library listing states that "permission must be obtained prior to accessing this collection, please contact the Reference and Public Services department at ref@oscars.org." My hope for the time being is that all the artwork will be available for illustration and film lovers to study and cherish.
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