This presentation explores the innovative approach to fundraising, curating, and facilitating access to the Janis Ian Archives at Berea College, Kentucky. Opened in October 2024, the archive exists within a duality of identities, providing researchers unparalleled access to original primary / secondary sources, enhancing Berea College's international reputation and serving as a fundraising mechanism not only supporting the preservation of records but additionally support student educational experiences. As a unique resource in music history, spanning sociological, political, and entrepreneurial research genres, two-time Grammy winner Janis Ian has granted unprecedented access into her personal life, business ownership, and creativity. The audience will gain insights into the archivists’ strategies that maintain our intellectual control over the preserved knowledge. Through collection management / cataloguing strategies, specially the creation of organizational hierarchies that create conducive conditions of access within an educational working college; to confidential, sensitive information pertaining to licensing, copyright negotiations, and financial asset management in addition to Ian’s songwriting materials. We'll demonstrate how such archival resources can serve as powerful educational tools for arts leadership and administrative education. This presentation offers a unique reflective perspective from the project archivist on working with a significant body of records to date. Exploring the intersection of art, business, and education within Berea College's distinctive working model. Educators will discover the importance to proactively preserve their community arts heritage, organizational knowledge and leverage such resources for the development of the next generations practical arts administration and leadership skills.
