Case Study 1 is a legacy collection of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony, founded in 1902 as Byrdcliffe, collected over a period of three decades by Arthur Anderson. The collection comprises over 80 artists, with an initial focus on George Bellows and His Woodstock Circle, and the collection totals 1500 works. In 2017 the collection was donated as a legacy study collection to the New York State Museum, America’s oldest  and largest state museum. In 2024 SUNY Press published “The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection’” and a short documentary film, “The Historic Woodstock Art Colony,” was released in 2024.

The Woodstock Art Colony was founded in 1902 and  America’s oldest intentionally-created year-round arts colony. For three decades Arthur Anderson collected,  conserved,  archived, and exhibited his collection of the Woodstock Art Colony.  Comprising over 80 artists, an early theme was George Bellows and His Woodstock Circle. Intended to be donated as a single legacy collection to a single museum, it was donated in 2017 to the New York State Museum, America’s oldest and largest state museum. This collection presents to the general public for the first time a large body of work that not only shaped  the art and culture of New York State but also contributes to a history of national and international significance. The collection has been archived using a proprietary five-step process:

Step 1: Client Objective

Having  researched, conserved, inventoried, and photographed this collection of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony,  it was intended to place it with a single museum as a legacy study collection for public and educational use, rather than selling or dispersing the collection to multiple museums.

Step 2: Problem  

An initial challenge was to create an inventory of the 1500 works, each work with a description, specification, provenance, and photograph. Once completed, the inventory could be transferred to a searchable digital archive from which digital applications can readily be made.

Step 3: Solution 

Transferring to a digital archive enables value-add benefits created, for example, state-of-the-art website, collection catalog, book, short film, and informative presentations. High resolution professional photographs as well.  

Step 4: Results

• Donation 2017 to the New York State Museum

• Exhibition 2019 at the New York State Museum, Albany

• Exhibition 2023, The Dorsky Museum, SUNY New Paltz 

• Cover story, Spring 2023 issue, American Art Review

• Book 2024, “The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection”, by Karen Quinn and seven essayists, publisher SUNY Press, available Amazon Prime  

• Short film 2024, “The Historic Woodstock Art Colony” 2024, available YouTube

Step 5: ArtNarrative

Long before the famous Woodstock Art and Music festival of 1969, Woodstock became America’s first intentionally-created year-round art colony in 1902. Woodstock went from no artists living there in 1900 to more than 100 artists residing there in 1926. This growth was stimulated by the Art Students League of New York moving its summer school from Old Lyme, CT to Woodstock in 1906. This collection has 1500 works by over 180 artists. The collection tells the story of the art and cultural history of Woodstock. In 2024 a comprehensive book was published by SUNY Press, “The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection”, and it introduced the general public to the body of work underlying the WoodstockColony story that not only shaped the art and culture of New York State but also impacts a history of national and international significance.