VRA 2022 Baltimore

*This session is part of the VRA 2022 Pre-Conference*

During the past year, the “Great Resignation” (aka. The “Big Quit”) has roiled the world of employment nationwide in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had already caused job losses among our membership. While many institutions and individuals now hope for a “return to normal,” others anticipate that the past two years mark a watershed necessitating further transformational changes in the years ahead. These larger employment trends have come on top of quantum shifts in the visual resources field itself, as traditional tasks give way to new responsibilities, and siloed image collections are replaced by interdisciplinary projects.
For several years, our annual conferences have featured the perspectives of newer professionals in “Stories from the Start.” Looking at the opposite ends of their career arcs, this session brings together the perspectives and experiences of two pre-pandemic retirees, two of our members who made their decisions to retire during the past year, and two currently active professionals whose retirements are pending in the near future. When and why did they make their decisions to retire? What was/is the actual process? Concerns? What comes next after we leave our offices for the last time?

Organizer/Moderator:
Allan T. Kohl, Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Speakers:
Virginia (Macie) Hall, formerly Johns Hopkins University
Christina Updike, formerly James Madison University
Marcia Focht, formerly Binghamton University
Rebecca Moss, formerly University of Minnesota
Steven Kowalik, Hunter College/CUNY
Jenni Rodda, Institute of Fine Arts/NYU