- unitid
-
{"value"=>"188307", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b23781785", "type"=>"local_b"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 188307", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"2019-2022", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"2019/2022"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"COVID-19 face mask collection"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"10 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"8.2 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"3 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"6.8 megabytes", "unit"=>"megabytes"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Manuscripts and Archives</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The COVID face masks collection holds fifty-six face masks that were collected by NYPL curators during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The collection showcases the social history of mask-wearing during the pandemic, and represent the various ways that artists, organizations, communities, and causes used the genre of mask as a means of creativity and protest."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The COVID-19 face mask collection is an artificial collection assembled by Julie Golia, who was at the time the Curator of History, Social Sciences, and Government Information, between 2020 and 2022. Golia purchased and solicited donations of masks to represent the social history of mask-wearing during the pandemic, and to show the ways that artists were interpreting the genre of the face mask.</p> <p>Martín de Jesús Sánchez Espinosa, Alejandro Herrera Prada, Carola Carbajal Ríos, and Natalia Peña Salgado acquired and donated the masks from Colombia and Mexico. Paloma Celis Carbajal, Curator for Latin American, Iberian, and U.S. Latino Collections at the New York Public Library, contacted the artists and donors for additional information regarding their work. The masks represent a variety of causes, organizations, and cultures in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic.</p> <p>Biographies for the creators are listed in the item descriptions.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The COVID-19 face masks collection holds fifty-six face masks. Masks from political campaigns, labor unions, artists, students, and ateliers are present.</p> <p>A number of the masks were created by indigenous artists using traditional textile techniques, such as weaving, embroidery, and collaging. Nations represented include the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Cherokee Nation and Otoe-Missouria tribe, the Muscogee Creek Nation, the Mazahua people, and a collective of indigenous women from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca, Mexico.</p> <p>Some organizations and causes, represented via the messaging and designs of the masks themselves, include Black Lives Matter, trans rights, queer visibility, body inclusivity, immigrant rights, statements against anti-Asian discrimination and violence, and both pro and anti mask mandate messaging. The collection also includes masks made from scrap fabric from the AIDS Memorial Quilt.</p> <p>A majority of the masks were intended to be worn as safeguards against the spread of disease, but the collection also contains art pieces that utilized the form of medical masks as a base. Austrian artist Matthias Kretschmer created a sculptural mask and ears based on the eponymous alien from the American sitcom <span class=\"title\">ALF</span>. Janna Kennedy-Hyten, a Florida-based artist, designed pieces based on Vincent van Gogh's <span class=\"title\">The Starry Night</span> and Henri Magritte's <span class=\"title\">The Son of Man</span>.</p> <p>Of particular note is the mask worn by Doctor Yves Duroseau, who was the first doctor—and the second health care worker in the United States—to receive the COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer) as Lenox Hill Hospital's chief of emergency medicine.</p> <p>Also of note are two snorkeling masks that Italian startup Isinnova and engineer Mario Milanesio repurposed into non-invasive ventilators for COVID-19 patients. Milanesio designed a 3D-printed respiratory valve fitting for the masks during March 2020, when hospitals faced an international shortage of respirators amidst unprecedented demand.</p> <p>In addition to the mask worn by Dr. Duroseau, the Scott Stringer campaign mask was also worn and used. These two are likely the only masks in the collection that were worn.</p> <p>Artist statements, business cards, correspondence, and other ephemera that arrived with the masks are housed seperately in Box 1.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Arranged alphabetically by creator or artist name.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection was assembled via purchases and donations between 2020 and 2021. Additional acquisition information is included in the description for each mask.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Em Longan</span> in <span class=\"date\">2025</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
2019
- keydate
-
2019
- date_end
-
2022
- date_inclusive_start
-
2019
- date_inclusive_end
-
2022
- extent_statement
-
8.2 linear feet (10 boxes). 6.8 megabytes (3 computer files)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"COVID-19 face mask collection, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library"}