Originally published on the Arts Co-op Program website
Each year, the Arts Co-op Program recognizes a graduate iSchool MAS co-op student for outstanding achievement in all aspects of student performance, including academic achievement, workplace achievement, and contribution to co-operative education and extra-curricular activities.
This year’s winner, Helen Brown, excels in all these areas.
In particular, Helen’s supervisor Heidi Taylor at Playwrights Theatre Centre notes that Helen “far exceeded expectations for what was achievable within limited resources, budget and timeline.” Outside of the workplace, Helen is also very active in the library and archives community and serves as the Student Representative on the BC Libraries Association (BCLA) Board and the Alcuin Society Representative on the BCLA’s student chapter at UBC iSchool.
Excellence in the Workplace
Helen worked as an Archival Project Coordinator for the Playwrights Theatre Centre, where her supervisor described her as a “perfect match” for the organization’s “long-term policy development and short-term community engagement goals.” PTC had a wealth of information that needed to be organized, including thousands of photos taken at the theatre company within the past 40 years. Helen’s job included researching, developing and recommending a records management policy, digitizing and organizing the photograph archives, as well as planning events to help identify subjects in the photographs.
Her ability to research the organization as well as her ability to sort and scan over 300 photographs amongst thousands of pictures of past playwrights and featured productions or events at PTC eventually led to the success of the 40 Years at Play event; according to her employer, this event created a “dynamic range of interactive opportunities for the attendees” and helped “solve many mysteries as to who was in the photos.” Helen’s work uncovered pieces of the history at PTC, which supervisor Heidi Taylor described as helping to tell a “story to the world” through her “thoughtful, well-executed curation of images.” Heidi further noted that these activities helped “animate the evening” and “stimulate new relationships between PTC alumni and the current staff.”
Before beginning her iSchool degree, Helen was fascinated with the library collections and archives of arts organizations in Vancouver and this passion paved the path towards attaining her iSchool degree as well as joining the co-op program; through her co-op term she was able to merge her interests with her work and education. Working with the PTC, Helen learned more about contemporary theatre, Vancouver arts and working for a non-profit society. Helen remarks: “The best part of this experience was how I was able to take all of this information and use it to create programs for PTC which will help them to preserve their own history and the memories of the Vancouver theatre community.”
