Visual Resources Center (VRC) + Art Lounge
The VRC supports faculty, staff, and students who use images and other visual media in their teaching, scholarship, and creative projects. We provide technical assistance and training in software and hardware and serve as a campus resource for questions regarding copyright and image permissions. We also help users locate high-quality images that are not in our collection and manipulate files for presentations and class papers.
Art majors and students enrolled in art classes are able to check out equipment. We also subscribe to a number of art and art history journals, magazines, and newspapers. Come by the adjacent Art Library Lounge, Packard Hall 123, to check out our newest additions, including Art in Print, Art Forum, Cabinet, Juxtapoz, and Sculpture.
Image Collection
The Visual Resources Center maintains an image collection of approximately 200,000 art and architecture slides and 125,000 high-resolution digital images, located in CCDID (linked below). Although we no longer produce slides, you are welcome to browse our archives. Our current focus is growing our digital database through faculty and student requests and general collection development aimed at diversifying the types of work and artists represented.
The Colorado College Digital Image Database (CCDID) is available to all members of the Colorado College community. CCDID digital images are for educational purposes only and must be used in accordance with "fair use" copyright guidelines. Database Available with CC Account Only.
The Art Department has licensed approx. 90,000 images from the Archivision library, a collection of high-quality art and architecture photographs for scholarship and teaching. These images were integrated into CCDID in 2018.
CC community members may also access images through JSTOR (previously ArtStor) while on campus or off-campus with a CC account.
Are you looking for images to use in your research? Check out our guide to get started: Image Research Guide
Software and Hardware Tutorials
The Visual Resources Center offers software and hardware tutorials throughout the year. Check the Digital Arts and Media Workshops page for our current offerings and workshop descriptions. Meghan Rubenstein, the Curator of Visual Resources, is also available to discuss specific projects one-on-one.
Equipment
The VRC is equipped with three Mac Minis and a PC with the Adobe Creative Cloud, two large format scanners (Epson Expression 10000XL and 12000XL), a flatbed scanner with a transparency lid (Epson Expression 12000XL), two film scanners (Nikon Super Coolscan 5000; Plustek OpticFilm 8300i Ai), a book scanner (OpticBook A300 Plus), and a 27" Wacom Cintiq.
Adjacent to the workstations is two large light tables and a collaborative workspace, which includes a conference table, projector, and wall-mounted glass writing surface. The table seats 10 comfortably and can be reserved for meetings, group study sessions, or small classes. With the table removed, 16+ can be accommodated in this area.
Some of our equipment is available for short-term check out to art majors and students enrolled in Art Department classes. This equipment includes Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablets, Wacom Intuos Draw tablets, HD and pico digital projectors, HD media players, MacBooks, and a DSLR Canon camera.
Art Library Lounge
The Art Library Lounge, Packard Hall 123, is a place to relax, study, meet, read, and work on small group projects. The shelves are filled with Art History senior theses and books. Current magazines and newspapers related to art and higher education are always out on the table. The Art Department also hosts its Tea and Sympathy events in this space.
The Art Library Lounge has the same hours as the adjacent Visual Resources Center, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday.