Archival Alchemy®

Unfortunately, many people move through life without fulfillment; fewer individuals know how to preserve the legacy of how they lived. I believe in the active, purposeful use of archival materials to recover and amplify marginalized voices and stories.

In essence, archival alchemy is understanding the life-changing power of archives; through this practice, we can combine Purpose + Preservation + Activation to create Transformation through Remembrance.

As a certified archivist and an interdisciplinary artist, I founded Archival Alchemy® to facilitate self-determined individuals and inquisitive visionaries to creatively revisit the past in order to map their way forward.

My three realms of service are expressed as verbs instead of nouns to emphasize that archives are NOT supposed to collect dust while remaining inactive. This is a practice that must be applied, and it requires YOU to also do the work alongside me.

Below are the routes we can take together:

I. Coaching
Explorations in the Archival Alchemy Laboratory℠ are rooted in self-preservation, self-mastery, and self-determination. As a Black woman, these elements have been my pillars since I was a little girl. The personified archive has been my confidant and friend. Our long-term relationship has continuously healed and transformed my life.

II. Consulting
Utilizing my proprietary Archival Mapmaking Framework™, my purpose is to facilitate inquisitive visionaries* through the strategic planning that’s necessary for their journey. (*generally women who have scaled and ascended into unlikely positions of leadership, directors within the arts, and the C-Suite that values creativity in their work.)

Please contact me about my services so that I can clarify anything that I’ve shared here, and to further discuss how I could support you! I can work remotely or on-site, across the USA or around the world. To follow Archival Alchemy’s projects, please connect with me on Instagram!

I received a bachelor’s degree in Writing and Literature from Naropa University via Hampton University. I received a master’s degree in Library and Information Science with an Archives Certificate from Pratt Institute; I hold a Digital Archives Specialist Certificate from the Society of American Archivists, and I am a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists. I have also held traditional archivist positions with the Whitney Museum of American Art, The New York Public Library, the Associated Press Corporate Archives, and the Weeksville Heritage Center. In 2011, I self-published my first archival text, somethymes grief goes for a walk. In 2013, I co-curated The Finding Aid: Black Women at the Intersection of Art and Archiving event at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. I was a Create Change fellow with The Laundromat Project, a member of the EmergeNYC incubator, as well as a MoCADA creator in residence. In 2017, I founded Archival Alchemy® in New York City.

*This letter written by Jean Hines, a librarian and friend, inspired the name of my business.