Welcome to my space for stepping back into sharing more about things I am doing, thinking about, and traveling towards. I’m thinking of this space like a virtual bulletin board, a space I’ve always been drawn to for the mish-mash of things to be saved, discovered, and shared.
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The name, The Thumb Tack, came from an archive discovery while working with the papers of Charlotte Russell Partridge and Miriam Frink. The Thumb Tack is the voice of Palette Scrapings, a series of newsletters from 1927-1931 (box 28, folder 8) from the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Originally printed on yellow paper with black print, the quippy newsletter captured the happenings of students and faculty, including exhibitions, performances, fundraisers, marriages, and plain gossip, with the occasional school-related update. Each newsletter is signed off by The Thumb Tack, with a unique illustration. I’ve incorporated a few into the design of this site and may do a future post about Palette Scrapings and my love of newsletters in the archive. For now The Thumb Tack is a nod to the past eight years of research I’ve been doing with their papers, my soon to be released new book about Partridge and Frink’s correspondence and an upcoming exhibition about their domestic space.
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One of my treasured collections gifted to me a few years ago is the photo archive of thousands of slides and pictures taken by my dad, Rick Levine. I have like, a LOT of favorites, but this one of his office wall with my mom, Suzanne Wechsler, out of frame pointing at her senior portrait is near the top.
I, too, have taken photos of my bulletin boards in my home office over the years, and when I saw this, well, it just all made sense… I love a photo with a lot of background information and details—breadcrumbs. So this place, The Thumb Tack, is that.
A place for reflecting.
For circling back.
For connecting dots.
For new beginnings.
For unraveling.
For untangling.
For my memory.
For no rules.
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Some of you may know me as the person who made some documentaries. Or maybe you know some of my books. A few of you may know me from the Northwest, where I grew up. Or maybe Wisconsin, where I lived the longest in my adult life. Perhaps from when I used to travel in a way I can’t even wrap my brain around anymore. Many of you may have stumbled across me on social media, maybe even some of my early blogs, where I, too, have met endless people I now consider friends. Regardless of why, I’m glad you are all here.
It feels good to be inspired to want to share in a longer form (or not) again. Let’s see where this goes…
