The Franklin Furnace Events Database is a digital archive designed to serve both the researchers and general users. This encyclopedic resource contains over 560 video recordings, 14,300 photographs, and ephemera of all Franklin Furnace events, 1976 to present. With the support of a major National Endowment for the Humanities grant, Franklin Furnace began in 2006 to digitize, describe and publish online digital records of events funded and presented by Franklin Furnace. Franklin Furnace continues to award grants annually to early-career artists, and as a result, the Events Archive remains active. We are committed to expanding access to Franklin Furnace’s ever-growing archives.

Collecting Policy

Documentation for event records is acquired chronologically. The organization collects and/or creates documentation for each Franklin Furnace art event upon completion of the event. The archive increases at the rate of approximately twenty art events per year. The majority of materials in the archives are provided by the artist as a condition of the funding process. Franklin Furnace provides technical guidelines regarding methods and specifications for documentation, which typically consists of written and published texts, photographs, and video. 

Additionally, Franklin Furnace asks alumni artists to share documentation of past events for which the organization has little or no evidence, or to add newly discovered materials. 

During processing, Franklin Furnace appraises submitted materials and media files that are duplicative, out of focus, or insufficiently representative of the project may be omitted from long-term digital storage.

Best Practices and Guidelines

Through the efforts of Michael Katchen, Jenny Korns and Mary Haberle, Franklin Furnace developed and published a thorough document in 2012: Best Practice and Guidelines: Digitization at Franklin Furnace Archive. With the purpose of establishing standards and a workflow that ensures the efficiency and accuracy of Franklin Furnace’s digitization process, this document also serves as a knowledge-sharing resource for the broader archival community. These guidelines are applied in the digitization of the Events Archive, helping ensure that the resulting digital assets meet archival standards for preservation and access. While archival processes continue to evolve and some of the standards and practices outlined in this document have since been updated, we continue to share it as a valuable reference and contextual resource.

Link to the Best Practice pdf file

Advanced Search

The advanced combined search feature allows users to query the database using multiple criteria, including creator, title, event date range, and keywords. Access the advanced search box on the home page or the top search bar on the record page. 

• Use quotation marks (“”) to search for exact matches. Example: use “key” to avoid results like “turkey”.
• Use quotation marks around phrases or names. Example: “Laurie Anderson”.
• Use OR (capitalized) when it could be either this or that.
• Date range can be specified by typing “to” between two dates (5/27/1981 to 7/15/1981), two months (6/2001 to 8/2001), or two years (2008 to 2010)

Browse by Artist

Selecting an artist’s name from the Creator tab directs users to a results page displaying all events in which the artist participated or to which they contributed. Hit the search icon for an artist in the Creator tab to see a full list of their work, and select the specific event you wish to see or hit the “Select all works by ___” to view all related records.

Event Audio & Video Access

To better incorporate and present audiovisual resources, the platform now includes integrated video and audio links that direct users to recordings of events. The corresponding URLs and descriptive information are accessible within each event record in the video/ audio tab.

Search History

To support navigation, the platform provides access to viewing history, enabling users to review previous search terms and easily return to earlier results. The viewing history is located in the sidebar, where each listed search is clickable and links directly back to the corresponding step.