https://www.legacymattersorganizing.com/journal daily 0.75 2026-04-29 https://www.legacymattersorganizing.com/journal/archiving-papers monthly 0.5 2026-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/d993032c-e747-477a-8e69-4c7754022f0d/paper-sorting-nw-corner.jpeg Stories from legacy organizing - Archiving Artist Papers - Deciding What to Keep and What to Toss We handled and evaluated each piece of material for its resonance with the artist’s development and career. It involved the heartbreaking decision to dispose of items that hadn’t weathered time well (foxing, disintegration, or pounds of printout research material no longer needed for finished books), and surplussing items that took up space but went unused (dozens of books, large furniture, a concrete chainsaw). We also retained personal family letters, photos, and estate-related papers. Boxes of materials, sorting, discarding, and cataloging in process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/0733e130-996d-4e94-8fad-b66fb2f396b2/boxes-stacked.jpeg Stories from legacy organizing - Archiving Artist Papers - How Long Did This Take? 4 months at 10 hours/week, mostly working alone and categorizing items (letters by name, galleries by name, newspaper articles by decade, etc). In the case of this artist, he trusted me to sort papers appropriately, set aside duplicates, and consolidate categories for his final review. UW Library Delivery 26 banker's boxes Boxes ready to transport to the University of Washington. https://www.legacymattersorganizing.com/journal/archiving-book-materials monthly 0.5 2026-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/f0fe581b-95e8-404b-9fb9-3edd3bb4b4dd/Screenshot-art-catalog-spreadsheet.jpg Stories from legacy organizing - Archiving an Artist’s Book Publication Materials - 2. To create a sharable digital catalogue, I photographed, relabeled, and catalogued each work into book-specific spreadsheets. A low-resolution scan of each work was adequate for our purposes. The family used the spreadsheet to share among the heirs so they could indicate their preferences, and those specific pieces were not included in the final donation to the University. Spreadsheet showing image, its name or description, corresponding page number, year and any provenance notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/29f64379-699b-4b86-ae8c-0a25a8128874/art-filled-car-jaa-project.jpg Stories from legacy organizing - Archiving an Artist’s Book Publication Materials - Delivery of the Materials After 4 months of 10-15 hours a week of work, the artist was ready to deliver a batch of boxes to the University. I loaded 17 boxes into my van and drove them to the archive. Now these materials are available for perusal at the UW. Delivering the book materials to the UW Libraries https://www.legacymattersorganizing.com/journal/creative-legacy monthly 0.5 2026-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/3d1e323c-bb6a-4ceb-b846-4c5f8b365129/tony-in-studio-lfp.jpg Stories from legacy organizing - Preserving a Creative Legacy - My Client, the Artist This artist-client was overwhelmed by the sheer number of objects and was ready to start talking about his artistic legacy while he is alive. That he realized this while he is alive is a huge gift. There is an opportunity to capture information and stories about the objects in his life’s work, and time to discuss other estate matters; to make sure he and his family know his wishes for his artistic legacy, and are organized before the end of life. Tony in his studio, with years of papers to assess https://www.legacymattersorganizing.com/journal/who-is-that-killer-whale monthly 0.5 2026-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/c7088a36-ca0d-4027-ac9e-a5fa18975b38/IMG_5465.jpeg Stories from legacy organizing - Who is That Killer Whale? - Make it stand out Title page of Pacific Search Magazine “Who is that Whale?” article on the orca pods of the Salish Sea https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/51859b3f-cdd9-4d83-81ea-d5f2752d0642/IMG_5464.jpeg Stories from legacy organizing - Who is That Killer Whale? - Stored in our family attics, basements and storage units are all kinds of historic relics, papers, bibelots, and books. Many times, these things don’t need to go straight to recycling or the dump. A little curiosity or a pause to let a memory spark can make it clear where something can find a new home. A lot of my work with collectors involves sifting through magazines. In this case, the yellowed 1977 Pacific Search magazine (a nature-oriented magazine about the Pacific Northwest that was published in the 1970's and 80's) featured the Salish Sea’s famous orcas on the cover. The photos were taken and the article co-written by legendary whale researcher Dr. Ken Balcomb who founded the Center for Whale Research in 1976. Flipping through the magazine, an unforgettable experience immediately came to mind: spending a day with these whales, and skipping school to do it. In the 80's my sister, Dad, Ken and I went out to the waters off San Juan Island in a small boat to see the whales--Ken was doing his regular recording of whale activity and we joined him. Dad knew this would be special so he brought us, knowing this would be the best science field trip a kid could ask for. My dad and Ken wrote a book together, but that is another story. Ken has since passed away but left a profound mark on whale science globally and in this part of the world. Northwesterners are proud and protective of our special killer whales because of the attention Ken and his colleagues brought to their complex whale lives and culture. Gallery of orca dorsal fins with identifying features annotated https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/77508ddb-928a-4ef3-8f53-caffd6caa4a5/pacific+search+orca+cover.jpg Stories from legacy organizing - Who is That Killer Whale? - Materials I sent to the Center for Whale Research My family no longer needed the magazine, but it still held local cultural and historical value. So I sent it to the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island, for their records. I included a card with the magazine when I sent it to the Center for Whale Research for their archive: “That day is one of my most treasured memories; Ken was the whale whisperer and the whole of J pod seemed to come out to see him.” https://www.legacymattersorganizing.com/journal/quinn-the-legend monthly 0.5 2026-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/69756afb-2888-4269-bc6e-3cc551177125/quinn-running.jpg Stories from legacy organizing - Quinn the Legend Quinn, in motion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67d898546308a17231e713ac/9f561a74-187b-443a-b0cb-413bbd601685/fen-landsdowne-drawing-of-quinn-cropped.jpg Stories from legacy organizing - Quinn the Legend - Many of us have memories of pets or animals that we loved. Pets can be family members, beloved companions for the limited time they’re with us. Certain animals have real charisma and presence. Quinn the Husky/Malamute mix was one of those. Quinn, the Husky as big as a tiger. Or that's how I remember him, since I was a small child when he died in the early 80's. Quinn moved like a tiger, too, with a gorgeous, confident gait. Big, charismatic, handsome, alpha male who sired puppies and roamed the neighborhood as if he owned it. We had to build a 6-foot fence around the entire yard to keep him contained. 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