Education
2024 :: Ph.D. candidate, Information Sciences (May 2024, expected)
Research area: Art as Information
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC profile)
2017 :: Master of Fine Arts, Art-Graphic Design
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
2006 :: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design
Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University
Grand Rapids, MI
Experience: Archives + Publishing
2022 Jan – 2023 May
Native Digital Archives, Oral History (UIUC Graduate Research Assistant)
- Assisted in collaborating with Indigenous communities to repatriate archival materials. Digitized documents, wrote metadata for paper and audio recordings, ingested digital materials into university’s repository and Mukurtu website.
2021 May–Jun
Publication Preparation (UIUC Graduate Research Assistant)
- Categorized articles by topic and wrote brief abstracts for each to submit to publishers. Managed volunteer assistant during project.
2019-20 May
Digital Publishing (UIUC Graduate Research Assistant)
- Designed and developed custom templates for scholarly digital publications using Scalar. Designed branding material to help promote public history research and access.
2019 May–Dec
Hal Baron Archives (UIUC Graduate Research Assistant)
- Described and inventoried documents of Hal Baron (public policy expert, scholar, and activist) as part of initial phase of digitization project to make accessible unpublished material (e.g. manuscripts and papers) crucial to race, labor, and urban planning scholarship.
2018 Aug–May
Community Media Archives (UIUC Graduate Research Assistant)
- Inventoried community-made records (by local activist, artist, admin) and assisted with developing archival storage and workspace. Onsite assistant for general desk duty, local zine fest, and zine workshop for children. Designed archives’ logo and promotional material.
Experience: Teaching/Pedagogy
2022–23 Aug – Aug
Black Arts Today (UIUC Graduate Teaching Assistant)
- Designed and facilitated TA training and course/assignment development. Managed online-asynchronous course website, grading, student groups and communication.
2021 Jan–Dec
Data Storytelling (UIUC Graduate Teaching Assistant)
- Assisted with grading, attendance, and other logistical items concerning student concerns and coursework management.
2020 Aug – 2021 May
Pedagogy and Wellness (UIUC Graduate Research Assistant)
- Assisted in the study’s recruitment, procedures, survey development and data management along with internal scheduling, note-taking and communication.
2020 May–Dec
Introduction to Information Sciences (UIUC Graduate Teaching Assistant)
- Collaborated with 1–2 other TAs in conducting group discussions, grading, exam development, attendance, and other logistical items concerning students and coursework management.
2017 Aug – 2018 May
Graphic Design Lecturer, Wayne State University (WSU)
- Taught various graphic design courses from freshman- to senior-level within the Graphic Design department.
2015–17 Aug
Graphic Design Instructor (WSU Graduate Teaching Assistant)
- Instructor of record during all except one semester. Taught various graphic design courses from freshman- to senior-level within the Graphic Design department.
Experience: Graphic Design
2005–20
Independent Graphic Designer
- Recourtney Design Studio, LLC
Freelance/sole member company
2011–15
In-house Graphic Designer
- The Dental Advisor, Ann Arbor, MI
Research, training, and product publication
2006–11
Graphic Designer and Front-end Web Developer
- Media Genesis, Troy, MI
Internet services firm
Honors and Awards
- 2023 Litwin Books Award for Ongoing Doctoral Dissertation Research in the Philosophy of Information.
- 2020–21 Publicly Active Graduate Education (PAGE) Fellowship, The Imagining America Consortium.
- 2020 Second-place Winner, UIUC Image of Research Competition.
Publications
Peer-reviewed
2021 :: La Barre, Kathryn and Courtney Richardson. “Chaos and Conception in the openED Archive.” Library Trends 69, no. 3 (2021): 646-671.
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/790443.
Public Scholarship
2020 :: Richardson, Courtney. “Intersecting Black Histories, Art Practice, and Information History.” PAGE Blog Salon, September 24, 2020.
https://imaginingamerica.org/intersecting-black-histories-art-practice-and-information-history/.
Conference Activities (selected)
Solo Presentations
- 2023 :: “Art as Information: Re-Reading Quicksand.” Jean Tague-Sutcliffe Doctoral Poster Competition and Reception. ALISE Annual Conference (Association for Library and Information Science Education). Poster, Milwaukee, WI. October 4, 2023.
- 2023 :: “How Art Works to Engage Cultural Narratives as Ever-emerging Archives.” Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA) 2023 Summer Salon Virtual Conference (Segment: Women, Gender, and Sexuality). Paper. June 8, 2023.
- 2023 :: “Critically Re-reading, -telling, and -archiving through Art Practice.” 2023 Critical Pedagogy Symposium: A Focus on Critical Race Theory. Online Lightning Talk. May 19, 2023.
https://mnylc.org/cps/critically-re-reading-telling-and-archiving-2023/. - 2019 :: “Name Mapping the Book of Negroes: A Material/Visual Study on Document
Reproduction and Representation of Cultural Memory.” Midstates Chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) Fall Meeting. Cranbrook Academy of Art, Presentation, Bloomfield Hills, MI. October 4, 2019.
Panels and Group Presentations
- 2024 (upcoming) :: “Engaging Art as Information through Critical Art and Archival Practices.” Notes on the Archive: Alternative Assemblages and Fringe Imaginaries, College Art Association of America (CAA) Annual Conference. Virtual Panel, Chicago, IL. February 16, 2024.
- 2022 :: “The Doris Duke Indian Oral History Program Archives at UIUC: Respect, Return, and Community Engagement.” Intertwined Cultures: Stronger Together, International Conference of Indigenous, Archives, Libraries, and Museums, Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM). Presentation and Panel, Temecula, CA. October 2022.
- 2022 :: “Decolonizing Arts Education and Professional Development for Emerging Artists.” Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Panel and Podcast recording, Urbana, IL. June 2022.
Lectures (selected)
Keynote Lecture
2020 :: “Telling a Story with Data from an Artist’s Perspective.” Storytelling with Data Virtual Webinar by Library Administrators Conference of Northern Illinois (LACONI) Tech Program. April 10, 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ttu5ilZA8&list=PLZ4RUdlgI5uM-4E57tAxXGO85u_bFvc91&index=1&t=142s.
Invited Lectures
- 2022 :: “Graphic Design, Art, and Archives in Conversation.” Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts. Oak Park, MI. October 20, 2022.
- 2020 :: “Pursuing Art-Design as Research in Graduate School.” Graphic Design Department and AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Student Chapter with WSU Alumni Online Office, Wayne State University. April 13, 2020.
Creative Activities (selected)
Artwork accepted into group exhibitions
- 2020 :: Complicating Matters of Cultural Historical Information Reproduction through Art and Design: A Material/Visual Study on Emigration Data about the Black Loyalists. April 2020. Embroidered fabric, 60 x 60 in. 2020 Image of Research Virtual Exhibition. May 2020.
https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/8606/807623. - 2017 :: Quicksand by Nella Larsen. 2016. Vinyl, embroidery, 12 x 12 in., 30 x 30 in. Bent, but Unbroken Exhibition. Charles H. Wright Museum, Detroit, MI. July–October 2017.
https://www.thingsfeelheavy.info/copy-of-yah-show-info-exhibiting.
Professional Memberships
- Society of American Archivists (SAA)
- Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA)
- College Art Association, Advancing Art & Design (CAA)
Technical Skills
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign
- Microsoft and Mac Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote
- Web/Publishing Platforms: XHTML/CSS, WordPress, Scalar, Omeka, Mukurtu