Ardeth Anderson Abrams
Artist & General Contact
I was working on my Master of Fine Arts degree at Penn in 1990 when my “studio-mate” told me about her work-study position as an archaeological illustrator for the Ban Chiang Project. She was graduating in the spring, so she asked if I would like to apply for the job. It sounded really interesting and I needed a job for the summer so I gave Joyce a call. Many, many years later I am still working for the Ban Chiang Project! My first assignment during those early days was illustrating the beautiful Ban Chiang ceramics. Through the years I have illustrated burials, site plans, and excavation sections. Although I have both enjoyed and learned much from these various types of illustration, my favorite projects were the “artist reconstructions” of Ban Chiang that appear throughout this website. You can read about what it is like to be an archaeological illustrator in an Expedition Magazine article titled, Illuminating the past: art and artists of the Ban Chiang Project, Expedition37(2):53-62 and two Ban Chiang UpDATE articles, Issue 2 and Issue 14.
For over a year now, I have been working with Dr. Elizabeth Hamilton, volunteers, and our newly trained work-study student, Connie Ko, on the Digital Archiving Project scanning thousands of slides and negatives. These images are now available in archival as well as digital form for many different projects including the Ban Chiang website and publications. Another very important element of my work is designing the annual Friends of Ban Chiang newsletter, UpDATE (to view all past issues please visit the Friends of Ban Chiang section of this website). I also prepare the graphics, such as maps, page layouts, and illustrations used in various publications and presentations.
Contact
University of Pennsylvania Museum
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324
(215) 898-4012
ardeth@sas.upenn.edu
