Archive I — Marilyn J. Houlberg

This archive presents primary documents and contextual materials. No retrospective interpretation is offered.
Archive I — Marilyn Houlberg (2003–2012)
Roles and scope of work
Shrine architecture and installations
Editorial and research collaboration
Collections processing and archival labor
Press documentation (F Newsmagazine & New City)
Posthumous scholarly citation (Haffner)
Materials are presented as primary archival records without retrospective interpretation.
ARCHIVE I
Marilyn Jensen Houlberg (1939–2012)
Primary Documents & Project Record
This archive assembles primary documents, images, and contemporaneous records related to my work with Dr. Marilyn Houlberg between 2003 and 2012. Materials presented here document roles, projects, and labor undertaken during this period, including studio work, exhibition installations, editorial collaboration, and collections processing.
The archive includes:
Shrine architecture and installation work realized in Chicago and for institutional exhibitions

Editorial and research collaboration connected to Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas

Documentation of collections organization and archival labor later incorporated into institutional holdings

Contemporary press coverage (F Newsmagazine, 2013 & New City, 2025)

Posthumous scholarly citation acknowledging consultation and contribution (Peter L. Haffner, Small Axe, 2022)

Materials are presented chronologically and without retrospective interpretation. Where applicable, captions indicate date, location, collaborators, and original context. This archive does not attempt to resolve questions of attribution or legacy; it exists to preserve the documentary record.
Shrine to Baron Samedi (Chicago, c. 2004–2005)
Architect & Lead Builder: Rowynn Dumont
Materials: Objects from the Marilyn Houlberg collection
Collaborators: Ryan Tecata (SAIC), SAIC student volunteers
This large-scale shrine—approximately twenty feet in length—was designed and constructed in Dr. Houlberg’s Chicago studio as a functioning ceremonial and research installation dedicated to Baron Samedi. I served as the principal architect and builder, responsible for spatial design, object placement, symbolic coherence, and structural execution, with guidance from Houlberg and assistance from SAIC volunteers. The shrine functioned as both a working altar and a pedagogical environment within her studio practice.
(Image: Artist seated in front of the completed shrine in Houlberg’s studio.)
Studio documentation photograph showing printed images of shrine installations and studio context.
Chicago, c. early–mid 2000s. Photograph of physical prints held in hand; image reproduced as documentary evidence. No digital enhancement applied.

Altar Installation & Catalog for "Vodou Riche"
Vodou Riche: Contemporary Haitian Art
Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College Chicago
August 2007
Curated by: Neysa Page-Lieberman
At Houlberg’s request, I designed and constructed a second altar installation for Vodou Riche, an exhibition that marked my first direct encounter with the Haitian collective Atis Rezistans. This installation translated ritual logic into an exhibition context, negotiating between living Vodou practice and institutional display.
(Installation images and exhibition didactic text.)
Editorial & Scholarly Collaboration
         Haitian Vodou Water Spirits:  Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas
Henry John Drewal, Marilyn Houlberg, etc
Published April 25, 2008
Between 2005–2007, I assisted Dr. Houlberg as a ghostwriter and editor, contributing to manuscript development, source organization, and editorial shaping for the article "
            La Sirene-the Queen of Mermaids, for the Fowler Museum catalog Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas. I retain original draft materials from this period. My work occurred during the final research and writing phase preceding publication.
Collections Processing & Archival Labor (Uncredited)
Marilyn Houlberg Haiti Collection
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives (EEPA), Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
Collection ID: EEPA 2015-016
During my employment, I was responsible for:
Sorting, organizing, and stabilizing photographic, audio, video, and manuscript materials
Photographing objects and documentation materials
Cataloging and structuring research notebooks, slides, prints, and media
Preparing two internal archives that later informed Smithsonian accessioning
These materials—now comprising thousands of slides, negatives, prints, recordings, and field notebooks—were finalized and donated after my departure, without formal credit for my archival labor.
Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria collection

Marilyn Houlberg Haiti Collection, EEPA 2015-016

Press documentation (F Newsmagazine & New City)
FNEWS Link: https://fnewsmagazine.com/2013/09/odigba/
New City Link: Coming Soon
Posthumous Scholarship & Citation
My work and perspective appear in subsequent scholarship examining Houlberg’s legacy, including consultation and acknowledgment in Peter L. Haffner’s peer-reviewed article:
Peter L. Haffner, “At the Crossroads of Many Worlds: Marilyn Houlberg and Arts Patronage in Haiti,” Small Axe, vol. 26, no. 2 (July 2022), pp. 60–78.
(Duke University Press / Project MUSE)
Marilyn Houlberg Article by Pet…
I was also quoted in contemporaneous coverage following Houlberg’s death, including F Newsmagazine (SAIC).
All materials are presented for archival and research purposes.
Link Project Muse: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/article/863445/pdf

Invitation to the memorial gathering honoring Marilyn Houlberg, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, July 17, 2013. Printed invitation, private circulation.
Letter of recommendation written by Dr. Marilyn Houlberg, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, November 2007. The letter documents my roles as student, research assistant, and collaborator on curatorial, archival, and scholarly projects during this period.
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