Obituary - Nancy Shelby Schuller

Nancy Shelby Schuller, age 71, died on November 8, 2011 following a long illness.  She received loving care at Arveda Alzheimer’s Care with the support of Resolutions Hospice and family.  She was born on August 20, 1940 to Joe Aubrey Shelby and Ida Ellenora Anderson Shelby.  The Shelby family has long ties to the Austin area, and Nancy maintained that connection throughout her life. She attended Austin schools graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School in 1958.  Both her BA in Studio Art (1963) and her MFA in Art History (1969) were granted by the University of Texas at Austin (UT).  

In 1963, Nancy joined the staff at UT as a teaching assistant, and she continued employment at the university in several positions retiring in 2001 as

Curator and Senior Lecturer of the Visual Resources Collection in the Department of Art and Art History.   As he accepted her letter of resignation, the chair of the Art Department, Kenneth J. Hale, described Nancy’s tenure at UT as one of “phenomenal accomplishment in the areas of teaching and administration.”

In her career, she demonstrated great drive and adaptability with the change from slide and photograph collections to electronic management of visual resources with digital scanning and cataloguing for delivery and access on the Internet.  She frequently participated in and delivered papers at national visual resources and library conferences. She also led workshops on the classification of materials and on standards and protocols for dissemination of visual images in a range of settings including libraries, historical archives and governmental agencies.

Nancy wrote books and guides and co-authored numerous articles for professional journals.  She received Distinguished Service awards from the Art Libraries Society of North America and the Visual Resources Association for her contributions to art information and art librarianship. Over the years, she was active as a member and officer of several national and local organizations.  From 1983 to 1992, she was listed in the Who’s Who in American Art.

Nancy’s interest in the artistic world was evidenced by her love of art museums and in her personal life by her fine seamstress skills and her culinary creativity.  She was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd where she sang in the choir for many years and served on the altar guild.

Nancy is survived by her husband, Brian Schuller, of Austin and her daughter, Shelby Nicole Schuller of Alexandria, VA and extended family members throughout the United States.

A memorial service will take place at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 3201 Windsor Road, Austin, TX on November 22, 2011 at 11:00 am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to one of the following: Alzheimer’s Association, 3429 Executive Center Drive; Resolutions Hospice, 11825 Buckner Road, Austin, TX 78726 or Visual Resources Association Foundation, c/o R. Moss, 3949 43^rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55406.