Clare Denk

Clare Denk is the second archivist at Southwestern Law School and brings almost 25 years of experience after having worked at the Library of Congress, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Getty Center, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her natural inclination towards detail and organization has served her well in the archival field. 

In undergrad, she attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA, where she majored in Historic Preservation, which encompassed historic architecture, archaeology, museum studies, and folklore. While in school, she worked on the LOOK magazine collection in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress and later the newly formed Veterans History Project Division, where she co-curated the exhibit From the Home Front and the Front Lines. However, film preservation was her passion, which prompted her move to California to participate in the Master’s Program in Moving Image Archive Studies (MIAS) at UCLA. 

After graduation, she worked as a registrar at the Getty Research Institute, where she unpacked and rehoused incoming special collections on behalf of the curators and processed larger collections of rare books, photographs, prints, manuscripts, architectural drawings, and media. 

After three years, she began working as an archivist at the Special Collections Department at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she cataloged the collections of Gregory Peck, William Friedkin, and Edith Head. Over time, she took on other duties, including working the reference desk, answering research queries, serving as the conservation liaison, and selecting material for tours and events.

Clare has presented at the Society of American Archivists and the Society of California Archivists. Her publications include “The Gregory Peck Papers: It’s Not Just Hollywood” in the Journal of Western Archives and will soon have entries on FUNNY FACE and DARK SHADOWS [TV] published in the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Film and Television Costume Design. She has also volunteered at the Culver City Historical Society and is currently a member of the Last Remaining Seats Committee for the Los Angeles Conservancy. 

Clare’s passions are fashion, film, and food (as in foodie, not cook). Her love of fashion and film are often intertwined in films such as REAR WINDOW, FUNNY FACE, and WHAT A WAY TO GO! Clare became a foodie during COVID when she started following food trends on Instagram and is always up for trying something new as long as it doesn’t move or involve insects. She is also a TJ addict. In her spare time, Clare loves thrift shopping, checking out the latest tiki bar, or watching TCM.