Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Museum of Craft and Folk Art Records, 1970-2012, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.musecraf
Creators:
Museum of Craft and Folk Art
Dates:
1970-2012
Languages:
Collection is in English.
Physical Description:
28.9 Linear feet
12.48 Gigabytes
Repository:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records measure 28.9 linear feet and 12.48 GB and date from 1970 to 2012. The museum was established in 1982 in San Francisco, California and exhibited local and national craft and folk art collections until it closed in 2012. The collection includes administration records, extensive exhibition files, artists' files, museum publications, printed material, video recordings, born digital items, and photographic material.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records measure 28.9 linear feet and 12.48 GB and date from 1970 to 2012. The museum was established in 1982 in San Francisco, California and exhibited local and national craft and folk art collections until it closed in 2012. The collection includes administration records, extensive exhibition files, artists' files, museum publications, printed material, video recordings, born digital items, and photographic material.
Administration records include museum bylaws, lists of early exhibitions, education program evaluations, documents related to public programs, and printed materials.
Exhibition files comprise the largest group of materials in the collection. Notable exhibitions documented include Who'd A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking (1987-1988), MetalSpeaks: The Unexpected (1997), and Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of an American Potter (2009). There are also video recordings and born digital content scattered throughout the series. Though most of the material is related to the MOCFA exhibitions, there are a few files on exhibitions at other galleries and museums. The exhibition files contain a wide variety of correspondence, art inventories, price lists, printed and digital materials, guest registers, photographic materials, and video recordings, electronic discs, videodiscs, and floppy discs. Artists' files are found for a handful of artists, including Bennett Bean, Ralph Fasanella, Bill Graham, Ron Kovatch, Mike Moran, and Salvador V. Ricalde. The files contain primarily video recordings of artist performances and interviews, but also include resumes and inquiries.
Museum of Craft and Folk Art publications consist of exhibition catalogs, newsletters, reports, and announcements. There are several video recordings of events, such as fashion shows, that were held at the museum.
Printed materials and commercial video recordings include an oversize scrapbook, binders of exhibition press clippings, and folders of clippings on various topics, as well as documentaries and news coverage of the museum.
Photographic materials consist of slides, negatives, photographs, transparencies, and a photo album. The images are of artwork, exhibition installations, events, artists, and museum offices and staff.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Administration Records, circa 1988-circa 2010 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, 0.004 GB; ER01-ER02)
  • Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1976-2012 (22.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-24, 12.14 GB; ER03-ER50)
  • Series 3: Artists' Files and Video Recordings, 1983-2007 (0.6 linear feet; Box 24)
  • Series 4: Museum of Craft and Folk Art Publications, 1977-2012 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 24-25, OV 31-32, 0.003 GB; ER51)
  • Series 5: Printed Materials and Commercial Video Recordings, 1983-2007 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 26-28, OV 33-35, 0.050 GB; ER52)
  • Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1970-2011 (2 linear feet; Boxes 28-30, 0.282 GB; ER53)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art was established in San Francisco, California by painter and sculptor Gertrud Parker in 1982. The museum was originally located in a house on Balboa Street and then moved to the Fort Mason Center where it operated for over twenty years before relocating to Yerba Buena Lane in 2006.
Notable exhibitions organized or held at the museum include Innerskins/Outerskins: Gut and Fishskin (1987), Who'd A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking (1987-1988) which was a traveling exhibition, Folk Art of the Soviet Union (1990), MetalSpeaks: The Unexpected (1997), Emblems of Passage: Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (2002), The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts From the Japanese Internment Camp 1942-1946 (2006), and Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of an American Potter (2009). The museum also worked with artists on commission and regularly offered public programs, workshops, and educational outreach events for visitors of all ages. They also partnered with the website Etsy on a popular monthly "Craft Bar" series where people could gather, socialize, and create something handmade.
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art closed in December of 2012. The final exhibition was Fiber Futures: Japan's Textile Pioneers.

Administration

Author
Rihoko Ueno
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records were donated by Jennifer McCabe, former executive director of the museum, in 2014.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Rihoko Ueno in May, 2016. Born digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Preferred Citation
Museum of Craft and Folk Art records, 1970-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transparencies Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Folk art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Handicraft Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American quilts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Visitors' books Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American quiltmakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art museums -- California Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
MacKenzie, Warren, 1924-2018 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kovatch, Ron Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Graham, Bill, 1931- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fasanella, Ralph Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bean, Bennett, 1941- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Moran, Mike, 1948- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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