Michael Higgins papers
The papers of Illinois glass artist Michael Higgins measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1949 to 1973. The collection documents Higgins's role in founding and furthering craft organizations in the Midwest through correspondence, professional files, exhibition records, transcripts, organizational files for several craft organizations including Midwest Designer-Craftsmen, and printed materials.
Lowery Stokes Sims papers
The papers of African American art historian, curator and arts administrator, Lowery Stokes Sims, measure 34.0 linear feet and date from 1967 to 2019. The collection documents Sims's career, and her work towards the inclusion of women artists and artists of color into the mainstream art world. The collection comprises biographical materials, datebooks, correspondence, writings, notebooks, exhibition files, professional files that include Sims's files from the Studio Museum in Harlem, Metropolitan Museum of Art records, research files, files on Robert Colescott, printed materials, photographic materials, and unidentified audiovisual and born-digital materials.
Frederick and Mary Hill Fried Folk Art Archives
National Carousel Association.
Fried, Mary Hill
Collection primarily documents American folk art collected by Frederick Fried (1908-1994) and his wife Mary McKensie Hill Fried (1914-1988). It includes photographic materials, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, research files, lecture notes, unpublished manuscripts, brochures, drawings, printed advertisements, blueprints, books, patents, correspondence, trade literature, sheet music, auction catalogs, oral history interviews, and commercially …
Ben Benn papers
The papers of modernist painter Ben Benn measure 6.3 linear feet and date from 1906 through 1977, with the bulk of the papers dating from circa 1920 - circa 1970. The collection includes correspondence between Benn and his wife Velida Benn and letters from Oscar Bluemner, Max Weber, Joseph Stella, and other artists. Also found are sketches, sketchbooks, diaries, scrapbooks, personal business records, clippings, photographs, exhibition catalogs, art journals, and auction catalogs. Some of the printed material is quite rare.
Nina Howell Starr papers
The papers of photographer and art historian Nina Howell Starr measure 21.2 linear feet and date from circa 1933 to 1996. The papers contain research files about various art historical topics, museums and galleries, photography, and artists. There are extensive files documenting Starr's relationship as researcher, dealer, and friend of folk painter Minnie Evans. Additionally, the papers include biographical materials, writings, speeches, project files, printed material collected or authored by Starr, and hundreds of artistic and documentary photographs and negatives created by Starr depicting her travels, Minnie Evans' paintings, roadside folk art, and other topics.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1976 Festival of American Folklife
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Riva Castleman papers
1930-2013
7.83 Gigabytes
The papers of curator Riva Castleman measure 10.6 linear feet and 7.83 GB, and date from 1930-2013 with one printed item dating from 1871. The collection contains biographical material, correspondence including mail art, writing project files, notebooks, interviews, project files, printed material, photographic material, and artwork. The collection richly documents Castleman's writing and research process and contains dozens of manuscripts for books, catalogs, and essays, as well as related correspondence and research including audio interviews and sound recordings. Several of Castleman's books about contemporary printmaking, such as Prints of the 20th Century (1976) and American Impressions (1985), are extensively documented, as are many of the catalogs she produced to accompany Museum of Modern Art exhibitions, including Jasper Johns: A Print Retrospective (1987) and The Prints of Andy Warhol (1990). Some records are in born-digital form including correspondence, manuscript drafts, and audio conversations with Tatyana Grosman. Other interviews are on sound cassettes.
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material
1.27 Gigabytes
The research material of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, measures 33.1 linear feet and 1.27 GB and dates from 1965-2004. The collection, amassed throughout Ybarra-Frausto's long and distinguished career as a scholar of the arts and humanities, documents the development of Chicano art in the United States and chronicles Ybarra-Frausto's role as a community leader and scholar in the political and artistic Chicano movement from its inception in the 1960s to the present day.
Braunstein/Quay Gallery records
The Braunstein/Quay Gallery records measure 36.9 linear feet and date from 1956 to 2011. The records consist of administrative records, artist files, exhibition and event files, and financial records that shed light on the gallery's operations through correspondence, price lists, inventories, printed material, born digital material, photographs, and more.
Warren M. Robbins Papers
These papers document the life and work of Warren M. Robbins, covering a wide swath of his life, from his early career in the Foreign Service to his work in cross cultural communications and African art. A prolific writer, Robbins correspondence with such people as Maya Angelou, Ernie Barnes, Saul …
