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The Center for Art in Wood artist research files
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Held at: The Center for Art in Wood [Contact Us]141 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the The Center for Art in Wood. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
"Since its inception in 1986, The Center for Art in Wood [in Philadelphia, PA], formerly the Wood Turning Center, has been widely recognized by artists, collectors, scholars and the public as one of the most valuable resources for the education, preservation and promotion of the field of art made from wood. The Center currently houses over [1,000] permanent collection objects, 25,000 artist files, and annually mounts [4-6] exhibitions of new work and museum collection objects. It stages an 8-week annual International Turning Exchange (ITE) residency program for artists, scholars and photojournalists, and has in-depth education and outreach programs.
"The Center for Art in Wood grew out of a series of symposia and exhibitions held between 1976 and 1986. The organizers of these events were [Palmer Sharpless and the LeCoff brothers, Albert and Alan], who are credited with helping to spur the "field" of wood turning. Today, The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia...[serves as a]...resource for study by scholars, educators, artists, students, museums, collectors and the general public of finely crafted and conceived wood objects."
Bibliography:
Quoted text from: The Center for Art in Wood. "History of the Center." 2011. Accessed on May 22, 2014. http://www.centerforartinwood.org/about-the-center/history/.
This collection consists of files primarily about woodworking artists, with some materials on other topics relating to the art of woodworking, such as galleries and exhibitions, symposia, particular types of furniture, or related subjects. Some files are focused on people associated with The Center for Art in Wood, even if they are not artists themselves. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by topic and name.
The files contain varying amounts and types of information, but may include: photographic documentation of artworks (on photographs, slides, or computer storage units such as CDs or ZIP drives), sometimes accompanied by slide transcripts, descriptions, or artist statements; artist curricula vitae; applications for exhibitions and residency at The Center for Art in Wood; catalogs and other ephemera, including invitations, mailings, and other materials, about exhibitions; and newspaper clippings and other publications about particular artists, exhibitions, and woodworking styles.
Materials collected by The Center for Art in Wood over time from various sources.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact The Center for Art in Wood directly for more information.
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- The Center for Art in Wood
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Sarah Leu through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact The Center for Art in Wood for information about accessing this collection. Some materials may be restricted due to privacy concerns.