Professional files form the bulk of the collection and include records relating to the administration of Turner's teaching career, exhibitions, invitations to lecture, gallery affiliations, organizational affiliations, and projects. Files retain Turner's original order and folder titles. Files may include correspondence from, to, and about the named person or organization. Of note is Turner's research and study of Africa and traditional African pottery making; book project files which likely contains material from Robert Turner: Shaping Silence; A Life in Clay, by Marsha Miro and Tony Hepburn; records from Turner's long affiliation with the American Craft Council, International Academy of Ceramics, National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts, and the York State Craftsmen (now the New York State Craftsmen); and Turner's art sales and exhibitions at the Dorothy Weiss Gallery, Exhibit A Gallery, The Fabric Workshop, Hand and the Spirit, Okun Gallery, Revolution Gallery, and Santa Fe Clay.
Files may contain correspondence, exhibition announcements and catalogs, writings and notes, personal business records such as sales records, and photographs. The Lectures and Talks files include one sound cassette.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
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.
Collection Citation:
Robert Chapman Turner papers, circa 1917-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
