The Nancy Holt Estate records measure circa 58.2 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2014, with the bulk of the material dating from 1960-2000. The records include financial records, notebooks, project files including unrealized proposals, correspondence, calendars, and 9 linear feet of Holt's annotated library. Also included are the John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson that consist of the gallery's inventory and slide records of Robert Smithson's drawings and sculptures, including earthworks, and incorporate some slides from the James Cohan Gallery. James Cohan worked for John Weber before establishing his own gallery in 2001.
Scope and Contents:
The Nancy Holt Estate records measure circa 58.2 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2014, with the bulk of the material dating from 1960-2000. The records include financial records, notebooks, project files including unrealized proposals, correspondence, calendars, and 9 linear feet of Holt's annotated library. Also included are the John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson that consist of the gallery's inventory and slide records of Robert Smithson's drawings and sculptures, including earthworks. The records incorporate some slides from the James Cohan Gallery (1999-), an art gallery in Manhattan, New York, which represents the estate of Robert Smithson.
Arrangement:
The Nancy Holt Estate records are arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: Project Files, circa 1900-2014, bulk 1970-2000 (12.8 linear feet; Boxes 3-10, OVs 11-31, RDs 32-39)
Series 2: John Weber Gallery Records Concerning Robert Smithson, circa 1960-circa 2001 (2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Unprocessed Papers, circa 1960s-circa 2014 (43.4 linear feet; Boxes 11-30, 34-38, 43-49, 53, 63-70, OVs 71-72)
Biographical / Historical:
Nancy Holt (1938-2014) was an environmental and installation artist, sculptor, filmmaker, and photographer, based in New York, New York. She was best known for her large-scale public land art installations including her seminal work Sun Tunnels (1973-1976) located in the Great Basin Desert, Utah. Her work engaged with the natural environment and the celestial realm, tracing the rotation of the earth and the movement of the sun and stars. Holt was also fascinated by mechanical systems such as those used for heating, drainage, and ventilation, and her functional sculptural installations explored the relationship between architecture and the built environment.
Holt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, grew up in New Jersey, and graduated from Tufts University in 1960 with a degree in biology. She moved to New York City later that year where she met the artist Robert Smithson, to whom she was married from 1963 until Smithson's death in 1973.
Holt's landmark work Sun Tunnels was executed in 1973-1976 in Utah's Great Basin Desert, where Holt and Smithson had purchased surrounding land specifically to ensure an unimpeded view of the horizon. Holt went on to produce many site-specific outdoor works including 30 Below (1980), Dark Star Park (1984), Solar Rotary (1995), and Up and Under (1998). Her exploration of what she termed Systems Works included Catch Basin (1982), Flow Ace Heating (1985), and Spinwinder (1991).
Holt's photography was essential in the development of her ideas. In Missouri Ranch Locators: Vision Encompassed (1972) she used photography in her development of "seeing devices," creating eye-level steel pipes to direct viewers to a specific site in the surrounding landscape, and developing a concept that was central to Sun Tunnels and other works. Her book Ransacked, Aunt Ethel: An Ending (1980) documented through text and photographs the abuse and theft her aunt was subjected to at the end of her life. In Time Outs (1985) Holt used photographs of football games taken from a television screen to create a book born out of her childhood love of TV sporting events.
Holt's work can be found in the collections of major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum für Gegenswartkunst, Germany. Her permanent installations can be found at public institutions including Miami University Art Museum, Southern Connecticut State University, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, Western Washington University, and University of South Florida.
In 2012 Nancy Holt was made a Chevalier of the of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. In 2013 she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Sculpture Center in New York. Holt received five National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two New York Creative Artist Fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Florida, Tampa.
Holt lived in Galisteo, New Mexico, from 1995-2013. She died in New York City in 2014.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt papers, an interview with Nancy Holt conducted 1992 July 6 by Scott Gutterman for the Archives of American Art, and an interview with Nancy Holt conducted 1993 August 3 by Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
Bequest of Nancy Holt, 2014.
Restrictions:
The bulk of series 1-3 of this collection are 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 born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Some papers remain closed to researchers including some rolled documents in the unprocessed papers, financial files, and Nancy Holt's annotated library of books.
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.
Items created by Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson copyright held by Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Requests for permission to reproduce should be submitted to ARS.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Installation artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of James Wines conducted 1968 May 1, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
James N. Wines (1932- ) is an architectural sculptor and environmental artist in New York, New York.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
An interview of Robert Smithson conducted 1972 July 14-19, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art at 799 Greenwich Street in New York on July 14 and 19 1972. Smithson speaks of growing up in Passaic, New Jersey; primary and high school; high school art education; going to New York Museums; writing and its impact on art work; the Artists Gallery; the Art Students League; his time in the army; the Cedar Bar; Quicksand; the Museum of Modern Art; art education; Sam Smithson; his father; traveling the U.S.; Brooklyn Museum School; impact of the Museum of Natural History; moving to New York; visiting Europe; psychology; show at the George Lester Gallery; the Broken Circle; Dallas-Fort Worth Airport; crystalline structures; meeting William Carlos Williams; cosmology; Enantiomorphic Chambers; mapping; painting and drawing; the Dwan Gallery; getting married; Aerial Art; earthworks; sculpture; the Cryosphere; Alogon; Rome; stratas; nonsites; When Attitudes Become Form; Attitudes; mining sites and quarries; light and reflection; the Spiral Jetty; coordination of large works; documentation; selection of sites; Gyrostasis; weather's impact and seasonal change of the Spiral Jetty; confines of the gallery and museum; mirrors; landscapes; artist materials; art education; traveling; art and vacations; documenta; Smithson also recalls Federica Beer-Monti , Hugh Stix , Danny Donohue, Joe Levin, Charlie Hasloff, John Cassavetes , Alan Brilliant, Irving Sandler, Barnett Newman, Richard Bellamy,John Groth, Lawrence Alloway, T. S. Elliot, Donald Judd, William Carlos Williams, Jackson Pollock, William Burroughs, Ad Reinhardt, Dan Flavin, Virginia Dwan, Rosalind Krauss, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Smithson (1938-1973) was a sculptor well known for his earthworks.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of sculptor and environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2019, with the bulk of the material from 1960-2010. The collection documents Kasuba's career through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, lectures and writings, extensive project files, printed material, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2019, with the bulk of the material from 1960-2010. The collection documents Kasuba's career through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, lectures and writings, extensive project files, printed material, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographs.
Biographical material includes artist's statements and letters of recommendation. Biographical data consists of curriculum vitae, bibliographies, checklists of commissioned work and biographical entries; also found are drafts of biographical accounts used for press releases. Included is a citation to Kasuba from the Women's Architectural Auxiliary, New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in honor of her participation in a West Side urban renewal project. Digital biographical materials include a CV and preserved copies of Kasuba's various websites.
General correspondence mostly consists of invitations to lecture at academic institutions and professional associations. There are letters between Kasuba and interior design firms, publishers, museums, and academic institutions. Included are letters from Columbia University, Museum of Modern Art, and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. Correpondence relates to commissioned projects, proposed exhibitions, and the scheduling of workshops and speaking engagements. Also found is correspondence with Thomas Whitridge about the publication of a monograph by Kasuba, extenisve family correspondence in Lithuanian, and correspondence with Algirdas Julien Greimas later organized for a publication.
Writings include various manuscripts and complementary visual schematics that Kasuba worked on throughout her career. Also included are Aleksandra Kasuba's lectures on the effects of alternative living environments on human behavior presented at academic forums and corporations. Writings include an essay by Kasuba and a typescript of an article on Kasuba that was published in Woman's Art Journal (Fall 1988/Winter 1984). Also included is a subseries of journals kept by Kasuba since the 1940s, before her successful emigration to the United States. Many of the earlier journals throughout the 1960s are of mixed Language content, much of them being written in Lithuanian.
Project Files document Kasuba's installations, exhibitions, tensile-fabric dwellings, shell dwellings, and live-in environments. Included are correspondence, artist's statements, project notes, plans, sketches and diagrams, business-related materials including agreements and cost estimates, printed material, clippings, and exhibition installation photographs and slides of artwork. There are files on Aleksandra Kasuba's professional activities, including teaching positions, speaking engagements, and publishing projects. Digital Project Records related to many of Kasuba's projects including digital video recordings are found in this series, as well as one super 8 mm film reel and two 8 mm motion picture film reels.
Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, and brochures; news and magazine clippings document various projects, including Kasuba's wall mosaics, shell dwellings, and alternative living environments. Many of the later tiles in this series are self-published. A scrapbook consists mainly of news clippings and reviews on Kasuba's work.
Artwork consists of sketches and drawings used as preliminary designs for Kasuba's projects. Also included are prints and elements used in the creation of the Jetty print series. Photographs are of Kasuba's wall mosaics, reliefs, space shelters, and live-in environments. Also found are slides and three slide binders of wall installations, shell dwellings, and environments made of tensile fabrics; included are slides used for lectures. Also included are photographs of Kasuba's New York City and New Mexico homes and studios, many in digital format.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 9 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1900-2017 (Boxes 1, 11: 0.5 linear ft.; 0.037 Gigabytes: ER001-ER005)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1941-2015 (Boxes 1, 11: 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 3: Interviews, 1976-1983 (Box 1: 0.2 linear ft.)
Series 4: Lectures and Writings, circa 1938-2019 (Boxes 1, 11-14, 16 3.8 linear ft.; 5.81 Gigabytes: ER006-ER0024)
Series 5: Project Files, 1960-2018 (Boxes 1-4, 15, Film cans FC 8-10: 4.6 linear ft.; 33.44 Gigabytes: ER025-ER057)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1950-2016 (0.5 Linear feet: Boxes 5, 15)
Series 7: Scrapbook, 1971-2010 (Box 6; 1 folder)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1938-2017 (0.8 Linear feet: Boxes 5-6, 15, 17)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1920-2017 (0.9 Linear feet: Boxes 5,7, 16-17; 3.35 Gigabytes: ER058-ER072)
Biographical / Historical:
Aleksandra Kasuba (1923-2019) was a Lithuanian-born sculptor, best known for her innovative architectural environments, who lived in New York and New Mexico. She attended the Kaunas Art Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania from 1941-1943. She studied with the sculptor, Vytautus Kasuba, whom she married in 1944. In response to the Soviet Army's occupation of their country, Aleksandra Kasuba and her husband emigrated to the United States in 1947. By 1963, Aleksandra Kasuba, her husband, and two children had moved to the Upper West Side in New York City. At the start of her career, Kasuba received commissions to make ceramic tiles for use in furniture. About the same time, she was also collaborating with architects in designing mosaic wall installations for public works. Aleksandra Kasuba's commissioned projects have included a plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., and wall mosaics for the Container Corporation in Chicago, and 560 Lexington Avenue in New York City. Some of Kasuba's mosaic compositions were made as individual pieces to be included in museum and gallery exhibitions.
Aleksandra Kasuba has also devoted her career to designing alternative living environments. In the late 1960s, Kasuba built dwellings that she referred to as Space Shelters, which were made from a fabric of her own design. In 1970, the American Craft Museum featured Kasuba's tensile-fabric structure in an exhibition "Contemplative Environments." She has also used nylon fabric to build her alternative or live-in environments. In addition, Kasuba has held several faculty positions. She taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City from 1971-1972 and was an artist-in-residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1976 and the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science in 1977. Kasuba has received awards from the American Institute of Architects in 1971 and 1972; in 1983, she was granted a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Aleksandra Kasuba has written several books, including a memoir published in 2001. Kasuba's husband, Vytautus died in 1997. From 2001 on, Aleksandra Kasuba had been living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she purchased a tract of land in the desert to continue her work on experimental housing. She died in 2019.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2013 by Aleksandra Kasuba. Additions were donated in 2018 by Aleksandra Kasuba and in 2019 by Guoda M. Burr, Kasuba's daughter.
Restrictions:
Subseries 4.2 (Journals) is access restricted; written permission is required.
This 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 born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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.
The papers of environmental artist and sculptor Barbara A. Roux measure 0.2 linear feet and date from circa 1979-2017. Included are biographical material and printed material consisting of press releases, exhibition catalogs and announcements relating to Roux's ecological and environmental themed installations and sculptures. Also found are two video recordings of televised interviews with Roux,1988 and 2000. Of note, is a letter featuring a drawing of a flower by Ray Johnson,"Poppy Day/ febr. 4, 1979" inscribed, "for Barbara R. from R. Johnson."
Scope and Contents:
The papers of environmental artist and sculptor Barbara A. Roux measure 0.2 linear feet and date from circa 1979-2017. Included are biographical material and printed material consisting of press releases, exhibition catalogs and announcements relating to Roux's ecological and environmental themed installations and sculptures. Also found are two video recordings of televised interviews with Roux,1988 and 2000. Of note, is a letter featuring a drawing of a flower by Ray Johnson,"Poppy Day/ febr. 4, 1979" inscribed, "for Barbara R. from R. Johnson."
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Barbara A. Roux (1946- ) is an environmental artist and sculptor living in New York, N.Y. Working within the spheres of installation and environmental art, Barbara Roux regularly references ideas about natural history, habitat loss, and preservation. Roux engages with nature and the landscape with a sensibility towards conservation, inspired by her father who was a pharmacologist who worked with plants and animals in the Brazilian Amazon while conducting research on Yellow Fever. Roux received her Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College in New York City. She has exhibited and lectured widely throughout the United States since the early 1980s.
Provenance:
The Barbara A. Roux papers were donated in 2003 and 2018 by Barbara A. Roux.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Archival audiovisual recordings must be digitized for research access. Researchers may access digitized audiovisual materials in the Archives' Washington, D.C. or New York, N.Y. Research Centers by appointment. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Christy Rupp conducted 2012 July 16-17, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art, at Rupp's summer welding studio, in Saugerties, N.Y.
Biographical / Historical:
Christy Rupp (1949- ) is an environmental artist in New York, N.Y. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded as 6 sound files. Duration is 5 hr., 46 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
For information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services.
Topic:
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
The Mierle Laderman Ukeles papers measure 183.3 linear feet and date from circa 1960-2016. Included are correspondence, project files, fiscal files, teaching files, writings, interviews and printed material. A portion of the collection contains electronic media.
Biographical / Historical:
Mierle Laderman Ukeles (1939- ) is a conceptual artist, environmental artist, and public artist in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated 2020 by Mierle Laderman Ukeles.
Restrictions:
This 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 born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Public artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Personal and business correspondence; photographs; writings; biographical materials; and printed materials.
REELS N69/133-N69/136: Personal correspondence, including letters and postcards from friends Wayne Anderson, composer Richard Arnell, E. Leontief, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko and others; business correspondence, including letters from galleries and universities, regarding exhibitions, sculpture contracts and invitations for lecture, his donation of his paper to Syracuse University, and teaching positions; ground plans, estimates, and correspondence regarding Ferber's "environmental sculpture" for Harlow Carpenter and Bundy Gallery and the ensuing case against them;
contract and letters concerning the courtyard sculpture for the John F. Kennedy GSA building in Boston; letters regarding insurance and damage done to works lent for exhibition through the Walker Art Center; writings by Ferber for various journals including art journals and a scientific journal (using an pseudonym, Herbert F. Silver, D.D.S.); drafts of lectures given at art institutions and colleges; a catalog raisonne; transcript of an interview with Ferber; licenses, degrees and diplomas; a book, THREE AMERICAN SCULPTORS: FERBER, HARE, LASSAW, by E.C. Goossen, Robert Goldwater, and Irving Sandler; sketchbooks, 1933-1937; clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements; scrapbook relating to his career and work at Midtown Galleries, New York.
REEL N/70-39: Photographs of Ferber at work and of his sculptures.
REEL 2804: A typescript, "Sculpture as Environment," by Ferber, January 1960.
ADDITION: Biographical materials; correspondence, 1979-1980; records concerning Williams College exhibition, 1975-1980; writings, 1970-1986; exhibition catalogs and announcements; photographs, including one of Ferber ca. 1935, one of Helen Frankenthaler and Andrew Heiskell, and one of a painting signed on back by Beck Balken. Additional records concerning his career as a dentist include diplomas and certificates, published articles on dental subjects by Dr. Silvers, and letters of appointment to the dental school faculty, Columbia University, 1980-1985.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and environmental sculptor; New York, N.Y. d. 1991. Ferber was also a dentist, who practiced under the name Herbert Ferber Silvers.
Provenance:
Material on reels N69/133-136 and reel N70/39 lent by Herbert Ferber 1969-1970; the unmicrofilmed material was donated 1991 by Herbert Ferber. The donor of the typescript on reel 2804 is unspecified.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Dentists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview with Mary Miss conducted 2016 July 18 and 20, by Annette Leddy, for the Archives of American Art, at Miss' home and studio in New York, New York.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Mary Miss (1944- ) is an artist and designer in New York, New York. Interviewer Annette Leddy is a collector for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Robert Smithson conducted by Tony Robbin.
Smithson discusses the conceptual theories that he employs in creating his artwork; the relationship between the "site" and the "nonsite" in his work; systems; and maps. Some works are physically described and a list of works and their measurements is read by Smithson.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor, New York, N.Y; Born 1938, Died 1973. Tony Robbin, the interviewer is a writer, painter and sculptor.
General:
Audio quality is poor; one side of each tape is blank.
Provenance:
Gift of interviewer Tony Robbin, 1992.
Restrictions:
Untranscribed; use requires an appointment.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
