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:
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:
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:
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.
Provenance:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records were donated by Jennifer McCabe, former executive director of the museum, in 2014.
Restrictions:
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.
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.
