Arbitrary Order: Paintings by Pat Steir: May 27-Jul. 17, 1983

Curatorial correspondence, research, past exhibits by the artists, press regarding artists, and more, which aid in the development of exhibitions.

Correspondence, artist and lender files, purchase orders, checklists, publicity such as press releases and news clippings, research materials, invitations, catalogue drafts, contracts, installation plans, and shipping information document the exhibition history of the Contemporary Arts Museum (CAM) from 1948 to 1985. Prior to March 1982, however, the majority of the files are limited to invitations, press releases, and other publicity materials. For complete exhibition information, researchers should refer to the CAM exhibition catalogues that have been separated and removed from the exhibition files. Due to severe water damage, several files (1975-76) required extensive photocopying and the following items were discarded: Exhibition catalogues: Luis Jimenez (11/26/74 - 1/5/75) Terry Allen (11/7 - 12/8/75) Catalogue mock-up: Dick Wray (10/26 - 11/2/75) Both photographs and oversized materials have been removed from the exhibition files and placed respectively in the CAM Photograph Collection and the CAM Oversize Collection. Artist and lender files generally contain both correspondence and research materials, including biographies, articles, and exhibition histories. These files are arranged alphabetically by name and then chronologically, as are similar files such as potential lenders, loans denied, potential artists, and potential traveling venues. General correspondence files are arranged chronologically. Of particular interest is the correspondence file of artist Earl Staley (December 3, 1983 - February 5, 1984) which contains original artwork on postcards sent to CAM staff.

HS 4:3, Special Events Records, includes information on events that may be related to exhibitions, such as the May 1985 Arts Update featuring speaker Michael Danoff who also gave a gallery talk for the Robert Mangold exhibition.