Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston records

Collection

Identifier: MS 0690

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Scope and Contents

The majority of these records document the rich exhibition history of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, via the curatorial department and registrar's department files, as well as photographs and catalogs. Administrative records such as Board of Trustees minutes and the Director's correspondence show the mission and vision of the museum over time. Other formats include education department records, special event materials, organizational bylaws and charter, correspondence, policies, photographs, publications, newsclippings.

Dates

Creation: 1948 - 2018

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research, with the exception of Board of Trustees / Admin records, legal actions and formal lawsuits, and financial and capital campaigns, from the last 20 years. These records require permission from CAMH.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

CAMH audio and visual items with digital id#s are currently stored on external drives and can be accessed by contacting Woodson staff.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish from this material must be facilitated through the Woodson Research Center. Please contact staff at woodson@rice.edu or 713-348-2586.

The CAMH retains full ownership of any and all copyrights CAMH currently controls in the CAMH archives, but grants Rice University a nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial License.

In many cases, CAMH either created the materials or acquired the copyrights for them. Some images and works do not have the photographer's credit information and the photographer may have retained rights to the image. Co-organized exhibition materials may be subject to a shared copyright. Filmed performances were created by and for CAMH and as such as are owned by CAMH, but the content of the performances is owned solely by the artist.

Any publication of CAMH materials requires written permission through the Woodson Research Center (see http://library.rice.edu/guides/publishing-wrc-materials) and written notice given to CAMH, with citations crediting the artist, date and the CAMH archive at Rice University.

Biographical / Historical

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) was founded in 1948, and began exhibiting shows at various locations in the city, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 1949, CAMH moved into its own triangular steel framework building designed by Architects MacKie and Kamrath located at 302 Dallas. The one-room gallery design included no walls, only floor and roof forming a 30-60 degree triangle. Early exhibitions included the work of Vincent van Gogh, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, John Biggers, Mark Rothko, and Robert Rauschenberg.

In 1972, CAMH moved into a new building designed by Gunnar Birkerts, at the corner of Bissonet and Montrose. Through the 1970s and 1980s, many regional and national artists' work was shown, including John Chamberlain, Ida Applebroog, Robert Morris, Pat Steir, Bill Viola, Frank Stella, James Surls, John Alexander, and Luis Jiménez.

In the early 1980s, Director Linda Cathcart started the Perspectives series in the lower galleries, with medium sized shows by both emerging and well-known artists. This series carried on for nearly forty years.

The 1990s brought exhibitions of artists such as William Wegman, Nic Nicosia, Tony Cragg, James Turrell, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1997, the building closed for a major renovation and re-opened the same year, with the exhibit "Finders Keepers".

Thematic shows, digital media, and international curatorial work have marked the early 2000s.

The mission of the CAMH is "the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a leading destination to experience innovative art. CAMH actively encourages public engagement with its exhibitions through its educational programs, publications, and online presence. ALWAYS FRESH, ALWAYS FREE"

Excerpted from https://camh.org/about/history-mission/, accessed on June 1, 2018.

Extent

340 Linear Feet (333 boxes (No box #300) and 2 map drawers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This material was donated to Rice University in 2017 by the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (CAMH), via the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which had custody of the records on a loan status, until 2017. Additional accessions will come directly from CAMH in the future.

Separated Materials

Some CAMH records were damaged in the 1970s flood, and became illegible due to ink smears, faded thermofax paper, being stuck together, and intensely moldy. Photocopies were made where possible, but some materials were beyond capture.

The original CAMH accession numbers for these items are, as follows, and the original folder names created by CAMH were "Not Legible" or "Unlabeled": CAMH 87.43 item 5 CAMH 87.42 item 26 CAMH 87.39 item 18 CAMH 87.39 item 16 CAMH 87.12 item 16 CAMH 87.43 item unlisted (1) CAMH 87.43 item unlisted (2) CAMH 87.43 item 2 CAMH 87.40 item 39 CAMH 87.40 item 33 CAMH 87.50A item unlisted CAMH 87.44 item unlisted (1) CAMH 87.44 item unlisted (2) CAMH 87.43 item 5

Other empty files include: CAMH 87.39 Item 13 Jim Love CAMH 87.39 item 11 Marts Pan CAMH 87.39 item 32 Bruce Nauman CAMH 87.39 item 33 Lichtenstein photos CAMH 87.40 item 15 Art After SChool Exhibition