Administrative files consist of materials by and about Mother Art that document the
collective's mission to create and promote art centered on women's issues. The series
includes audiocassettes of Mother Art interviews on Los Angeles area radio programs;
presentation scripts and resumes that detail the collective's formation and project
history; image reproduction correspondence; and the collective's 2011 documentary film,
Mother Art Tells Her Story, with related photographs
and promotional materials. A disbound binder of assorted documents conveys an array of
Mother Art's early artistic endeavors, with project proposals, press releases, clippings
of exhibition reviews, and a financial report for the California Arts Council grant for
1977's Laundry Works performances.
The series also contains one CD of digital presentation files. Software formats were
identified using a DROID (Digital Record Object IDentification) report from information
recorded in the PRONOM technical registry. All dates refer to last modified dates of
files. Born digital materials are integrated into their corresponding series based on
content.
Two publications, Mother Art: A Collective of Women
Artists and The First Decade: Celebrating the Tenth
Anniversary of the Woman's Building, have been transferred to General
Collections.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by format and subject.
Articles and writings about Mother Art, 1978-2014,
undated
box
folder
1
1
1978,
1984
1
2
circa 1981-2009,
undated
box
folder
7*
5
2014
box
folder
1
3
Artists' statements, 1978, undated
Binder: Mother Art: Established September 1974, 1974-1983,
undated
box
folder
1
4
Proposals and statements; resumes; press releases, 1974-1983,
undated
Includes artists' statements; strategic planning notes for the evolution of the
collective; and proposals for realized and unrealized projects, including Rainbow Playground, By
Mothers (1976), and Laundry Works. Also
includes press releases for By Mothers, Art For Public Consumption, Mother
Art Cleans Up, and the collective's participation in the 1976 Garden
Theater Festival in Barnsdall Park.
1
5
General correspondence, 1976-1983,
undated
Includes professional correspondence by Mother Art in support of the collective's
projects and mission to champion mothers and female artists, with letters between
Mother Art and Los Angeles area radio stations; Pennsylvania Congressman Thomas M.
Foglietta; Los Angeles City officials Mayor Tom Bradley and Councilwomen Pat Russell
and Peggy Stevenson; the office of California Governor Jerry Brown; the Woman's
Building Galleries; and the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art (LAICA). Also
includes correspondence by Mother Art to the Los Angeles
Times in response to an article accusing the California Arts Council of
wasting taxpayer money with its award to Mother Art for Laundry Works, and a guest list of attendees for Working Together, one of the installations in Mother Art Cleans Up.
1
6
Laundry Works and draft project
descriptions, 1976-1982,
undated
Includes preparatory materials for Mother Art's Laundry
Works project, with notes, correspondence to laundromat owners,
handwritten attendee comments, and the date and location schedule for the five
performances in the project series. Also includes the Laundry
Works grant award document from the California Arts Council and the
grant's requisite final evaluation and financial reports. Draft project descriptions
consist of summary texts for the collective's early projects as well as drafts for
the questionnaire that was part of the Laundry Works
performances.
1
7
Correspondence, 1978-2008
Includes correspondence for image reproduction requests and with LAICA Board Director
Robert L. Smith regarding the CETA guest artist program.
History of Mother Art presentations, circa
1979-2008
box
folder
1
8
Scripts, circa
1979-2008
box
Item
10
CM3
"Mother Art PPT show #11, PowerPoint slide show," 2007
March 5
0.027
GB
5 files
1 computer disc (CD) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
CM3 contains: 2 Microsoft Powerpoint 97-2003 Presentation files (.pps and .ppt)
titled: Presentation11. Unavailable until reformatted. Contact reference for
reformatting.
box
folder
1
9
Letterhead, business cards, and decals, undated
Mother Art Tells Her Story, 2011-2013
box
folder
6
12
Color prints, circa
2011
Eight 4 x 6 inch photographs of Mother Art setting up to interview Helen Million in
Modesto, California.
box
Item
9
DVD1-DVD2
DVDs, 2011
2 videodiscs (DVD) (46min) ; 4 3/4 in.
Original case labeled: Copyright 2011, run time 46 minutes. Award winning
documentary tells of 8 Los Angeles artists who were not afraid of those with power.
Abortion, immigration, homelessness, weapons of mass destruction ... the hot topics
of the 70's and 80's. The 8 artists of Mother Art dealt with issues through Public
Art.
box
folder
1
10
Film festival ephemera, 2012-2013
1
11
Script and interview questions, circa
2011
Radio interviews, 1976-1987
box
Item
11
C1
"Mother Art Interview, KPFK-FM, Paul Vangelisti, Nov. 30," 1976
1 audiocassette (60 min.) : analog ; 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in., 1/8 in. tape. Unavailable
until reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
11
C2
"Mother Art, KPFK-FM with Claire Spark 2/25/79," 1979
1 audiocassette (60 min.) : analog ; 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in., 1/8 in. tape. Unavailable
until reformatted. Access restricted due to fragility; contact the repository to
request access.
11
C3
"KUTE-102FM 'Community Awareness' Mother's Day 8 May 1983," 1983
1 audiocassette : analog ; 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in., 1/8 in. tape. Unavailable until
reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
11
C4
"Mother Art-KUTE FM 5/8/83, T.B.P., Mother's Day," 1983
1 audiocassette (90 min.) : analog, 1 7/8 ips ; 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in., 1/8 in. tape.
Unavailable until reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
11
C5
"ARN 3-13-87 Broadcast #24 Kaleidoscope The Artist Is a Woman, Mother
Art," 1987
1 audiocassette : analog ; 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in., 1/8 in. tape. Unavailable until
reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
box
folder
1
12
Resumes and exhibition histories, 1983-2009,
undated
Includes an undated price list of select Mother Art works.
1
13
Woman's Building calendars, programs, and clippings, 1976-1977,
1988
Includes event calendars for July-September 1976, January-February 1977, and May-June
1988, as well as a program for the Artists Who are
Mothers workshop held at the Woman's Building on May 7, 1988.
Materials in this series document Mother Art's major performance and installation
projects, from 1973's Rainbow Playground, a space created
for children at the Woman's Building, to the 2000 retrospective (Re)Visiting Mother Art, with project proposals, performance scripts,
postcards and posters, and exhibition review clippings. Most files contain either color
slides or black-and-white photographs (prints and negatives) of project performances and
installations. Some files also include undated inkjet prints, printed at dates later
than the project dates, and certainly all after 1990. Additional project materials
include original Mother Art trading cards, a menu list for the 1977 Bake Sale Exhibition, audiocassette recordings of women's
abortion stories for the Pro-Choice project, and
typescript narratives for the 1984 installation Flowers for Four
Women.
The series also contains three DVDs of digital image files. Software formats were
identified using a DROID (Digital Record Object IDentification) report from information
recorded in the PRONOM technical registry. All dates refer to last modified dates of
files. Born-digital materials are integrated into their corresponding series based on
content. The original order of the born-digital files is retained.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by project, with group exhibitions and unidentified projects
at the end of the series. When project files include materials that date beyond the date
of the project itself, the project date is noted in parentheses following the project
title. Most slides were originally housed in a binder, with select color slides
originally housed in project files and labeled as slides for the Mother Art: A Collective of Women Artists publication. All slides (color and
black-and-white) were rehoused in archival binders by the processing archivists. The
distinction between the groups of color slides was maintained.
Rainbow Playground (1973), 1973-1974,
undated
box
folder
5
1
Color slides, 1974
1
14
Notes and inkjet prints, 1973,
undated
box
folder
2
1
Trading Cards for gumball machine, 1974
Thirty-two laminated handmade color trading cards of figurative or abstract
illustrations and one baseball card for Angels shortstop Jim Anderson.
By Mothers (1975-1976), 1975-1980
box
folder
7*
4
Black-and-white print, 1975
One 10 x 13 inch print, mounted.
box
folder
5
2
Color slides, 1975-1976
2
2-3
Fliers, programs, and clippings, 1975-1980
box
folder
8*
1
Poster, 1975
Bake Sale Exhibition, 1977
box
folder
5
3
Color slides, 1977
box
folder
2
4
Fliers and price list, 1977
Laundry Works (1977), 1976-1984,
undated
box
folder
4
1
Black-and-white negatives and contact prints, 1977
box
folder
7*
2-3
Black-and-white prints, 1977
Six 7 x 9 inch prints, mounted.
box
folder
2
5
California Arts Council grant account book, circa
1977-1984
2
6
Clippings, 1976-1981,
undated
box
folder
12
1-2
Color prints, 1977
box
folder
5
4
Color slides, 1976-1977
box
folder
2
7
Correspondence and clippings, 1976-1981
Includes Mother Art collective correspondence to the editor of the Los Angeles Times and a letter by Los Angeles artist Nancy
Buchanan to Los Angeles Times theater critic Dan
Sullivan. Also includes fliers, black-and-white photographs, typescript notes on the
performances, and a black-and-white paper mask featuring images of clothespins.
box
folder
7*
1
Final financial report, 1976
December
Mounted on mat board.
box
folder
8*
3
"Laundry Works: Gallery into Laundry" pencil drawing, circa
1977
Additional label on drawing reads: Environment by Mother Art and members of WCA at
the Woman's Building celebration, Wednesday, Feb 2, 1977. 20 x 16 1/4 inches.
box
folder
7*
6
Poster, 1977
Mother Art Cleans Up (1978), 1974-1979, 2000,
undated
box
folder
5
5
Color slides, Mother Art Cleans Up City
Hall, 1978
5
6
Color slides, Mother Art Cleans Up the
Banks, 1978
box
folder
2
8
Gallery exhibitions and related material, 1974-1978,
2000
Includes black-and-white prints, inkjet prints, and ephemera that document
performances at Los Angeles City Hall and Los Angeles area banks. Also includes a
certificate of appreciation from the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art
(LAICA).
box
folder
7*
6
"Making It Safe: A Project on Violence Against Women in Ocean Park" event
calendar, 1979
box
folder
2
9
"Making It Safe" and "Working Together" installations, 1979
Includes ephemera and black-and-white prints that document the Mother Art Cleans Up installations at Barrett's appliance
store in Santa Monica and the Exploratorium Gallery at California State University,
Los Angeles.
Art for Public Consumption, 1978
box
folder
2
10
Black-and-white prints and fliers, 1978
box
folder
4
2
Black-and-white negatives, 1978
Also includes negatives of an event preceding Art for Public
Consumption held at Barnsdall Art Park, "Dialogues at Barnsdall."
Power Roles for Women (1980), 1979-1981
box
folder
4
3
Black-and-white negatives, 1980
box
folder
2
11-12
Black-and-white prints, 1980
July
box
folder
6
13
Color polaroid photographs, 1980
July
box
folder
3
1
Correspondence and ephemera, 1979-1981
Also includes several black-and-white prints, some mounted.
Pro-Choice (1981), 1981-1983,
undated
box
folder
3
2
Abortion notes, circa
1981
Abortion stories, 1981-1983,
undated
Accounts from women who received illegal abortions.
box
Item
11
C6
"Mother Art, Gloria's Story, last take 175," undated
1 audiocassette (60 min.) : analog ; 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in., 1/8 in. tape. Handwritten
on B side: Dodgers win World Series - 10/28/81 to 415. Unavailable until
reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
11
C9
"M. Art abortion tape stories 1981, approximately 44 minutes side
9-83," 1981,
1983
1 audiocassette (90 min.) : analog ; 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in., 1/8 in. tape. Handwritten
on B side: Skip 1st story (Deb), start w/ Caroline." Unavailable until
reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
box
folder
4
4
Black-and-white 35mm negatives and contact print, 1981
box
folder
5
7
Color slides, 1981
Museum of Illegal Abortion installation and Not Even If It's You performance shots.
box
folder
3
3
Performance scripts and research notes, 1981,
undated
Also includes Mother Art pro-choice ephemera, color inkjet prints, and a
performance review of Not Even If It's You, held at
the Church in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California, November 21, 1981.
box
folder
8*
2
Poster, "Thanks, But No Thanks," undated
Poster for a public art event presented by Los Angeles Political Art
Documentation/Distribution, with a performance night in Ocean Park that featured
Mother Art.
L.A. Guernica (1982), 1982-1985,
undated
box
folder
4
5
Black-and-white 35mm negatives, contact prints, and
photographs, 1982
5
8
Color slides, 1982
box
folder
3
4
Correspondence, fliers, and clippings, 1982-1985,
undated
Also includes black-and-white photographs and a color inkjet print of the
installation, printed at a later date.
box
folder
7*
6
Journals and wall label, 1985
Flowers for Four Women (1984), 1984,
undated
box
folder
6
1, 10
Color slides, 1984
box
folder
3
5
Ephemera and typescript narratives, undated
Includes seven black ink drawings of flowers adhered to a single sheet of
paper.
Homeless Women (1984), 1984-1988, 2005,
undated
box
folder
6
2
Color slides, 1984-1986,
undated
box
folder
3
6
Correspondence, fliers, and typescript narratives, 1985-1988, 2005,
undated
Also includes a poster for the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions presentation of
The Cotton Exchange Show and a pencil drawing of an outline of a female figure.
The Dining Room Table (1985), 1985,
undated
box
folder
6
3, 11
Color slides, 1985
box
folder
3
7
Interview transcripts and color inkjet prints, 1985,
undated
Transcripts of an interview with Barbara Avedon, one of the founders of Another
Mother for Peace.
(Re)visiting Mother Art (2000), 2000,
undated
box
folder
3
8
Postcards and clippings, 2000,
undated
Also includes press releases, a price list of Mother Art works, and a timeline of
the collective's history.
box
folder
6
4
Color slides, Running Out of
Time, 2000
box
folder
3
9
Mother Art Cleans Up Yet Again
postcards, 2016
3
10
Group exhibition ephemera, 1982-1985,
2000-2014
Unidentified, 1975-2017,
undated
box
folder
6
5
Color slides, 1975-1978,
undated
box
folder
4
6
Black-and-white print and postcard, 1978
January
Includes Helen Million, Suzanne Siegel, Gloria Hajduk, and Laura Silagi.
box
folder
8*
1
Posters, 1978
Two black-and-white posters titled: Wanted: For crimes of role fixing and failure
to tamper with stereotypes, featuring images of Gloria Hajduk, Laura Silagi, Suzanne
Seigel, and Helen Million Ruby.
box
folder
4
7
Black-and-white 35mm negatives, contact print, and postcard, 1983
March 7
Possibly images of the At Home exhibition at the
Long Beach Museum of Art, part of Pro-Choice, Mother
Art's series of installations and performances about abortion. Includes group images
of Suzanne Siegel, Deborah Krall, Laura Silagi, and Gloria Hajduk.
Photomural panels, 2011,
2017
All dates refer to last modified dates of files.
box
Item
10
CM1
"Mother Art photomural panel 1," 2017
September 27
0.6
GB
(4 files)
1 computer disc (DVD-R) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
CM1 contains: 1 Adobe Photoshop Document file (.psd) titled: 1st panel bank
photomural." Unavailable until reformatted. Contact reference for
reformatting.
10
CM2
"Mother Art photomural panel 2," 2017
September 27
0.1
GB
(4 files)
