American Ceramics & Ceramic National Exhibition Archive

Scope & Content

Adding later. Please see Terms of Use for more information about access to the archive material.

Dates

1931-2002

Physical Extent

49 linear feet (86 boxes, 9 oversize boxes, 2 slide cabinets with a total of 5 slide drawers)

Language

English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish

Arrangement

Arranged into thirty-three series, all of which have been further arranged into six subseries types. The series are arranged chronologically with the exception of the General Files [Please see, Processing Information for more details on General Files arrangement. The series and subseries arrangement of the archive material is as follows: Series: 1st Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Series: 2nd Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Series: 3rd Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Series: 4th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 5th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 6th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 7th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 8th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 9th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 10th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: Traveling Red Cross Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 11th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 12th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 13th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 14th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 15th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 16th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 17th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 18th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 19th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 20th Ceramic International Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 21st Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 22nd Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 23rd Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 24th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 25th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: Ceramics 70 Plus Woven Forms [26th Ceramic National Exhibition] Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 27th Ceramic National Exhibition [1972] Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 27th Ceramic National Exhibition [1987] Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 28th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: 29th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Publicity/Publications Subseries: Video recordings Series: 30th Ceramic National Exhibition Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Publicity/Publications Series: General Files Subseries: Exhibition Records Subseries: Photographic Materials Subseries: Scrapbooks Subseries: Slides (Photographs) Subseries: Video Recordings Processing Information: Originally processed in the 1980s. Processing continued circa 2008 with the 28th-30th Ceramic National Exhibitions. During 2014-2016, the archive was processed, rehoused, and scanned by Jennifer Peters, Metadata Specialist & Project Archivist; Anna Chovanec, Archive Assistant; Trudi J. Antoine, Archive Assistant; Dania Souid, Archive Assistant; Caroline Mae Chatterton, Archive Assistant; and Jennifer Turner, Photographer and Project Assistant. Between these years, the archive was reassessed, rehoused, and in some cases further processed to improve access, arrangement, and description of the archive. The original arrangement of the collection has been maintained in most cases. Exceptions include actions to confirm what Ceramic National Exhibition each object belongs to and/or what subseries [Exhibition Records; Photographic Materials; Slides (Photographs); Publicity/Publications; Scrapbooks; or Video recordings] was most appropriate [see Descriptions of Subseries for further detail on contents]. Archive material was kept in original order throughout each subseries with the exception of some interfiling. In some cases, photographic materials, exhibition records [correspondence, budgets, etc.], and/or publicity/publications were left in folders that are predominantly of another subseries type. This is because of a desire to maintain original order as much as possible to avoid alteration of context. These occurrences have been noted in the folder titles as (contains photographs, publicity, etc.) It is important to note that General Files may describe several Ceramic National Exhibitions in a folder. Therefore, General Files serve as a series to accommodate miscellaneous files such as “History of Ceramic National Exhibition” or “Slide Lists for 10th - 14th Ceramic National Exhibitions” that could not be placed into one or any Ceramic National Exhibition series’. Slides (photographs) boxes and cabinet drawers were not processed. Boxes and cabinets are arranged chronologically according to a pre-existing labeling system. Therefore, each slide may NOT be housed in chronological order. Handwritten box and folder numbers on individual items are not correct. They are from a past processing project. For the correct box and folder numbers, please refer to the new folder and box labels. Please note that Box 078 is physically out of order for the 29th Ceramic National Exhibition. The contents of the box were located and processed after the initial system of arrangement was imposed. To maintain a chronological list of Ceramic National Exhibitions in the Finding Aid, Box 078 was placed after Box 072 [see Container List]. Individual and organization names were indexed when possible and entered into our CollectiveAccess database. To further increase access points in the database, it is advised to continue identifying and indexing individuals and organizations noted on archive material. Descriptions of Subseries: Subseries: Exhibition Records: • Includes archive material such as, financial records; exhibition checklists; lists of artists, prizewinners; contact information for artists, jury members, prize donors, etc.; damage reports/claims; condition reports; exhibition contracts for circuit institutions; entry forms; entry remarks; installation instructions; packing instructions; shipping invoices; and most correspondence between artists, cultural institutions, prize donors, jury members, and so on. Subseries: Photographic Materials: • Includes archive material such as, photographs of artists, objects, events, exhibition installations, and so on. Some slides, negatives, photograph transparencies, and CD-RW’s of digital images are also located in these folders. Subseries: Slides (Photographs): • Includes loose slides; sleeves of slides; slides in envelopes; slide reels; and slide drawers. Subseries: Publicity/Publications: • Includes archive material such as, exhibition catalogs; drafts of exhibition catalogs; press releases; publications; newspaper clippings; magazine article clippings; fliers; posters; exhibition prospectus; drafts of exhibition prospectus; invitations to events; brochures and bulletins from cultural institutions; and correspondence between artists, cultural institutions, publication companies, printing companies and so on discussing topics related to designing and advertising the Ceramic National Exhibition. Subseries: Scrapbooks: • Includes scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings; magazine article clippings; written history of the Ceramic National Exhibition; and some photographs. Subseries: Video recordings: • Includes archive material such as, U-matic tapes and DVDs.