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Finding Aid for the Craft and Folk Art Museum records, ca. 1965-1997
1835
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Title: Craft and Folk Art Museum records
Date (inclusive): ca. 1965-1997
Collection number: 1835
Creator:
Craft and Folk Art Museum
Extent:
550 boxes (225 linear ft.)
Abstract: The Craft and Folk Art Museum has been an extraordinarily active institution both in its first incarnation as the commercial
folk art and crafts gallery, The Egg and The Eye (1965-1975), and then as the nonprofit museum (1975-1997) that carried on
the gallery's interest in contemporary crafts and international folk art, and in the eighties added product design and vernacular
architecture to its program. The collection consists of papers, publications, photographs, press clippings and media releases,
slides, audiotapes, videotapes, films, memorabilia, and objects.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Craft and Folk Art Museum, 1997.
Processed by Joan Benedetti, Heather Lowe, Linda Klouzal, and Michelle Arens in the Center for Primary Research and Training
(CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli, 2010; edited by Yasmin Damshenas, 2012.
[Identification of item], Craft and Folk Art Museum records (Collection Number 1835). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
The Craft and Folk Art Museum (still operating at its original location at 5814 Wilshire Blvd.) has been an extraordinarily
active institution both in its first incarnation as the commercial folk art and crafts gallery, The Egg and The Eye (1965-1975),
and then as the nonprofit museum (1975-1997) that carried on the gallery's interest in contemporary crafts and international
folk art, and in the eighties added product design and vernacular architecture to its program. Founded by Edith R. Wyle,
it was a showcase for the material culture of the world at a time when there were few ethnically-specific art institutions
in Los Angeles. It was a pioneer in the involvement of local cultural communities in the planning and execution of exhibitions
of folk art; it was a prestigious venue for the exhibition of the best of contemporary fine craft; and it was one of the first
museums to show architectural and furniture prototypes. For almost 20 years, it sponsored a beloved annual event, the Festival
of Masks, that involved over 100 local cultural groups in a weekend of festivities: a masked parade, two days of nonstop performances,
food, and demonstration booths run by many of the local community organizations. It was the first-and for many years the
only--L.A. organization to sponsor this type of multicultural event.
Edith R. Wyle founded The Egg and The Eye in 1965, a commercial folk art and crafts gallery, which evolved into the Craft
and Folk Art Museum in 1975. (The museum received its nonprofit status from the IRS in April 1973, but the first exhibitions
organized by CAFAM were not mounted until August 1975.) CAFAM carried on the gallery's interest in contemporary crafts and
international folk art, and in the eighties added product design and vernacular architecture to its program. The museum was
a showcase for the material culture of the world at a time when there were few ethnically-specific art institutions in Los
Angeles. CAFAM was known for the involvement of local cultural communities in its planning and execution of exhibitions of
folk art, its exhibitions of contemporary fine craft, and for being one of the first museums to show architectural and furniture
prototypes. For almost 20 years, it sponsored the annual Festival of Masks, which involved over 100 local cultural groups
in a weekend of festivities: a masked parade, two days of nonstop performances, and food and demonstration booths run by many
of the local community organizations. It was the first, and for many years the only, Los Angeles organization to sponsor this
type of multicultural event.
After closing temporarily at the beginning of 1998 due to financial difficulties, the Museum sold its permanent object collection
at auction. It regrouped and reopened in the Spring of 1999 minus its permanent collections, its library (given to the L.A.
County Museum of Art Research Library), and its institutional archives (given to the UCLA Library).
The Craft and Folk Art Museum Records consist of papers, publications, photographs, press clippings and media releases, slides,
audiotapes, videotapes, films, memorabilia, and objects. These materials document fully the life of the organization from
the opening of its predecessor, The Egg and The Eye Gallery, in 1965 until the temporary closing of the museum at the end
of 1997.
Besides administrative, trustee, departmental, and special events files, the most significant series within the archives are
those of CAFAM's predecessor, The Egg and The Eye Gallery; Craft and Folk Art Museum Exhibitions; Festival of Masks; the P.E.T.
(Preserving Ethnic Traditions) files; the Language of Objects Project files; and the files of the Center for the Study of
Art and Culture, an adjunct program of the CAFAM research library, intended to be a fellowship program and "think tank."
All exhibitions, festivals, and special events are documented with slides, as well as photographs, audiotapes, videotapes,
films, posters, and other memorabilia. The latter includes awards, t-shirts, signage, admission and promotional buttons,
etc.
The CAFAM Records are divided into 21 record groups; each record group is subdivided into a number of series. The record
groups correspond roughly to the original order of the files, most of which were created by staff of the various museum departments
or coordinators of events. Some record groups are divided by media, e.g., posters, memorabilia, audiovisual materials. There
is a good deal of cross-over of subject matter between record groups. For example, although most exhibition materials will
be found in Record Group 10 (Exhibitions), some materials related to grant-writing for exhibitions will probably be found
in Record Group 3 (Development); some media releases and correspondence related to exhibition publicity will be found in Record
Group 4 (Public Relations); and education programs related to exhibitions may be found in Record Group 6 (Education). Some
cross-references are provided in the scope notes but if one is looking for files related to a specific event or a particular
person, it will always be best to first do a keyword search. Within each series, files are generally in order either alphabetically
or chronologically, whichever is most appropriate to the series. A good deal of background information will be found in the
ScopeContent notes.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Craft and Folk Art Museum.
Museums --California --Los Angeles --Archival resources.
Two collections that had been given to the Craft and Folk Art Museum Research Library are now separate collections within
UCLA Library Special Collections:
Southern California Designer Crafts records (Collection 1837)
and
Mandell Gallery records (Collection 1836)
.