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PRELIMINARY INVENTORY OF THE LONG BEACH MUSEUM OF ART VIDEO ARCHIVE, ca. 1964-2003
2006.M.7
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Title: Long Beach Museum of Art Video Archive
Date (inclusive): circa 1964-2003
Number: 2006.M.7
Creator/Collector:
Long Beach Museum of Art
Physical Description:
465.0 linear feet
(127 boxes, circa 5,000 videos)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) was among the first museums in the United States to focus on video as an artistic medium.
The materials in the archive document LBMA's innovative approaches to the production and display of video art, primarily between
1974 and 1999. Materials include artist files; exhibition records; LBMA's administrative records pertaining to the video program;
materials on the museum's grant and cable television programs; photographic materials; and almost 5,000 videotapes.
Request Materials: To access physical materials on site, go to the
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Language: Collection material is in
English
The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) began collecting and exhibiting video art in 1974 and in three decades developed one of
the most significant video collections in the country, comprising approximately 5,000 videotapes. LBMA's video program started
when museum director, Jan Adlmann, hired curator David Ross to establish the museum's video program. Exhibiting video art
as an artistic medium was at the forefront of LBMA’s mission during the 1970s. The video program allowed artists to display
their videos through experimental exhibitions like the Southland Video Anthology (1975-1978), which featured work by hundreds
of video artists. Video art exhibitions were already taking place in Europe and on the East Coast in the mid-1960s, and LBMA
played a pivotal role in bringing video art to West Coast audiences.
In 1976, LBMA became the first museum to provide an in-house production facility where artists could produce and edit their
videos. The production facility was located in the museum's attic, and was internally known as the Artist's Post Production
Studio (APPS). APPS offered artists a place to create video art, and in exchange for this service, artists would leave a copy
of their work with the museum. Through APPS, the museum began to develop a video collection, albeit inadvertently. Artists
would also send copies of their work to the museum to be included in the collection.
Around 1979, LBMA received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to open the Video Annex (also known as the Station Annex),
located next to a fire station the Belmont Shore neighborhood of Long Beach, California. The Video Annex was primarily used
as a post-production studio, and held two editing studios, Studio A and Studio B. The Video Annex became a source of revenue
for the museum, as artists rented the space to edit their work using broadcast-quality equipment. LBMA also established a
residency program, allowing artists to live in the Annex while producing and editing their work. Artists were also commissioned
to create works for broadcast television at the Annex, and the space eventually housed the museum's growing collection of
videos.
In addition to supporting the work of video artists through exhibitions and the production facility, LBMA was able to present
the medium to a wider audience through broadcast cable television. LBMA produced many cable series and live broadcast events
through local cable television networks, and in partnership with other institutions, such as The Kitchen in New York, the
University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Iowa. In the early 1980s, LBMA produced the cable series, Shared
Realities: A Cultural Arts Cable Series, which featured interviews, art videos, music, and live performances.
LBMA also acquired the video archive of the Los Angeles Woman's Building after it closed in 1991. Founded in 1973, the Woman's
Building was an independent feminist arts institution that served as a center for education and activism.
In the mid-90s, the museum closed its video program, but the left the Video Annex open for a few more years to generate income.
California artists played an important part in creating video art history, and through the museum’s innovative programming,
artists and curators were able to work together to create a substantial collection of video art. Collectively, the materials
in the archive trace LBMA's role in the early history of the medium through its multi-faceted efforts to support artists and
public understanding of video art.
Open for use by qualified researchers. Videos are unavailable until reformatting is complete.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Long Beach Museum of Art Video Archive, circa 1970-2000. Research Library, The Getty Research Insititute, Accession no. 2006.M.7
Transferred from the Long Beach Museum of Art in 2006.
The following people cataloged artists' tapes and processed corresponding records in Series I under the supervision of Jocelyn
Gibbs and Andra Darlington: Amy Sloper (2006-2007), Leah Kerr (summer 2007), Tim Wilson (fall 2007), Patti Peregrine (winter
and spring 2008), Holly Larson (fall 2008). Devon Bella finished processing Series I-IV (2009-2010). Natalie Snoyman processed
Series V under the supervision of Annette Doss (fall 2010). As of May 2011 the videotapes are still being processed and cataloged
by Annette Doss, with completion expected by June 2012.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Long Beach Museum of Art Video Archive documents more than three decades of LBMA's engagement with video art, from the
late 1960s through 2003. At the heart of the archive are approximately 5000 videos collected or produced by LBMA, including
single-channel video artworks and installation works, taped interviews with artists, collectors, and curators, and video documentation
of exhibitions, performances and other events at the museum and throughout Southern California. The paper component of the
archive contains LBMA institutional records pertaining to the museum's activities in video art collection, exhibition, production
and distribution.
Series I contains files on most, but not all, of the artists whose work is included in the video collection, as well as additional
artists whose works are not represented in the archive. Some materials relate to the artist in general and some pertain to
specific artworks. Artist files often include materials such as acquisition and donor forms, correspondence, artists' curriculum
vitae, press clippings, screening announcements, project proposals, and a few drawings and sketches. Artists with particularly
substantial files include Eleanor Antin, John Baldessari, Chris Burden, Gary Hill, Nam June Paik, Ilene Segalove, and Bill
Viola.
Series II documents video exhibitions organized by and/or presented at the Long Beach Museum of Art from 1975 to 1999. Exhibition
records often include press releases, printed announcements, catalogs, posters, written content for printed materials, program
notes, screening schedules, installation notes and sketches, correspondence, mailing lists, acquisition forms, loan and payment
receipts, and press clippings. Among the exhibitions represented in the series are Southland Video Anthology (1975-1978),
California Video (1980), and The Artist and the Computer (1983).
Documenting LBMA's grant-making programs for video production, Series III contains press releases, subsidy applications, artists'
applications and video proposals. The primary grant programs were Open Channels Television Production Grant Program, the Video
Access Program, and New Visions: Video Production and Presentation Program. Also in Series III are records pertaining to LBMA's
distribution of video art through cable programs such as
Viewpoints on Video,
Arts Revue,
Art Off the Wall, and
Shared Realities. These materials often include programming notes, budgets, tape rental forms, and reports for the museum's collaborative
programs.
The Administrative records in Series IV are comprised of executive and managerial documents, such as the LBMA Foundation curatorial
grants applications and reports consisting of capital and operational support requests and supplementary materials. Also included
are papers relating to the production facility at the Video Annex; records documenting the development and preservation of
the video archive and library; David Ross papers, consisting of correspondence and files he kept on institutions; meeting
notes relating to advisory organizations, such as the Video Council and National Alliance of Media Art Centers (NAMAC); subscriptions,
serials, newsletters, and mailings.
Series V is comprised of photographic materials, including artist portraits, documentation of installations, and video stills.
This series contains black and white prints, negatives, contact sheets, color photography, and transparencies. The majority
of the files include installation shots from exhibitions organized by and presented at LBMA between 1974 and 1998, as well
as video stills from individual artists' works. In addition, there are a few instances of correspondence in the series, usually
between the artist and staff members of LBMA.
Series VI, Videos, is still in process, with completion expected in June 2012. Most of the artist tapes and exhibition tapes
have been cataloged and may be found in the
library catalog by searching for artists' names or the titles of works or exhibitions. See
Series VI for more information.
More than 250 tapes from the Los Angeles Woman's Building include feminist performance videos, video art, and documentation
of the feminist movement in Southern California through interviews, performances, readings and other events. The Woman's Building
tapes have been cataloged and may be found by searching the library catalog for the Woman's Building in the author field.
Videos are unavailable until reformatting is complete.
Click here for a list of reformatted videotapes. To browse through a list of cataloged videos that may not have been reformatted yet,
search the
library catalog for the accession number: 2006.M.7.
Contact Reference for information about how to request reformatting.
Arranged in six series:
Series I. Artists' files, circa 1966-2002;
Series II. Exhibitions, 1975-1999;
Series III. Grant and cable Programs, 1976-1999, undated;
Series IV. Administrative files,1972-2003, undated;
Series V. Photographs, 1964-1998, undated;
Series VI. Videos, circa 1970-circa 2003.
Art exhibitions--20th century
Art museums--Exhibitions--United States
Long Beach Museum of Art--exhibitions
Administrative records
Black-and-white negatives
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Color photographs
Color slides--United States--20th century
Exhibition announcements
Video art--United States--20th century
Videocassettes--United States--20th century
Videotapes