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Anna Rimel
Scope and Contents
The records of Art in General, 1977-2019, measure 83.8 linear feet and comprehensively chronicle Art in General's exhibitions, programs, and long-standing commitment to diversity and equity in the arts. The collection includes administrative and board of director files, Holly Block Director files, exhibition and installation files, commission program files, artists in residence and fellowship files, public programming and event files, education program files, printed material, photographic material, and extensive sound and video recordings and born digital material.
Administrative files document the daily operations of Art in General, and Board of Director files include meeting minutes and board books, as well as Board communications. Research, programming, and projects related to the history of Art in General are found among the Art in General 25th Anniversary Files, and Holly Block's 18 years as director of Art in General, from 1988 to 2006, are documented through her files. The New Commission Program was established at AIG to allow artists to apply for temporary commission projects for a range of installations, which are documented in the Commission Program administrative and artist files. Other AIG programming supporting artists included the Artist in Residence Program and the Bloomberg Curatorial Fellowship Program, and files document artist projects, installations, and exhibitions, as well as guest curator projects for exhibitions and installations at Bloomberg Tower in New York. Other public programming and event files include panels, talks, tours, dinners, and receptions. The Education Program at AIG supported art-related work with public schools in New York City as well as arts work as a member of the Art Benefits All Coalition Alternative (ABACA), a partnership of downtown New York not-for-profit visual and performing arts organizations that also included Artists Space, Franklin Furnace Archive, The Drawing Center, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and files reflect these projects as well as others, such as Project Reach.
Exhibition and installation files make up a large part of the collection, and document special installation programs, such as the "Audio in the Elevator" sound installations in Art in General's elevators; window installations in Art in General's gallery windows; video installations and video projects; and general exhibitions that were local, touring, and internationally based. Exhibitions and installations were generally applied for by artists, reviewed by peer review panels, then underwent extensive budget considerations.
Extensive sound and video recordings, as well as born digital files, are included in the collection, as well as a range of printed and photographic material.
Language
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The records were donated by Art in General via Irene Shum, Executive Director, in 2020.
Processing Information
The collection received a preliminarily level of arrangement after donation in 2022 by Jennifer Neal. The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Anna Rimel in 2024.
