New York Artists Equity Association records, 1920-2012

History and founding documentation includes constitutions, by-laws, a certificate of incorporation, and research and written histories of the New York chapter of the Artists Equity Association.

Presidents' files date from 1927-2007 and include the administrative files of the past presidents of the NYAEA from 1927-2007, including those of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Louise Nevelson, Harry Waterson, Roy Gussow, Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, Karl Zerbe, Ernst Fiene, Sidney Laufman, Carolyn deLisser, Burt Hasen, and Bert Diener, among others. Files may contain correspondence, biographical information, legislative documents, reports, written articles, election information, and photographs.

Records of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the NYAEA include correspondence, election ballots, and formal reports and minutes of monthly meetings. The Board of Directors served as the main governing body of the association with multiple members also serving on the Executive Committee. Additional meeting files are also found among the Committee and Meeting Files in series 4.

Meeting minutes and correspondence for various committees within the NYAEA, including the Arbitration Committee, Cultural Committee, Exhibition Committee, Legislation Committee, among others. There are also minutes of the annual membership meetings, which were open to all members of the association and frequently included lectures and symposia. Also included are sound recordings of various meetings within the association. Meeting materials and minutes are also found in the Board of Directors' Files in Series 3 and the General Administrative and Correspondence Files in Series 5.

General administrative documents related to the day-to-day operations of this local chapter of the Association, as well as general correspondence. This series also includes records from the National Artists Equity Association, including annual meeting and Board meeting minutes, code of ethics, and materials documenting the National Delegates' Meeting. Additional meeting files are located in Series 4.

Financial and legal documents include leases and financial statements, as well as grievances and issues filed with the Association. Also included are research materials related to legal and government related issues for represented artists, including congressional and legislative reports, copyright law, and other related policies and law. Also found are sample forms and contracts to assist members traverse legal issues such as fraudulent art and estate taxes.

Various events and programs for Association members, including travel tours, conferences, award dinners, and lectures or symposia. Documents include announcements and flyers, correspondence, photographs, and video recordings. Reoccurring events include the annual Awards Dinner and Masquerade Ball, Anniversary Dinners, and monthly events such as Art Thursday.

Files include research material such as clippings, reports, and some correspondence. Some files cover general topics that the Association took an interest in as part of its mission for providing help to artists. Other files relate to various artists that the Association represented or presumably wished to approach, including Alexander Calder, Max Beckmann, and Rachel Bas-Cohain.

Membership files date from 1920-2009 and include clippings, articles, exhibition catalogs and flyers, correspondence, biographies and resumes, and notes on members of the New York Artists Equity Association. Some of these files date before the NYAEA was formed. Also included are card files of members' addresses, as well as member applications, lists, correspondence, and obituaries.

Series includes exhibitions organized by the Association, as well as various art-related projects that the Association supported and ran in association with the public or other organizations. Specific projects include the Art Bank donation project, WPA, and the Artists Welfare/Equity Fund. Exhibitions include group shows, the 1965 New York World's Fair, and the cooperative Tenth Street Days exhibitions of multiple New York galleries located on Tenth Street. Materials include correspondence, photographs, calendars, catalogs, and announcement flyers and posters.

Broome Street Gallery files date from 1990-2009 and document events held at the NYAEA's own gallery space at 498 Broome Street, New York, New York. Files document exhibitions, competitions, guestbooks, and funding for the gallery.

Publications date from 1947-2008 and consist of newsletters and reports published by the national Artists Equity Association, as well as the New York Artists Equity Association. The newsletter of the NYAEA changed its name to The Artists Proof in 1986. Also included are various regional newsletters of smaller chapters of the AEA, as well as an inventory of the newsletters.

Printed materials date from 1930-2008 and consist of donated autographed and annotated books, invitations, exhibit announcements (including some from non-NYAEA exhibits), programs, posters, catalogs, clippings, and collected periodicals or art-related newsletters from other organizations.

Scrapbooks consist of scrapbook materials from the 1940s through the 1960s that include clippings about group shows, legislation, and events. One oversize scrapbook includes clippings about the annual "Bal Fantastique" Masquerade Ball. Also included are posters, photos. Correspondence, printed material, and reproductions of artists' works.

Artwork dates from 1947-1960s and contains sketches and drawings donated by Sara Kuniyoshi that were created by attendees of a party honoring Yasuo Kuniyoshi, the first president of NYAEA, in 1948, among other miscellaneous drawings and sketches.

Photographs are of members and various events, taken by Arnold Newman, Marvin Bolotsky, and Frances Avery, among others. Included are photographs of "Art for Fashion's Sake," Saks Fifth Avenue display windows designed by Association members in 1950. Some of the notable the artists and members photographed are Harold Ambellan, Edward Chavez, Lily Cushing, Julio de Diego, Jimmy Ernst, Ernest Fiene, David Fredenthal, Sue Fuller, Chaim Gross, William Hayter, Hilton Kramer, Leon Kroll, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jack Levine, Howard Mandel, Mercedes Matter, Edward Millman, George L.K. Morris, Elias Newman, Richard O'Hanlon, Helen Phillips, Ruth Reeves, Anton Refregier, Lincoln Rothschild, John Sloan, David Smith, Shirley Tattersfield, Hudson Walker, June Wayne, and Denny Winters.