Sam Gilliam papers, 1957-1989, 1957-1989

Biographical material includes résumés, passports, exhibition lists, artist statements and essays by and about Gilliam, interview transcripts, and audiovisual material. The audiovisual material includes recordings of a group interview conducted by Dorothy Gilliam with artists Bob Field, Rockne Krebs, Gene Davis, Walter Hopps, and Sam Gilliam concerning the Washington Gallery of Modern Art in Washington, D.C. Also included are audio recordings of Portrait with Sam Gilliam, circa 1978, from the WBOE-FM radio series Black Art in America, and sound recordings of conversations between Gilliam and artists Benny Andrews and Rockne Krebs.

Correspondence includes letters to and from museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem, and galleries including the Carl Solway Gallery, Middendorf/Lane Gallery, Fendrick Gallery, Hamilton Gallery, and Robert L. Kidd & Associates. Also present is correspondence with collector Donald A. Brown, artists David Driskell, Stephen Frietch, Keith Morrison, and Martin Puryear, as well as letters from friends, family, students, and fans.

Writings include essays, statements, and articles including Afro-American Abstraction and Alternatives for Black Artists. A speech given by Gilliam entitled The Transformation of Nature through Nature, texts connected to the Coalition of Washington Artists and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and work from former students of Gilliam are found here along with thirteen folders of personal notes, written by Gilliam.

Business records primarily include daily records of activities kept by Sam and Dorothy Gilliam's secretary, Debby, from 1973 to 1978. In addition to these documents are resumes for a studio assistant for Gilliam, certificates of originality, legal documents, travel itineraries, documents related to Gilliam's service in the US Army, receipts and invoices, a record of paintings donated, in-transit, and on-loan; financial records, ledgers, contracts, and records and paperwork connected to the Gilliam's company Enterprise 101, as well as miscellany.

Printed materials include photocopies, exhibition announcements, magazines, and newspaper clippings regarding museum openings, personal profiles on Gilliam and Dorothy Gilliam, materials related to Gilliam serving on the jury for the National Council on the Arts fellowship, his public art commissions, specific artworks such as Autumn Surf, his appearance at the Venice Biennale, receipt of the Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, as well as exhibition press for Gilliam and other African-American artists including Lou Stovall.

The subject files series includes background information for a variety of projects including Gilliam's Art-in-Architecture commission for the Atlanta Airport, a work called Sculpture with a "D", created for the Davis subway station in Cambridge Massachusetts, and a Philadelphia Museum of Art commission. Also included are a complete collection of artist's protestations and correspondence regarding a controversial 1979 exhibition at Artists Space, and files concerning Gilliam's exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Fendrick Gallery, Art Park, The Brooklyn Museum, Brandywine Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and Galerie Darthea Speyer. Additional files include insight into Gilliam's process of art supply research and purchasing, with materials from purveyors such as Golden, Philip Fibers, and Rohm Hass. Documents related to Gilliam's years of teaching, and records from his own education and acceptance of his Honorary Doctorate degrees are also included.

This disbound scrapbook contains photographs, collages, notes, free-form sketches, and printed material related to Gilliam's life and work.

The artwork series includes sketches, personal notes, and small preparatory drawings by Gilliam in pencil and colored pencil, as well as small-scale paintings. Short writings by Gilliam of personal reflection and about his artistic process are interspersed throughout.

Photographic materials include photographs, slides, and transparencies of Gilliam's artwork, personal studio, exhibition preparation, and exhibition spaces, including preparation photographs for Gilliam's installation on the exterior of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There are formal portraits of Gilliam, a portrait of Gilliam and one of his daughters, and candid photographs of Gilliam at work in his studio. Also included are records of student artwork and photos and slides of artwork sent to Gilliam by art students and aspiring artists.