http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt5f59s1km No online items Finding Aid for the Craft and Folk Art Museum Records LSC.1835 Processed by Joan Benedetti, Heather Lowe, Linda Klouzal, and Michelle Arens, 2010; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé. UCLA Library Special Collections Online finding aid last updated on 2020 October 14. Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library Box 951575 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575 [email protected] URL: https://www.library.ucla.edu/special-collections Finding Aid for the Craft and Folk LSC.1835 1 Art Museum Records LSC.1835 Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections Title: Craft and Folk Art Museum records Creator: Craft and Folk Art Museum Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1835 Physical Description: 225 Linear Feet(550 boxes) Date (inclusive): circa 1965-1997 Abstract: The Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) and its predecessor, The Egg and The Eye Gallery, was an active part of "Museum Row" at 5814 Wilshire Blvd. on Los Angeles' Miracle Mile in the mid-Wilshire district, showing fine craft, international folk art, and design for over 30 years. It also became well known, starting in 1976, for its International Festival of Masks, a weekend event produced annually, co-sponsored by the City and County of L.A. The records collection documents the life of the institution beginning at the inception of The Egg and The Eye Gallery in 1965 and concluding at the end of 1997 when the Craft and Folk Art Museum closed temporarily. The collection consists of papers, publications, photographs, press clippings and media releases, slides, audiotapes, videotapes, films, memorabilia, and objects. The materials in its 550 document boxes and 56 oversized boxes record a historic period in California and American art and museum history when the way that objects, both traditional and contemporary, were displayed began to change, first being viewed solely as art forms in a gallery context and gradually evolving to include cultural information and community input. Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page. Language of Material: English . Conditions Governing Access Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page. Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed audiovisual materials. Audiovisual materials are not currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page. Conditions Governing Use Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Craft and Folk Art Museum records (Collection Number 1835). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA. Provenance/Source of Acquisition Gift of the Craft and Folk Art Museum, 1997. Processing Note Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices. Processed by Joan Benedetti, Heather Lowe, Linda Klouzal, and Michelle Arens in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), under the supervision of Kelley Wolfe Bachli, 2010. UCLA Catalog Record ID UCLA Catalog Record ID: 6352091 Biography/History The Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) and its predecessor, The Egg and The Eye Gallery, was an active part of "Museum Row" at 5814 Wilshire Blvd. on Los Angeles' Miracle Mile in the mid-Wilshire district, showing fine craft, international folk art, and design for over 30 years. It also became well known, starting in 1976, for its International Festival of Masks, a weekend event produced annually, co-sponsored by the City and County of L.A. The collection begins at the inception of Finding Aid for the Craft and Folk LSC.1835 2 Art Museum Records LSC.1835 The Egg and The Eye Gallery in 1965 and concludes in 1997, when the Craft and Folk Art Museum temporarily closed. Edith R. Wyle founded The Egg and The Eye Gallery in 1965, a commercial folk art and crafts gallery, which evolved into the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) 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.) The museum 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 showing architectural and furniture prototypes. For almost 20 years (1976 – 1995), it produced the International Festival of Masks, co-sponsored by the City and County of L.A., 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. Education was always an integral part of both the gallery's and the museum's programming, with lectures, demonstrations, workshops, programs in the schools, film series, storytelling, and many hands-on activities for adults and children; the educator's files include the many flyers, brochures, and clippings concerning all of these events. The importance of graphic design to the institution is reflected in the many professionally designed brochures, posters, newsletters, and catalogs that were produced. Exhibition installation design was equally important and is documented with thousands of slides and photographs. The registrar's files document the acquisition of the objects in the permanent collection and the physical and legal care taking of objects borrowed for exhibitions. Public relations was an essential aspect of both the gallery and the museum and the large files of media releases, clippings, and photographs document the many types of events sponsored by the museum. Early on a research library was organized to service the information and scholarly needs of curators, other staff, docents, volunteers, and the public, as well as acting as a depository for documents of the museum's history. The development files confirm the wide range of foundations, government agencies, and individuals that supported all of these programs. Administrative and board of trustees files record the decision-making processes that guided the institution over the first 32 years. After closing temporarily at the end of 1997 due to financial difficulties, the museum sold its permanent object collection at auction. Its library was given to the L.A. County Museum of Art Research Library and its institutional records to UCLA Library Special Collections. In the Spring of 1999, it regrouped and reopened in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, with an active exhibition and education program, at its original location at 5814 Wilshire Boulevard. Scope and Content The Craft and Folk Art Museum Records consist of 550 document boxes and 56 oversized boxes 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 inception 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. (Preservation of 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. Organization and Arrangement The CAFAM Records are divided into 21 record groups; each record group is subdivided into a number of series. The record