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55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records

Archives of American Art

Object Details

Creator
55 Mercer St. Gallery
Names
55 Mercer St. Gallery
Charlap, Peter, 1949-
Gardner, Joan
Genaro, Irene
Gregg, Jon
Honig, Ethelyn
Ingram, Lisa
Provenance
Donated in 2007 by 55 Mercer Street Artists, Inc. via Ethelyn Honig.
Creator
55 Mercer St. Gallery
See more items in
55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records
Summary
55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records, 1939-2007, bulk 1970-2007, measure 5.1 linear feet. The records, which are incomplete with sizeable gaps, consist of administrative records, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, scrapbooks, guest books, and printed material that document one of the most successful and long lived artist run cooperative galleries in SoHo. The only item pre-dating 55 Mercer Artists, Inc. is a 1939 newspaper clipping in the artists' files.
Biographical / Historical
55 Mercer Artists, Inc., an artist-run alternative to commercial galleries, was founded as 55 Mercer Gallery - also known as 55 Mercer Street Gallery and 55 Mercer - in December 1969. The earliest of a second wave of co-operative galleries in New York City, it was one of the most successful and the longest-lived. Many of the founders and early members were active in the Art Workers' Coalition, a group formed to address artists' rights issues and promote the overhaul of the museum and gallery system to remove profit motives from art. Tom Parker, an artist friend acting on behalf of group members who aspired to open a co-operative gallery, rented the third floor of 55 Mercer Street. He reserved a room to use as a studio and sublet the remainder to the co-op. Two large galleries of nearly equal size were separated by a small, open office area, a layout that led to a tradition of tandem solo exhibitions or one large group show. The open, spare and worn space especially appealed to sculptors and attracted those who worked in large scale with recycled materials. The inaugural exhibition in early 1970 was a group show of the ten founding members: Alice Adams, Martin Bressler, Don Cole, Gloria Greenburg, Stan Kaplan, Christy Park, Stephen Rosenthal, L. Shreve Stevenson, and Merrill Wagner; during the first year, each member also had a solo exhibition. With haphazard arrangements and no publicity or gallery guide listings, reviews were not forthcoming. Nevertheless, by the end of its first year the gallery had established a reputation as a space "of artists, by artists, and for artists" and over the years presented some of the best exhibitions in SoHo. Membership was fluid. No particular style or philosophy was ever dominant, and members found unity in their focus on quality, antipathy to commercial galleries and insistence on freedom for member and guest artists alike. By the start of its second season, the gallery had the attention of critics and reviews were appearing regularly in art periodicals. When the co-operative gallery Ours closed at the end of 1970, Janet Fish, Diane Karol, Paul Tschinkel, and Frank Lincoln Viner were invited to join. With larger membership came the need for a definite exhibition schedule and greater organization. Over the next few years, meetings began to occur more frequently. By the mid 1970s the gallery began to receive funding from sources such as the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Officially incorporated as 55 Mercer Street Artists, Inc. in 1977, the organizations by-laws specified: "The corporation is a not-for-profit corporation whose purpose is to provide a facility for artists who seek to introduce their work to the public. The corporation maintains an exhibition space which it makes available for this purpose, both for its artists members, and for visiting artists. In addition, the corporation presents performances, discussions, workshops and other art-related events for the general public." A board of directors composed of artist members managed the affairs of the corporation assisted by a Membership Committee, Grants Committee, and Selection Committee that chose and scheduled exhibitions, Trustees began managing the building after the owner of the 55 Mercer Street died, and 55 Mercer Artists, Inc. received an eviction notice in early 2007. Legal representation was obtained and a loophole discovered, but declining membership and the poor physical condition of the facilities eventually prompted a decision to relocate. Some members chose to join other galleries. A core group of about a dozen 55 Mercer artists found a suitable space in Long Island City; after reorganizing as an artist-initiated not-for-profit gallery, they reopened in 2008 as M55 Mercer Art.
Function
Artist-run galleries -- New York (State)
Extent
5.1 Linear feet
Date
1939-2007
bulk 1970-2007
Archival Repository
Archives of American Art
Identifier
AAA.55mercga
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Visitors' books
Citation
55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records, 1939-2007, bulk 1970-2007. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 7 series: Series 1: Administrative Records, circa 1970-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear ft.) Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1971-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear ft.) Series 3: Artists' Files, 1939, 1973-2006 (Boxes 1-2; 0.6 linear ft.) Series 4: Financial Records, 1973-2006 (Boxes 2-3; 0.8 linear ft.) Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1977-1987 (Box 3; 0.3 linear ft.) Series 6: Guest Books, 1972-2007 (Boxes 3-5; 1.7 linear ft.) Series 7: Printed Material, 1973-2007 (Box 5, OV 6; 0.9 linear ft.)
Processing Information
The collection was processed to an intetmediate level and a finding aid produced by Catherine S. Gaines in 2009.
Rights
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Genre/Form
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Visitors' books
Scope and Contents
55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records, 1939-2007, bulk 1970-2007, measure 5.1 linear feet. The records, which are incomplete with sizeable gaps, consist of administrative records, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, scrapbooks, guest books, and printed material that document one of the most successful and long lived artist run cooperative galleries in SoHo. The only item pre-dating 55 Mercer Artists, Inc. is a 1939 newspaper clipping in the artists' files. Administrative records include correspondence, records of board committees, exhibition schedules, membership and mailing lists, and minutes. Exhibition files consist of slides and photographs of installations and individual works of art, small amounts of correspondence, notes, and lists of works shown. Artists' files consist of various combinations of correspondence, resumes, printed material, photographs and slides of art work of members and guest artists. Many artists are represented by just an item or two; files for Corliss Cavaliere, Peter Charlap, Joan Gardner, Irene Gennaro, Jon Gregg, Ethelyn Honig, and Lisa Ingram are more substantial. The majority of financial records concern membership dues, rent and exhibition fees received. Also included are sporadic banking records, paid bills, treasurers' reports, insurance information and tax records. Eight scrapbooks include exhibition announcements, publicity, reviews, miscellaneous printed material, photographs, and slides. Guest books consist of 22 volumes and loose pages that record gallery visitors, many of whom offered comments about the shows. Exhibition titles and dates are noted on the page for the day of each opening reception. Among the printed materials are exhibition announcements, catalogs, and publicity produced by 55 Mercer Artists, Inc.; copies of every exhibition announcement, catalog, and press release issued have not survived. Also found are articles about or mentioning 55 Mercer Artists, Inc., exhibition reviews, advertisements and event listings.
Restrictions
Use of original material requires an appointment.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503512771276-1503512771286-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96bbbdd18-60af-4900-b16b-1531e7ae37cd

In the Collection

Pages

  • « first
  • ‹ previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • Mailing Lists

  • "Intellects and Idiosyncrasies: An Exhibition of Sculpture; Unidentified Installation" (undated)

  • "David Hale; Sarah Jackson; Stanford Kay; Scott White" (1987 July 28-August 22)

  • "Digital Traces" (circa 1999 or later)

  • Minutes

  • Fintz, Jeanette R. - Fowlkes, Stephan

  • Volume 5: 1988 June - 1989 February

  • Volume 22 and Loose Pages

  • Gregg, Jon

  • Volume 9: 1993 April - 1994 April

  • Slide Box 3: Gregg, Jon, cont'd. - Karasek, Cynthia

  • Dues, Rent and Exhibition Fees Received

  • "Upper New York State Artists" (1981 January 14-31)

  • Black Fish Gallery Portland, OR Group Exhibition (2006 August 6-26)

  • Members and Guest Artists

  • Volume 15: 2001 February - October

  • Davis, Bruce - Zinnes, Alice; Unidentified

  • Volumer 4: 1985 June - 1988 June

  • Slide Box 5: Andrews, Benny - McCabe, Sigrid

  • Coffey, Susanna - Derkatsch, Erik

  • Membership Lists

  • Grants Committee - New York City, Department of Cultural Affairs Emergency Funding

  • Bresnick, Anna Broell

  • Scrapbook 5: "55 Mercer, 1982-83 Season," Disbound

  • Miscellaneous Artists Slides

  • Volume 1: 1977 September - 1978 January

  • Dues, Rent and Exhibition Fees Received

  • Bressler, Martin - Capobianco, D.

  • Selection Committee - Letters of Intent and Show Contracts

  • Membership Committee, Contracts and Correspondence

  • "#2 Smart Art Too" (1985 January 8-26)

  • "Bob Chaplin; Judy Linn" (1987 November 10-28)

  • Exhibition Schedules and Lists

  • Scrapbook 1: Untitled, Disbound

  • Volume 3: 1981 December - 1984 August

  • Schuselka, Elfi - Shiihara, Tomatsu

  • "George Grant" (1987 April)

  • Administrative Records

  • Handzel, Jane - Hochhausen, Bill

  • Selection Committee - Applications; Exhibition Proposals

  • South Dakota Artists (1982 August-September)

  • Dorman, Joshua

  • Charlap, Peter

  • Scrapbook 3: "55 Mercer, 1980-81 Season," Disbound

  • Volume 17: 2003 October - 2004 March

  • By-Laws

  • "Judy Linn" (1986 October 21-November 8)

  • Volume 2: 1980 March - 1981 November

  • "Alan Finkel" (April 23-May 11)

  • "1987 Christmas Invitational Group Exhibition" (1987 December 22-1987 January 9)

  • Volume 11: 1998 September - 1999 May

  • Banking - Citibank Statements and Check Register

  • Slide Box 4: Lable, Eliot - Zimmerman, Salli

  • Robert Rodrigues Installation (1975 September)

Pages

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"Merrill Wagner" (1976 October 16-November 3)
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