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Elyn Zimmerman papers

Archives of American Art

Object Details

Creator
Zimmerman, Elyn, 1945-
Names
Dicker, Ruth
Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922-1993
Gund, Agnes
Teraoka, Masami, 1936-
Varnedoe, Kirk
Occupation
Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
Installation artists -- California -- Los Angeles
Installation artists -- New York (State) -- New York
Topic
Women sculptors
Installations (Art)
Women artists
Provenance
The collection was donated in 2015-2024 by Elyn Zimmerman.
Creator
Zimmerman, Elyn, 1945-
See more items in
Elyn Zimmerman papers
Summary
The papers of sculptor and site-specific installation artist Elyn Zimmerman measure 41.4 linear feet and 1710.223 gigabytes, and date from 1967-2023. The collection documents the artist's life and work through correspondence, interviews, writings, project and commission files, exhibition files, teaching files, printed material, photographic material, and biographical material. Project and commission files comprise the majority of the collection and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally, including the original 1995 World Trade Center Memorial. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. Photographic material documents Zimmerman's work and personal life through color and black and white slides, transparencies, contact sheets, negatives, and prints. The papers include extensive born digital records, including interviews, digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations.
Biographical / Historical
Elyn Zimmerman (1945-) is a New York City and Los Angeles based sculptor best known for her large scale site-specific outdoor installations incorporating granite, water features, and landscape architecture. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Zimmerman moved to California for college, earning both her BFA and MFA from University of California, Los Angeles. While at UCLA, she studied with Richard Diebenkorn and Robert Irwin, and worked in photography, drawing, and site-specific installation. In 1978 she created Monarch's Trough for Artpark in Lewiston, New York, her first site-specific work using granite. For the next several decades Zimmerman would complete dozens of site-specific installations in public and private spaces across the United States, and submit proposals for dozens more. Working frequently with stone and granite, she developed a decades long relationship with a granite quarry in Cold Spring, Minnesota, which fabricated many of her designs. Zimmerman's clients have included the National Geographic Society, the Birmingham Art Museum, and the New York City Parks Department. In addition to her site-specific work, Zimmerman has had an extensive exhibition history, and has shown for many years with Gagosian Gallery. In 2016, Zimmerman was the recipient of the Isamu Noguchi Award. She has taught at Mills College, California Institute of the Arts, Harvard University, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Zimmerman was married to the late curator Kirk Varnedoe from 1978-2002.
Extent
41.4 Linear feet
1,710.223 Gigabytes
Date
1967-2023
Archival Repository
Archives of American Art
Identifier
AAA.zimmelyn
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Interviews
Citation
Elyn Zimmerman papers, 1967-2023. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 9 series. Series 1: Correspondence, 1978-2011 (3.7 linear feet; Box 1-4) Series 2: Interviews, 1986-2005 (0.2 linear feet; Box 100, 139) Series 3: Writings, Agendas, and Address Books, 1970-2003 (1.1 linear feet; Box 4-5, 128, 131, 139) Series 4: Project and Commission Files, 1970-2023 (22.8 linear feet, Box 5-15, 21-22, 100, 123-125, 128, 131, 139; OV 23-85, 109-116, 120-122, 126-127, 134, 136, 138, 141, 143, 144; RD 97-98; 0.223 gigabytes, ER01-04) Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1969-2018 (4.9 linear feet; Box 15-16, 20-21, 100, 103, 123, 128, 139; OV 86-96,105-108, 120, 137, 144;RD 99) Series 6: Teaching Files, 1970-1994 (0.4 linear feet; Box 16) Series 7: Printed Material, 1970-2018 (2.1 linear feet; Box 16-19, 100, 123, 139; OV 142) Series 8: Photographic Material, 1967-2018 (5.7 linear feet; Box 100-102, 123-125, 128-130, 139; OV 117-119) Series 9: Biographical Material, 1975-2020 (0.2 linear feet; Box 140; OV 142, 144)
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Hilary Price in 2018. The 2021 addition was processed by Jennifer E. Neal and Lewis Tio, and merged into the collection in 2022. Additions received in 2022 and 2023 were processed and merged into the collection by Sarah Mundy in 2023. The 2024 addition was processed and merged into the collection by Anna Rimel in 2025.
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
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Interviews
Scope and Contents
The papers of sculptor and site-specific installation artist Elyn Zimmerman measure 41.4 linear feet and 1710.223 gigabytes, and date from 1967-2023. The collection documents the artist's life and work through correspondence, interviews, writings, project and commission files, exhibition files, teaching files, printed material, photographic material, and biographical material. Project and commission files comprise the majority of the collection and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally, including the original 1995 World Trade Center Memorial. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. Photographic material documents Zimmerman's work and personal life through color and black and white slides, transparencies, contact sheets, negatives, and prints. The papers include extensive born digital records, including interviews, digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations. Correspondence is comprised predominately of received letters and fewer drafts and copies of outgoing letters. Notable correspondents include Zimmerman's late husband, curator Kirk Varnedoe, arts advocate Agnes Gund, and artists Ruth Dicker, Richard Diebenkorn, Kady Hoffman, and Masami Teraoka. Interviews include digital video recordings of Elyn Zimmerman discussing various public projects between 1986 and 2005. Writings include drafts of journal articles, a book mock-up, project notes, statements, and journals . Agendas and address books are filed with writings. Project and commission files comprise the bulk of the collection and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. The files include a small number of born digital records, including digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations. Exhibition files document Zimmerman's site-specific installations and exhibitions in a gallery and museum context. Files include correspondence, photographs, slides, statements, press releases, shipping information, and price lists. Teaching files document the many courses Zimmerman taught in painting, drawing, design, architecture, and landscape architecture. Items include syllabi, assignments, lecture notes, reading lists, and articles. Printed material primarily consists of items cataloging Zimmerman's career including exhibition announcements, catalogs, posters, and press clippings. Subject files were saved and collected by Zimmerman and are arranged at the end of the series. Photographic material document Zimmerman's installations of commissioned works, exhibitions, and other installations through color and black and white slides, negatives, contact sheets, prints, and digital photographs. Biographical material is primarily made of up of awards and certificates, scattered biographical information, and memorial material for late husband Kirk Varnedoe.
Restrictions
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1584630068241-1584630068283-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw907b8edfc-e9ed-4849-99fa-3bc8ec9991a6

In the Collection

Pages

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  • Sculptures 1991-1993 1

  • Mississippi Meanders 2019 NOMA 1

  • Award, Art Commission of the City of New York Excellence in Design

  • Philosophy

  • Gagosian Gallery (1998)

  • Capsouto Park, 2010, New York City Parks Department, New York, New York

  • Personal Photographs, Friends and Artists

  • Harvard University, Art and Landscape Architecture Course

  • Oversized Observing the Sites/Sights from Box 15, Folders 4-5

  • Biennale of Sydney (1976), Australia

  • Project Notes

  • Photographic Material

  • Baxter Art Gallery (1975)

  • Award, Noguchi Foundation Artist Award

  • Jewish Community Center Proposal, New York, New York

  • Kirk Varnedoe Memorial

  • Art, Robert Morris

  • Loyola Marymount University Proposal, Los Angeles, California

  • Palisades Project and Related Works, 1972-1981 (1982), Hudson River Museum

  • Exhibition Announcements and Event Invitations

  • Cold Spring Granite Co., Minnesota

  • Early Photography 1

  • Baxter Gallery, California Technical Institute of Technology Installation

  • Agendas

  • Archeology

  • Oversized Philadelphia Community College Proposal from Box 7, Folder 8

  • Oversized Natural Elements Sculpture Park Proposal from Box 6, Folder 5

  • Oversized Jewish Community Center Proposal from Box 12, Folders 1-2

  • Conduit, 1978, University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, Restoration

  • Memorial Brochures and Obituaries

  • Terrain, 1987, O'Hare International Center, Chicago, Illinois

  • Oversized Terrain from Box 6, Folders 21-23

  • Custom and Culture III (1979)

  • National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship

  • Birmingham Museum of Art

  • Press Clippings and Reviews

  • Jersey City State College Quad Proposal

  • Public Environments: the Art of Elyn Zimmerman (1988), Wave Hill

  • Conduit, 1978, University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

  • Exhibition Catalogs

  • University of Connecticut Proposal, Stamford, Connecticut

  • Agendas

  • Sudama/Marabar (2021), National Geographic, Washington, DC, Relocation

  • Southpark II Sculpture Proposal

  • "Nudes"

  • "Untitled" Graphite Works

  • Town Hall Proposal, Greenwich, Connecticut

  • Oversized World Trade Center Memorial, 1995, New York, New York, Oversized Plans

  • Mississippi Meanders, New Orleans Museum of Art Sculpture Garden

  • Mississippi Meanders 2019 NOMA

  • Oversized Campo from Box 10, Folders 10-11

  • Customs and Culture Part II (1979), US Customs House

  • Oversized Sightline/Access from Box 5, Folder 20

  • Plaza Proposal, Bethesda, Maryland

  • Crabtree Farm Project

  • Exhibition Announcements and Even Invitations

  • Oversized Sundial Project from Box 6, Folder 16

  • Embarcadero Promenade Proposal, San Francisco, California

  • Body Print, Drawings and Notes

  • Oversized Tetra from Box 11, Folders 5-7

  • Journal

  • Oversized Wa Marafiki Mkusanyiko from Box 13, Folders 2-4

  • World Trade Center Memorial, The New Yorker Magazine

  • The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt (2014), New York, New York

  • Equivalent Abstractions

  • Notes on Drawing

  • Diagrams / Paintings

  • Palisades Project Proposal, Palisades Park, New Jersey

  • Oversized Rental Gallery (1976) Box 15, Folder 9

  • Broken Glass Drawings and Information

  • Interviews

  • Tambo Proposal, Buhsnami Sculpture Park, Burton, Texas

  • FAPE - US Embassy Dar Es Sallam 2004 Assembly of Friends

  • Scholar's Rock, 2005, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, New Jersey

  • Source Material for Sculpture

  • Oversized Agate from Box 10, Folder 7

  • XX/YY (1996) 1

  • Mississippi Meanders 2019 NOMA 3

  • Press Clippings and Reviews

  • Science, General

  • Oversized Watercourse at Bentall from Box 13, Folders 13-14

  • AT&T Headquarters

  • Glass Paintings, Drawings

  • Personal Photographs, General

  • Art, Robert Irwin

  • Oversized AT&T Conference Center from Box 9, Folders 12-13

  • Oversized Observing the Sites/Sights from Box 15, Folders 4-5

  • Exhibition Announcements, Grounds for Sculpture

  • Rosen/Kent CT 2005 Archeos 2

  • Portals and Passages (1992), 65 Thompson Street

  • Digital Images of Construction

  • Oversized Salvio Pacheco Square Proposal from Box 7, Folder 11

  • XX+YY 1996 Gagosian, NYC; XX-Telfair Museum. 2006; XY-Constantines

  • Award, American Society of Landscape Architects Award

  • Project and Commission Files, Assorted

  • Mississippi Meanders, New Orleans Museum of Art Sculpture Garden

  • XX/YY (1996) 2

  • Oversized Rainier Bank Plaza Proposal from Box 6, Folder 14

  • Oversized World Trade Center Memorial from Box 10, Folders 2-6

  • Exhibition Catalogs

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Monarch's Trough, 1978, Artpark, Lewiston, New York
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