Records of Fiberarts Magazine

The records of Fiberarts Magazine consists of documents dated 1970 to 2001, with the bulk falling from 1976 to 1993. The collection contains artist files and production files of the magazine.

The artist files make up the majority of the collection and contain the slide library, submissions for the first four Design Books and the Surface Designer's Art book, as well as articles submitted for publication, correspondence between the editorial staff and artists, newsletters from fiber groups and art organizations around the country, and background information on galleries, artists, and fiber techniques. The filing system was not consistently applied to the files that contain submitted articles and reviews as they may be filed under the artist the article is about, the gallery where the show was held, or by the author of the article.

Files that were part of the slide library include the artist name, medium (if known), and state or country of residence (if known). Materials include correspondence with artists, writers, and gallery owners; audiovisual materials include photographs, transparencies, negatives, and, mostly, 35 mm slides. In the early days of the magazine (1976-1977) artist interviews were conducted by the magazine staff and a few audiotapes of the interviews are included. Some articles and reviews, both solicited and un-solicited, are included in draft form as is the related correspondence and visual materials, but very few final articles are included. Some of the files appear incomplete, especially those that contain submissions for the four Design Books. Slides or pictures will be included but there is no corresponding entry and vice versa. Files from the middle of the P's through the middle of the R's are missing.

Production files include release forms, drafts of articles, correspondence between the editorial staff and authors and artists, magazine layout and proofs, a few photographs and slides that would have accompanied an article, and tear sheets. Only a couple of published magazine issues are included. Of note are the files on "The Creative Process;" seven well-known fiber artists were each sent a box of the same materials and were asked to create a work of art using at least a third of the materials in the box. The resulting works and associated articles were featured in the November/December 1984 issue, and a traveling exhibit was later created.

Not included in the collection are copies of Fiberarts magazine, except the few found in the production files, books published by Fiberarts, business records of the magazine, and artist or production files past 1993, except for a few scattered emails.