Collections : [Virginia Museum of Fine Arts]

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

VMFA Archives
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library
200 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220-4007
Primary Collecting Areas:
VMFA institutional records, Donor papers, Virginia Artists Archives, Oral histories, Artist subject files, Analog, and digital audiovisual collections
Description:

The Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library provides access to a wealth of rare and unique primary source materials for scholars, researchers, and the public.

The Archives consists of a diverse and growing collection of permanent materials, covering museum history from its beginnings in the 1930s until today. The Archives includes institutional records from over 25 museum departments, thousands of artist and subject files, as well as donated collections related to the museum and the history of art in Virginia. The Archives also recently launched the Virginia Artists Archives, a collecting initiative that aims to create a rich, diverse, and unprecedented collection of Virginia artists’ papers to increase awareness about the contributions of Virginia artists, both past and present.

POC: Roxanne Winfield
Phone: (804) 340-1497
Phone: (804) 340-1495
Start Over Repository Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Collection Beuford Smith Archives (SC-32) Date range 1972

Beuford Smith Archives (SC-32) 0.25 Linear Feet 1 box; 54 items

Smith, Beuford, 1941-
The collection helps document the formation of the Kamoinge Workshop in the early 1960s, including a notebook with minutes from their earliest meetings. Photographs from the collection show the early members of Kamoinge, and in particular focuses on the life of Louis H. Draper (1935-2002).
  1. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Series 1: Kamoinge Workshop 24 items 1 folder

This series consists of 24 items, including a notebook with the earliest minutes from the Kamoinge Workshop, an iconic image of the group in 1965-1966, materials from their 1972 exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem, member resumes, and photographs of meetings in the 1990s.

  1. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
  2. Beuford Smith Archives (SC-32)

Series 2: Louis Draper 30 items 1 folder

This series consists of 30 items, all photographs of Draper taken by Smith over the course of their 37 year friendship, as well as images taken by Smith documenting a project that resulted in the publication of the book Louis H. Draper: Selected Photographs.

  1. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
  2. Beuford Smith Archives (SC-32)

Content Warning

ARVAS is an aggregator of archival resources. ARVAS does not have control of the descriptive language used in our members’ finding aids.

Finding aids may contain historical terms and phrases, reflecting the shared attitudes and values of the community from which they were collected, but are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical or mental ability; religion; sex; and sexual orientation and gender identity.

Many institutions and organizations are in the process of reviewing and revising their descriptive language, with the intent to describe materials in more humanizing, inclusive, and harm-reductive ways. As members revise their descriptive language, their changes will eventually be reflected in their ARVAS finding aids.