MoMA PS1 Archives

Series IV: Workspace and National and International Studio Program Records
 Series V: Education Records
 Series VI: WPS1 Records
 Series VII: Records of Founder and Director Alanna Heiss
 Series VIII: Development Office Records
 Series IX: Administrative Records

in The Museum of Modern Art Archives

The Museum of Modern Art
Museum Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
moma.org/learn/resources/archives

Funding for the processing and creation of a finding aid for the MoMA PS1 Archives was generously provided by the Leon Levy Foundation.

© 2012 The Museum of Modern Art. All rights reserved.

The Museum of Modern Art, Publisher

Finding aid prepared by Jonathan Lill with Alana Miller.

Machine-readable finding aid created by Jonathan Lill. Description is in English.

Historical Note

MoMA PS1 is an internationally known exhibition space dedicated to exploring new art and ideas in the unique environment of a rehabilitated 19th century school building. It is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit art spaces in the country and since its founding in 1971 has nurtured artists' careers through its studio program, introduced and promoted important artists through solo exhibitions and programs, and explored historical movements and emerging trends in the art world through large group exhibitions. Throughout its history PS1 has devoted significant space to photography, video, film, dance, performance, and other media, while continuing to champion the work of painters and sculptors. The history of MoMA PS1 as documented in the archives spans important eras in the New York art world and history, from the cultural rebirth of SoHo and the growth of commercial galleries in the 1970s, to the political and social turmoil of the 1980s, the internationalization of the art market and community in the 1990s and an era of new technological interconnectedness in the 2000s. Through each successive era PS1 has remained a vital center for contemporary art in New York City.

Following is a brief history of the institution. Researchers interested in the history of MoMA PS1 should also consult Archives' web pages, particularly the chronology of important events.

1971–1972: The Founding of the I.A.U.R.

The Institute for Art and Urban Resources (I.A.U.R.)—the organization that would become MoMA PS1—can trace its origin to before 1970. It was then Alanna Heiss worked in London for the organization S.P.A.C.E. securing derelict warehouse space in the St. Katherine Docks area for use as artist studios. Heiss returned to America intent on creating a similar program in New York City. By 1971, Heiss held the position of program director for the Municipal Arts Society of New York (MAS,) an organization dedicated to architectural preservation and urban planning. She was also part of a social circle of artists, many of whom were involved with 112 Greene Street, founded by Jeffrey Lew in 1970 and credited as the first non-profit art space.

In May 1971 Heiss organized for the MAS a series of concerts and events in City Hall Park to commemorate the birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge. At the same time she took advantage of nearby piers and space underneath the bridge to organize a much more informal three-day arts festival. She invited artist friends to install artworks onsite while others staged performances. The Brooklyn Bridge Event (May 21–May 24, 1971) was soon considered the I.A.U.R.'s originating event, even though the organization would not be incorporated for another year.

Heiss began scouting properties that could be secured by the MAS and then sublet to artists, a program she christened Workspace. The first property that was taken possession of, in 1972, was a privately-owned warehouse at 10 Bleecker Street, between Elizabeth Street and Bowery in Manhattan. That May a solo show by the sculptor Richard Nonas became the I.A.U.R.'s second official exhibition. By August it had been decided that the MAS was not the best organization to administer Workspace and on August 7, 1972 articles of incorporation were signed for the Institute for Art and Urban Resources with Alanna Heiss as director.

1972–1976: Growth of the I.A.U.R.

The I.A.U.R. negotiated for other studio spaces in 1972 in addition to 10 Bleecker Street. The I.A.U.R. gained office space at 11 John Street in Manhattan; a set of spaces was secured for artists inside the 80th Police Precinct on Washington Avenue in Brooklyn; and an industrial space was leased from the city in Coney Island to serve as a sculpture workshop for a small number of artists including Jene Highstein and Richard Nonas. Alana Heiss also spent a significant portion of 1972 trying to unsuccessfully secure the large building #13 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. And it is likely that by the end of 1972 negotiations for the Clocktower were already underway.

108 Leonard Street (346 Broadway) in lower Manhattan had been designed by McKim, Meade & White in 1870 and was topped by a clock tower accessible only by a spiral staircase from the building's thirteenth floor (itself accessible only by stairs.) The I.A.U.R. occupied the tower and adjoining spaces in 1973, named it the Clocktower Gallery, and opened the first exhibition Joel Shapiro: Sculpture on April 12th.

In the summer of 1973 more space had been gained when three adjacent properties at 22 Reade Street were secured from the city for studios and exhibition and performance space. It was christened the Idea Warehouse but it would not be the site of any public activity until early 1975. The most significant exhibition held there was the series of performances and exhibition Ideas at the Idea Warehouse (June 16–July 11, 1975.)

Meanwhile the series of exhibitions Collectors of the Seventies had launched at the Clocktower with the first ever exhibition of works from the collection of Dorothy and Herb Vogel. There would be four more exhibitions and a set of nine documentary videos produced in the series. Also in spring of 1975 word was received that the First Ward school building, or Public School No. 1, in Long Island City, Queens, was possibly available for use.

1976: P.S. 1 and Rooms

The P.S.1 building had ceased being a school in 1963 and used only as storage by the city. By 1975 it was in danger of being sold and demolished. The negotiations for the I.A.U.R. to occupy P.S. 1 continued through the next year. Heiss had estimates prepared for the costs of cleaning and making minimal necessary repairs to the building and had secured funds to pay for the work. A twenty-year lease was signed on April 22nd and the first exhibition, Rooms (June 9–June 26, 1976,) opened six weeks later. To stage the show the I.A.U.R. invited seventy-eight artists to participate, assigned or had them select a room or space in the building, and let them free to install work they brought in, build a new work on site, or alter the site to create a work. To celebrate the opening of the exhibition and the building, the I.A.U.R. staged a benefit gala, the P.S. 1 Prom, elected a prom king and queen (Herb and Dorothy Vogel) and had a high school band provide dance music. A catalogue documenting the exhibition was published nearly a year later.

After Rooms closed, many of the artists stayed and rented studio space in the building but the I.A.U.R. lacked a long-term plan for the building. The casual administration of the Workspace program had led to non-occupancy of supposedly rented-out space, non-payment of rents by cash strapped artists, and other problems. The large size of the building created large demands for funding, maintenance, and administration. Discussions began in the summer of reforming the Workspace program and of creating other programming solutions for the building. Only a handful of performances and one other group exhibition, A Month of Sundays (September 19–October 10, 1976) were staged in P.S. 1 that year.

In December a fire at the Idea Warehouse forced the I.A.U.R. to give up that space. The Institute had disassociated itself from 10 Bleecker Street and returned the Coney Island site to the city, thus reducing the number of spaces to P.S. 1 and the Clocktower. Though the I.A.U.R. may have expected to continue finding new spaces for artists, if only for limited times, the acquisition of space had in fact come to an end.

1977–1979: An Increase in Programming

1977 saw the implementation of new programming produced by the discussions of the previous year. In January the first special projects opened. A set of rooms in the building, most or all on the second floor, were individually assigned to selected artists who then installed their artwork without supervision. Between ten and twenty artists usually participated in the program each season; they received mention in the seasonal press release and the I.A.U.R. produced a postcard for their show.

Another change was the transformation of the Workspace program into the National and International Studio Program. The National Program featured a juried selection process and charged selected artists a reduced rent for a year's tenancy. The International Program negotiated contracts with national cultural organizations of several countries. Those organizations pre-selected artists for final approval by the I.A.U.R., paid a fee for the studio, and supplied a stipend for the artist's stay in the United States. While these studio program changes were begun in 1977, the program formalized slowly. Through the next half decade national artists frequently rented studios for more than one year and initially most were still from New York City, though over time fewer applicants were familiar to the Institute. International participation grew slowly and comprised only a handful of artists in this time. Furthermore, it wasn't until 1984 that the national and international studio artists showed their work in a single annual group exhibition with a catalogue. Previously there had only been small group shows or individual artists had filtered into the Special Projects program or otherwise staged small exhibitions.

1977 also saw the formalization of the exhibition calendar for P.S. 1. The schedule featured four exhibition seasons, fall, early winter (November and December,) late winter (January and February,) and spring. Special projects, group exhibitions and other programs would share a single opening date. By 1981 the Institute switched over to a more consistent three season cycle of fall, winter, and spring. Meanwhile the Clocktower operated on a more irregular monthly or bimonthly rotation of exhibitions. Until 1997 no exhibitions were held during the summer months.

In the fall of 1978 another major programming initiative debuted. The Interdisciplinary or Multidisciplinary Program. A set of rooms in the school building were reserved each season for small curated exhibitions focused on specific media including film, video, photography, performance, dance, fashion, poetry, and architecture. Often the same individuals, such as Leandro Katz for film and Hollywood di Russo for fashion, curated their specific media for many years in a row.

Curated solo exhibitions and large group shows continued among these other programming initiatives. Significant group exhibitions in the late seventies include A Painting Show (May 2–May 29, 1977,) New York Avant-Garde/Works and Projects of the Seventies (October 9–November 6, 1977,) Indoor/Outdoor Sculpture Show (April 16–May 21, 1978,) and Sound (September 30–November 18, 1979) while solo exhibitions and programs at the P.S. 1 and the Clocktower included works by Jacki Apple, Jennifer Bartlett, Robert Ryman, Keith Sonnier, Min Tanaka, and many others.

The 1980s: International Activities

This pattern of programming would continue through the decade. Each exhibition season offered Special Projects, Interdisciplinary Projects, an exhibition of studio program participants, and curated group exhibitions and solo shows. The formal arrangement of Interdisciplinary Programming would stop by the end of the decade though sections such as architecture and fashion had ceased earlier. But Special Projects, studio program exhibitions, and the basic exhibition calendar persisted into the 1990s. During this period however the I.A.U.R. grew its involvement with international art. One source of involvement was the growth of the International Studio Program, but across the decade the Institute staged a succession of large and small exhibitions focused on art from other countries. One of the first such shows was Icebreakers: Contemporary Swedish Expressionists (November 11–December 11, 1982) followed the next year by Expressions: New Art from Germany (September 25–November 20, 1983) which helped introduce painters such as Georg Baselitz and Anselm Kiefer to an American audience. The Knot: Arte Povera at P.S. 1 (October 6–December 15, 1985) served the same role for contemporary Italian artists while in the spring of that same year exhibitions of Swedish photography, Mexican traditional art, and new art from Switzerland were held at P.S. 1. In 1986 Alanna Heiss curated an exhibition of the sculptor Isamu Noguchi at the 42nd Venice Biennale and in 1990 the exhibition Casinò Fantasma (May 24–July 15, 1990) at the 44th Venice Biennale. Exhibitions of international art and curatorial activities abroad remained an important part of the Institute through the 2000s.

The Clocktower continued presenting solo exhibitions (two at a time usually for a month run each) with occasional group shows and in the later 1980s staged a series of multi-part exhibitions examining a particular theme from multiple angles. These included the 1987–1988 four part The Pop Project; the 1988–1989 four part Here and There: Travels; the 1989 five part The Periphery; and the three part series CommuNYcation in 1990. The exhibition series concept was also carried out at P.S. 1 with 1987's Out of the Studio and 1988's Brazil Projects.

Finally, in 1988, the Institute and Art for Urban Resources changed its name to the Institute for Contemporary Art, P.S. 1 and the Clocktower Gallery. Despite using the name I.A.U.R. for sixteen years, the names of the locations, P.S. 1 and the Clocktower, seemed to be more commonly used. In 1976 and sporadically afterwards the I.A.U.R. had referred to P.S. 1 as Project Studios One and in the 1980s the name P.S. 1 Museum was tried out, but neither appellation persisted. Likewise now; despite the name change evidence is scant that the name Institute for Contemporary Art was much used practically.

The 1990s: Renovation and Reopening

The 1990s began much as the 1980s had proceeded. Significant exhibitions early in the decade included David Hammons: Rousing the Rubble, 1969–1990 (December 16, 1990–February 10, 1991) and Dennis Oppenheim: And the Mind Grew Fingers (December 8, 1991–February 9, 1992)—both of which travelled to other venues— and the group show Slow Art: Painting in New York Now (April 26–June 21, 1992.) Alanna Heiss curated a tribute to John Cage, The Swift Sound of Things: Cage & Co. at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993. That fall P.S. 1 staged Stalin's Choice: Soviet Socialist Realism 1932–1956 (November 21, 1993–February 27, 1994.) Comprised entirely of works borrowed from institutions in the former Soviet Union during a period of political instability, the exhibition was a tremendous feat of planning and labor. Alanna Heiss' already busy European travel schedule was only compounded by Tunnel of Art, her project to mark the opening of the Channel Tunnel by bringing together artists for onsite conversations, and her curatorial work for the 1995 Lausanne Biennial in Switzerland.

In 1994 P.S. 1 began shutting its galleries for a long-planned and much needed renovation. When the building was first occupied in 1976 only the bare minimum of renovation was done. In the years since, P.S.1 had suffered chronic boiler issues, failing windows, flooding, and other structural deficiencies. The building also lacked an elevator, ramps, and loading dock for accessibility and art installing. The renovation designed by architect Frederick Fisher addressed those issues and also created space for a café and bookstore. Most importantly, Fisher's design turned the paved parking lot surrounded by a chain-link fence into a walled courtyard that served as the new main entry way. Previously, the public entrance was a small door on the building's western side that opened into a narrow stairwell. Now the public crossed the courtyard, ascended a wide stairs and entered through a bank of doors into a newly created foyer. The work was completed over the next three years. A handful of exhibitions appeared in the building in 1994 but none in 1995 and 1996. P.S. 1 also changed its name once again in advance of the reopening, now calling itself P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center.

The reopening in October 1997 was a significant event in the New York's cultural scene and produced a vast amount of national and international press coverage. Over two hundred artists participated in the ten separate group and solo exhibitions that opened on the same day. And with the reopening came new programs and initiatives. P.S. 1 had occasionally run educational programs for children and students but now ran more continuous and better funded classes and programs in renovated basement space. For the first time the exhibition calendar was year-round rather than simply spring, fall, and winter. To accompany summer exhibitions, in 1998 P.S. 1 staged the first series of weekend dance and music parties it named Warm Up and laid the foundation of what by 1999 developed into the Young Architects Program. The courtyard was also used for outdoor film programs and a themed family and community day of activities.

1999–Present: The Merger with MoMA and Beyond

In February 1999, still energized from the reopening a year before, P.S. 1 announced its merger with The Museum of Modern Art. The merger would be a slow ten-year process and was designed so that P.S. 1 would retain significant independence from the Museum. The merger provided P.S. 1 with greater financial security, administrative support, and access to MoMA's development resources. In return, MoMA demonstrated its continuing dedication to contemporary art by gaining an outlet for exhibiting more experimental artwork and for featuring programming by younger and emerging artists. The main visible sign of the merger in 1999 was Philip Johnson's Dance Pavilion the architect designed for that summer's Warm Up. Greater New York (February 27–May 30, 2000) was the first significant cooperative exhibition between the institutions. As a survey of young and emerging local artists, assembling the exhibition required a team of MoMA and PS1 curators to make numerous studio visits and sort through portfolios of hundreds of possible participants. In 2002, while rebuilding and expanding the 53rd street location, MoMA opened temporary galleries in Queens within walking distance of P.S. 1 offering more opportunities for cross-promotion and cooperative programming.

Through the 1990s the Clocktower Gallery had held fewer and fewer exhibitions (though they increased slightly in 1996 when P.S. 1 was closed.) The space was instead used as work space for the National and International Studio Program which also continued to occupy space at P.S. 1. The Clocktower's fitness for exhibitions was worsened by heightened security concerns in downtown Manhattan following the September 11th terror attacks, and in the first years of the new decade the studio program itself was being brought to a close. The likely reasons for ending the program include a greater number of similar programs in New York and around the country, scarcer funding, and a change in institutional priorities and interests. The National Studio Program ceased in 2003 and the International Program ended the following year with the exhibition Visa for Thirteen (April 25–June 1, 2004.) The Clocktower was refurbished and in 2004 Alanna Heiss began a new program there, an internet radio station called WPS1 featuring programs by and about artists.

In 2008 the merger with MoMA was complete and that December Alanna Heiss retired as Director. She retained use of the Clocktower Gallery and continued operating WPS1, now renamed Art International Radio. Heiss also resumed physical exhibitions in the downtown space.

In 2009 Klaus Biesenbach was named Director, only the second in the institution's history, and in 2010 the name was changed again, to MoMA PS1. Biesenbach initiated a variety of new programming including Sunday Sessions in the outdoor performance dome, the "Summer School" educational program, as well as a general increase in the amount of performance and other events at PS1, resembling the variety and breadth of activity of the institution in the 1970s. Warm Up and YAP continue as annual events amid an active exhibition program, and the institution remains a leading center of contemporary art in New York City and the world.

A Note on Names

MoMA PS1 was founded as the Institute for Art and Urban Resources (I.A.U.R.) in 1972, the articles of incorporation being signed more than a year after The Brooklyn Bridge Event and months after exhibitions began at 10 Bleecker Street. The I.A.U.R. name was not officially superseded until 1988 and still existed in some legal documents through 1999. After the P.S. 1 school building opened in 1976 and only the Clocktower Gallery remained as an additional exhibition space, the institution came to be informally referred to by those names, either one or both together depending on the context, and this practiced continued through the 2000s. Even today, as the full name MoMA PS1 becomes more commonly used, the shorter term PS1 may still be predominant. Only when the MoMA PS1 name became official in 2010 did the periods disappear from the orthography, previously it was always spelled P.S. 1.

The MoMA PS1 Archives is so called in keeping with archival practice of using the most recent institutional name represented in the collection. In the finding aid the name I.A.U.R. is used in conjunction with any activities prior to the opening of the P.S. 1 school building in 1976. After that point the name P.S. 1 is used when discussing the entire organization, and that name or the Clocktower used when referring to activities at the specific location. The name MoMA PS1 and the abbreviation PS1 are used when referring to the organization's current activities or when reflecting on institutional history from a present-day perspective. Some inconsistencies may yet persist despite efforts to standardize usage.

Scope and Content

The MoMA PS1 Archives is the comprehensive organizational records of PS1 starting with the very beginnings of the founding organization, the Institute for Art and Urban Resources (I.A.U.R.), in 1971. The records provide extensive important documentary evidence of an institution that was in the vanguard of non-profit spaces and at the heart of the 1970s and 1980s New York art world, and that continues to be a vital center for the exploration and exhibition of contemporary art to this day. Documentation of particular historical significance in the Archives includes records of the institution's founding and growth in the early 1970s; exhibition and curatorial records for nearly nine hundred exhibitions and events over thirty-five years; records of the press and communications department, materials documenting the National and International Studio Program and the publications program, and records of the founder and director Alanna Heiss. Additional series contain records of educational activities, the WPS1 internet radio station, and general administrative records, for a total of nine major series, each broken down into various subseries as dictated by the records. Brief descriptions of each series follow below. For more specific descriptions, please consult the scope and content note at the beginning of each series and subseries.

Series I is the primary group of records of exhibitions and curatorial activities and forms one quarter of the entire collection. Common records in Subseries I.A, general records, include contracts and correspondence with artists and curators, checklists, press releases, installation photography, exhibition proposals, internal memos and scheduling documents, installation records, artist CVs and artwork photography, articles and other research materials, artists' statements and curatorial statements for brochures and public materials. Loan forms and lender correspondence, condition reports, insurance checklists and shipping and crating documents are frequently present. Some exhibitions were developed elsewhere and shown at PS1 or created at PS1 and then travelled to other venues. In those cases common documentation here includes the marketing packages for the shows, contracts, shipping documents, photographs, checklists, and other documents of other appearances. There are some files present on unrealized exhibitions and files received from outside individuals and organizations of unrealized or unrelated exhibitions. Series I.B contains audio, video, and various digital files related to exhibitions. Much of the material may be actual artworks or pieces of works and been used in exhibitions or collected of possible inclusion in a show or simply as research. A small number of recordings were created by PS1 to document exhibitions or for other purposes, but on the whole this series is comprised of received or collected materials.

Series II contains the extensive records of the press office and communications activities. Subseries II.A is the primary run of press files containing press releases, news clippings, advertisements and exhibition ephemera such as postcards and seasonal brochures, installation photography, artwork photography as well as collected articles and other press on the institution and staff. Subseries II.B is a smaller set of press working files. Along with some material similar to the previous subseries, this group is more likely to contain preliminary drafts of press releases, correspondence and other documents related to the development of publicity materials, some publication documents and exhibition texts, and reports, memoranda, and other general institutional materials. Subseries II.C is a set of audio and video recordings. Some may have been produced by PS1, perhaps for press distribution, but most are received copies of news reports or other similar publicity about the institution. Additional subseries consist of a range of exhibition posters produced by PS1 from their earliest days through the 2000s, and a very small group of merchandise, most produced in relation to summer Warm Up events.

Series III contains records of the publication activities of the institute which from the earliest days emphasized producing exhibition catalogues and monographs to serve as permanent records of exhibitions. The main group of records, subseries III.A, includes such documentation as contracts, essay and other text drafts, correspondence with contributors, artwork and installation photography used for the catalogues and newsletters, materials concerning publishers and distribution. This series also contains records of newsletter publication and some ephemera production. Subseries III.B is more historically important, containing surviving documentation for an unrealized publication documenting the first five years of the I.A.U.R. up to and including Rooms in 1976. An outside editor conducted interviews with studio and exhibition participants and gathered photographs and other documentation, some of which was not previously in the institution's possession. Work ceased in 1980 without publication. Documents here include numerous copies and drafts of interview transcripts, early installation photographs and exhibition ephemera, as well as other documents,

Series IV is the record of the studio program from the early years of informal studio rental to the more rigorously administered National and International Studio Program. Application files on individual participants dominate and may contain applications and recommendations, contracts, CVs and portfolios, and some catalogue and exhibition material. Contracts, correspondence, memos, and other documents are present for the international program which was based on relationships with foreign cultural organizations. Additional documents include miscellaneous administrative documents and materials regarding the application and panel selection process.

Series V contains the extant records of educational programs and activities at PS1. Such programs began in the 1980s but were irregularly occurring. A larger, better subsidized program began after the institution reopened in 1997 and continued until around 2005. The records here are predominantly from the later period and include grant applications and reports and program descriptions, administrative materials from the various programs, photographs, and other documentation of activities.

In 2004 Alanna Heiss started an internet radio station called WPS1 in the then dormant Clocktower space. Series VI is a small set of records documenting this activity and includes programming recordings, publicity and promotional documents, program schedules and participant lists, with some other materials.

Series VII holds the records of Alanna Heiss and encompasses her entire range of activities as founder and director of PS1. The series is divided into five sections. Subseries VII.A is correspondence, while subseries VII.B contains records of Heiss's curatorial activities both at PS1 and at other venues. Subseries VII.C is composed of files of lectures, symposia, and other external activities Heiss participated in as an internationally known curator and leader in the world of nonprofit art spaces. Subseries VII.D is a small set of files relating to Heiss's extensive travels on institution business while the final subseries, VII.G, is composed of general and miscellaneous administrative and programming materials, and institutional documents.

Series VIII contains records of development, trustees, and membership. The 1970s witnessed the growth of government funding for the arts, particularly through the National Endowment for the Arts but also through state institutions. PS1 was a major benefactor of this new largesse, but also relied on more traditional support such as a board of trustees and an actively cultivated group of patrons and donors. Subseries VIII.A holds records particularly of the board of trustees and contains many files of meeting agendas and minutes along with reports and meeting-related administrative materials. Subseries VIII.B is development special event and exhibition files that contain materials related to specific fundraising events and those activities undertaken for particular exhibitions. Subseries VIII.C and VIII.D are grant application files for the National Endowment of the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. Both series contain extensive applications files as well as grant reports and updates, correspondence with the agencies, and other records. Through these files one can see how exhibition proposals developed over time and find important evidence of projects that were planned but never realized. Subseries VIII.E contains records of the patrons council, a group of steady contributors, and the membership program. The records display strategies PS1 undertook to fund its growth as it transitioned into a mature, persistent institution. Subseries VIII.F through VIII.H are separate groups of files devoted to individual supporters, nonprofit philanthropic organizations, and corporate donors. In these files are records of giving histories, particular instances of support, and request letters and other communications from the institution seeking support. The final subseries, VIII.I, contains miscellaneous and administrative development files, as well as memos, reports, and other institutional documents.

The final series in the collection holds general administrative files. Series IX collects administrative records from different eras and institution staff and provides views into the operation of all aspects of PS1. Subseries IX.A is devoted to correspondence from different program heads and administrators. Subseries IX.B is a group of files on other cultural organizations and the community of institutions PS1 belonged to while subseries IX.C comprises files on local government and community organizations and concerns PS1's relationship to Long Island City and Queens. Subseries IX.D contains records relating to the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA.) The DCA was PS1's main support, providing its operating budget, paying for capital projects and improvements, and holding the lease to the P.S. 1 school building. The bulk of these records concern budget requests and reports with some other files. Subseries IX.E is related as it holds building and renovation files. The P.S. 1 school building was notoriously dilapidated and its structural problems persisted despite repeated repairs and stop gap efforts. Records here concern issues like asbestos removal and boiler repair. But the larger portion of this subseries concerns the major renovations and rehabilitation undertaken between 1994 and 1997 and the second phase of activity occurring after the 1997 reopening. Bid books, reports, memos, and other technical documents predominate. Subseries IX.F is primarily a small set of financial reports prepared by an outside auditor recapping successive fiscal year finances. The final subseries, IX.G, collects miscellaneous and assorted administrative materials.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

The records are open for research except for the following restricted materials. Records of the Board of Trustees and associated committees are closed to the public along with all files relating to specific individual, corporate, and non-profit donors. These files include all of series VIII.A and series VIII.E through VIII.H. All primary building files, series IX.E, are also restricted. Among other records those that are permanently closed to the public include loan forms, condition reports and damage documentation, exhibition contracts, and artwork shipping and return documents. Documents that discuss or relate to an artwork's value, such as insurance checklists, are closed for twenty-five years from the date of creation. Additionally, a small number of personnel record files have been restricted. As necessary, restricted materials have been removed from folders and entire folders removed from the publicly accessible files though those files' descriptions remain in the finding aid. If Museum staff wish to view any of these materials they should contact the Museum Archives.

Due to condition and concerns about durability, all Umatic cassettes in the collection are closed to staff and the public. Other audio and video recordings and other digital files may be inaccessible or unplayable due to format without being noted as such.

Ownership and Literary Rights

The MoMA PS1 Archives are the physical property of The Museum of Modern Art. Rights to work produced during the normal course of PS1 business resides with The Museum of Modern Art. Literary rights including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.

Related Material

Because of MoMA PS1's long exhibition history materials concerning artists who passed through its doors may be found throughout other collections in the Museum Archives. The Museum Library possesses copies of every PS1 publication as well as catalogues of other shows that were held at MoMA PS1. Outside the Museum, the Getty Research Institute holds, in the Long Beach Museum of Art Video Archive, copies of the six of the Collectors of the Seventies video documentaries (see I.B.1 through I.B.9.) This is the only other known publicly accessible collection of those recordings. In 2010, the Archives of American Art (AAA) conducted an oral history interview with Alanna Heiss as part of the Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project. That transcript will be available on the AAA website.

Separated Material

Catalogues, ephemera, and other printed materials, when duplicates existed or the materials were not associated with work files or other records, were given to the Museum Library for retention or dispersal.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Long version: MoMA PS1 Archives, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.

Short version: MoMA PS1, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY.

Provenance

The records constituting the MoMA PS1 Archives were held in storage by MoMA PS1 in the PS1 school building in Long Island City, Queens. Records created prior to the opening of that building in 1976, and records created and used at the lower Manhattan Clocktower Gallery after 1976, were at some point relocated to the Queens building for storage and use. Within the school building different spaces were used as offices at different times and records were occasionally moved around and removed from offices for storage. During the closing and renovation from 1994 and 1997 evidence shows a concerted effort was made to pack and label records for safekeeping. From all these causes, and despite intentions to the contrary, a large quantity of the records lost their original order and identification. As file drawers of records were packed into boxes those boxes were often inadequately labeled and then separated from each other over time. Records of one activity or department were dispersed and intermingled at a box level with records from other activities and departments. In contrast, a small fraction of the records, primarily records of the press office, development, and some records of the director and administration, had been retained in filing cabinets in their offices of origin and in consequence retained a significant degree of original order.

Between December 2008 and February 2009 the project archivist surveyed the records in situ to identify all records considered to be of archival value. In March 2009 approximately 450 linear feet of material was removed from the PS1 building to Museum Archives storage in Long Island City. Curatorial and other records dating from after 2005 were retained by PS1. In August 2011 archives staff returned to PS1 to survey records displaced and uncovered by recent office moves and removed an additional thirty-five feet of records. MoMA PS1 is currently being integrated into the museum's records management program and all future records of archival value will enter the Museum Archives from the records management cycle.

Processing and Condition Information

The bulk of the collection is less than forty years old and thus the collection as a whole is in good condition. In processing, staples and other metal fasteners were removed; folders and other housings were discarded or replaced with acid-free equivalents; photographs, negatives and other photographic materials were rehoused in polyester sleeves; and acidic and other unstable materials were isolated or encapsulated as appropriate. Due to their instability and acidity, news clippings and thermofax correspondence were photocopied and the originals discarded. One small set of records in the collection was discovered to have sustained severe water damage and mold growth of which approximately forty folders were salvageable. These materials were vacuumed and cleaned but patrons must use gloves when handling these fragile items. A small amount of other records sustained minor rodent damage. All instances of significant damage have been specifically noted.

Accruals

Since the bulk of the records was removed from PS1 in February 2009 and August 2011 only a small amount of material has been added. Those materials received were integrated into the collection without special note.

Exhibition Documentation Index Note

If a folder has significant documentation pertaining to one or more exhibitions, those exhibitions are listed below the folder description. Following the exhibition title is the list of document types contained in that folder. The following terms are used in the index entries, representing the most important and frequently requested types of exhibition documentation:

Checklist: Only final or apparently complete checklists are indexed; draft or partial checklists may be noted but not indexed.

Press release: Press releases containing significant information about an exhibition are indexed. PS1 generally issued releases not only on specific exhibitions but also seasonal releases listing all exhibitions on view at one time. Those seasonal releases, while important documentation, are not indexed for individual shows.

Installation Photographs: Only when the specific exhibition is clearly identified is this index term used. The Archives contains extensive unlabeled or unidentified images.

Printed Ephemera: This index term covers posters, postcards, brochures, pamphlets, and other items produced as handouts or advertisements. Exhibition catalogues are indexed with this term when present but also specifically noted in the general description.

News Clippings: This index term includes calendar listings and advertisements as well as newspaper and magazine articles and exhibition reviews.

Art and Event Photographs: This category covers all exhibition related photography apart from installation photography.

Loan Forms and Condition Reports: Condition reports include various records documenting the physical condition of artworks at the beginning, during, and following an exhibition. All loan forms and condition reports are closed to the public.

General Exhibition Documentation: This term is used for documentation not otherwise covered by the above terms. It includes exhibition proposals, curator and artist correspondence, catalogue or label texts, internal memos, installation plans and documents, research materials, artist CVs and portfolios, and other documents. The term is used for items that may have actually been used in an exhibition such as video or audio recordings. Many materials indexed with this term may not contain concrete information on the exhibition yet are part of its complete extant documentation and can contribute to a broader understanding of the project.

The index created by aggregating the index entries can be viewed as part of the Exhibition History List. Clicking on the "List of related folders" link below an exhibition will display the list of folders in the archives sorted by type of documentation they contain like so:

The Brooklyn Bridge Event (May 21–May 24, 1971)
The Brooklyn Bridge

Artists in the exhibition
List of related folders

Press Release
I.A.2
I.A.3
III.B.90
Installation Photographs
II.A.1
II.A.2
II.A.3
II.A.4
General Exhibition Documentation
I.A.2
III.B.4
III.B.12
III.B.14
III.B.21

Exhibitions lacking the related folders link and list have no direct documentation in the Archives. Information on such exhibitions may yet be found, particularly among seasonal press releases or other aggregated documentation.

If seeking documents concerning particular artists, a researcher should first search the finding aid for occurrences of the name. The Artists Index lists all artists who have appeared in exhibitions at PS1 over forty years with the names of the exhibitions they were in. Clicking on the exhibition titles below an artist's name will lead the user to the exhibition page and the list of folders for that exhibition where they may find documentation on the artist in question.

Container List