Lewis deSoto papers
name: label: Creator
content: DeSoto, Lewis, 1954-
label: Names
content: Otis Art Institute
label: Names
content: San Francisco State University
topic: label: Occupation
content: Artists -- California
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- California
label: Occupation
content: Installation artists -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Photographers -- California
label: Topic
content: Native American artists
label: Topic
content: Public art
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated in 2024 and 2025 by Lewis deSoto.
creator: label: Creator
content: DeSoto, Lewis, 1954-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Lewis deSoto papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of artist and educator Lewis deSoto measure 7.3 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2016. The collection includes biographical material, project files, professional files, writings, teaching material, and printed material documenting deSoto's career.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Lewis deSoto (1954-) is an artist and educator, a Native American of Cahuilla ancestry living in Napa, California and New York City. Lewis spent his early life in San Bernardino, California before pursuing a fine art education at UC Riverside (1978) and Claremont Graduate University (1980), where he earned his bachelor's degree and master's degree respectively. DeSoto describes his art as installations, sculpture and public art that engages cosmological questions, notions of self, and plays with inherent phenomena. 

About deSoto, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive Director Lawrence Rinder wrote: "deSoto has explored a wide variety of media in his efforts to express the nuances of various social histories and worldwide cosmologies." He has earned a number of commissions including public artwork, including a multi-phase project at San Francisco International Airport. 

His work has been exhibited internationally including throughout Europe , Brazil, and Japan. One of his most acclaimed works and exhibitions Paranirvana travelled from 2003-2004 in the United States was organized by Bucknell University and curated by Dan Mills, the Director of the Samek Art Center. It is now owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. Works by deSoto are included the collections of the Seattle Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles as well as many private collections.

Joining their faculty around 1983 deSoto taught a full range of photography courses at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. He also taught courses at  Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. and eventually served as the Director of Graduate Studies at California College of Arts and Crafts. In 1988 he joined the faculty as Professor of Art at San Francisco State University where he taught up to his retirement in 2021.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.3 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1900-2016
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.desolewi
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as six series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1900-2006 (1.5 Linear feet: Box 1, 6-7)

Series 2: Project Files, circa 1984-2008 (2.4 Linear feet: Boxes 1-3, 7-8)

Series 3: Professional Files, circa 1981-2007 (0.5 Linear feet: Boxes 3-4, 7)

Series 4: Teaching Files, circa 1982-1999 (0.4 Linear feet: Boxes 4, 7)

Series 5: Writings, circa 1960s-2016 (1.9 Linear feet: Boxes 4-5, 7-8)

Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1971-2009 (0 .6 Linear feet: Boxes 5, 7)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Ryan Evans in 2024, as well as the 2025 addition in 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of artist and educator Lewis deSoto measure 7.3 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2016. The collection includes biographical material, project files, professional files, writings, teaching material, and printed material documenting deSoto's career.

Biographical material includes academic year books and degrees, childhood photographs in the form of a contact sheet, and documents related to deSoto's divorce in 1986. Biographical material includes academic year books and degrees, childhood photographs in the form of a contact sheet, and documents related to deSoto's divorce in 1986. In the 2025 addition came extensive family photographs including some documents that anchor his family history including photographs from the Aqua Caliente reservation. Project files contain a variety of documentation for public art commissions and other projects and residencies, including artwork proposals and contracts, research material, correspondence, and exhibition documentation and press. Projects not realized generally exist in the form of proposals and/or research material. Professional files include loan, consignment and exhibition paperwork not included in project files, fellowships and projects not completed, professional correspondence, grant applications, documents related to board or committee work, a promotional packet, and details regarding a shared New York City artist studio.

Teaching materials include syllabi, materials lists and lesson plans for various art courses at institutions including Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and San Francisco State University. Courses were primarily in various photographic processes with some conceptual design. Writings include artist and project statements, student work including academic papers and creative writing, interviews, notebooks, and proofs of textual designs and compositions printed from the computer. Printed material includes exhibition announcements and posters, press clippings, exhibiton catalogs, poetry journals, and items related to lectures and symposia.