Connie Zehr papers
name: label: Creator
content: Zehr, Connie, 1938-
label: Names
content: Claremont Graduate University
label: Names
content: Market Street Program (Arts organization: Venice, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Womanspace (Organization)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Installation artists -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Feminism and art
label: Topic
content: Light and space (Art movement)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Connie Zehr papers were donated in 2021 by Connie Zehr.
creator: label: Creator
content: Zehr, Connie, 1938-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Connie Zehr papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of installation artist Connie Zehr measure 15.0 linear feet and date from 1965 to 2021. The collection comprises biographical materials consisting of interviews and collection books, notebooks and writings containing installation plans, gallery and exhibition files, professional files that include material for Womanspace, printed materials, sketchbooks and project materials, photographic materials that include studio exercises, and audiovisual and born digital material.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Connie Zehr (1938-2025) was an installation artist who was active in the Los Angeles feminist community starting in the late 1960s. Her work involves sand, clay, and sculptural elements. She was a founding member of Womanspace and she was a participant in the Market Street Program. A retrospective of her work was held at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery in 1987. 

Zehr was born in Chicago, Ill in 1938. Zehr credits her career as an artist to growing up on her Amish grandfather's farm in Indiana where she spent time playing outdoors and experience working in an artist's studio in India at the age of 16. Zehr went on to study fine arts at Ohio State University where she received a BFA in 1960. She also met her husband, artist David Elder, while at OSU. The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1964. Zehr began creating artworks that later became identified with the Light and Space Movement. From 1982 to 2009, Zehr taught in the art department at Claremont Graduate University. After retiring from CGU, she relocated to Horseheads, NY where she continued to work as an artist.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 15 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1965-2021
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.zehrconn
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1976-2000s (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Notebooks and Writings, 1972-2021 (3.0 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)

Series 3: Gallery and Exhibition Files, 1974-2021 (1.0 linear foot; Boxes 4-5)

Series 4: Professional Files, 1967-2021 (1.0 linear foot; Boxes 5-6)

Series 5: Printed Materials, 1970-2020 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 15)

Series 6: Sketchbooks and Project Materials, 1965-2020 (5.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-9, 13-15)

Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1969-circa 2020 (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 9-12, 15)

Series 8: Unprocessed Audiovisual and Born Digital Materials, circa 1980s-2010s (1 folder; Box 12)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of installation artist Connie Zehr measure 15.0 linear feet and date from 1965 to 2021. The collection comprises biographical materials, notebooks and writings, gallery and exhibition files, professional files, printed materials, sketchbooks and project materials, photographic materials, and unprocessed audiovisual and born digital material. 

Biographical materials include resumes, collection books, sound and video recordings of interviews, and an interview transcript of Zehr and Carol Saindon. 

Approximately 44 notebooks containing a mix of journal entries, plans for installations, and some project plans, as well as notes on "Earth Eye" and "CZ" interview, and a couple of writings about Zehr are in notebooks and writings. 

Gallery and exhibition files are for Here/There (1983), Connie Zehr, Flashback 1967 - 1985 (1985), Threshold (1986), Then and Now: Women Artists of Southern California (2007), In Their Own Words: Oral Histories of CGU Art (2010), and exhibitions at State of the Art Gallery. 

Project files include drawings and plans for installations, digital prints, cut pieces of digital prints, and labels. Professional files consist of correspondence, grant applications, membership files for State of the Art Gallery and Womanspace, teaching files, biographical and artwork statements, and a portfolio of Zehr's professional activities and photographs of her artwork.

Printed materials include announcements and catalogs for Zehr's exhibitions, and clippings relating to her career and exhibitions. Over 40 sketchbooks containing sketches, project plans alongside pasted images, and materials for projects are in sketchbooks and project materials. Photographic materials contain slides, digital and photographic prints, and born digital images of Zehr, installations, and imagery used for artworks.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews relating to Claremont Graduate University School of Arts and Humanities, 2012.