Beverly Hallam papers
name: label: Creator
content: Hallam, Beverly, 1923-2013
label: Names
content: Ogunquit Art Association (Ogunquit, Me.)
label: Names
content: Sarton, May, 1912-
label: Names
content: Smart, Mary, 1915-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Maine
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- Maine
label: Occupation
content: Photographers -- Maine
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- Maine
label: Topic
content: Acrylic painting
label: Topic
content: Airbrush art
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women printmakers
label: Topic
content: Women photographers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Material on reel 1428 was lent for microfilming in 1978. The majority of the collection was donated in 1992 and 1996 by Beverly Hallam, and in 2014 by the Beverly Hallam estate via executor Mary-Leigh Smart.
creator: label: Creator
content: Hallam, Beverly, 1923-2013
setName: label: See more items in
content: Beverly Hallam papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter, printmaker, photographer, and educator Beverly Hallam measure 24.2 linear feet and 2.73 Gigabytes, and date from 1899-2013. The collection includes biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, writings, journals, teaching materials, printed material, photographs, film, video, and sound recordings, guest books, and artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Beverly Linney Hallam (1923-2013) was a painter, photographer, printmaker, and art educator in York, Maine. Hallam was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to parents Alice Linney Hallam and Edwin Hallam, who was an engineer. Beverly Hallam gravitated toward art making at a young age, and pursued a bachelor's degree in education from the Massachusetts College of Art. Shortly after graduation Hallam accepted a position at Lasell Junior College where she was Chairman of the Art Department until 1949. In 1948 she attended a summer study program at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. In 1953 she received her M.F.A. at Syracuse University where she wrote her thesis on the use of polyvinyl acetate as an artistic medium. For this and other early efforts she would be known as a pioneer for the medium of acrylic paint, which polyvinyl acetate would come to be known. From 1949-1962 Ms. Hallam was professor at the Massachusetts College of Art from 1949-1961 where she taught Painting, Drawing and Design, and Photography. She is particularly well known as a printmaker, and especially for her large-scale airbrush paintings of flowers. 

Around the early 1960s with Hallam's departure from teaching, she relocated permanently to Ogunquit, Maine where she kept a studio and home known as Stonecrop, which is currently an art gallery by the same name. In 1971 Hallam and lifelong friend and companion Mary-Leigh Smart completed the construction of Surf Point, which served as both a home as well as a studio for Hallam. Surf Point was situated near the property known as Wild Knoll which was home to Hallam's close friend and correspondent, the poet and writer May Sarton, who lived there from 1974-1995. Sarton and Hallam Smart was a founder of The Barn Gallery, under the Ogunquit Art Association, for which both Hallam and Smart were board members. Smart also was also a collector and art consultant, passionate about Maine regional artists. In 1988 Mary-Leigh Smart established a Trust that would ensure their home and surrounding land would be turned into an artist residency upon their deaths, known as the Surf Point Foundation, modelled after the MacDowell Colony.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 24.2 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 2.73 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1899-2013
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.hallbeve
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Motion picture film
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged in eleven series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1899-2012 (1.0 linear foot: Box 1; 0.349 GB: ER01)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1930s-2013 (4.3 linear feet: Boxes 2-6; 0.376 GB: ER02-ER11)

Series 3: Personal Business, circa 1952-2012, circa 1952-2012 (0.7 linear feet: Box 6; 0.066 GB: ER12-ER14, ER16)

Series 4: Writings, circa 1920s-2006 (1.4 linear feet: Boxes 7-8, 22; 0.001 GB: ER15)

Series 5: Journals, circa 1941-1999 (2.7 linear feet: Boxes 8-10)

Series 6: Teaching Material, circa 1944-1962 (0.7 linear feet: Box 11)

Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1920s-2010 (4.3 linear feet: Boxes 11-15, 22)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1900-2013 (4.7 linear feet: Boxes 15-20; 1.95 GB: ER17-ER30)

Series 9: Film, Video, and Sound Recordings, circa 1970s-1990 (2.6 linear feet: Box 17, FC25-FC47)

Series 10: Guest Books, 1954-2004 (0.8 linear feet: Boxes 17, 21)

Series 11: Artwork, circa 1940s-2008 (1.0 linear foot (Boxes 21, 23-24)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Ryan Evans in 2020.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Lesson plans and lecture notes made by Hallam while teaching at the Massachusetts College of Art, are also available on 35mm microfilm reel 1428 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Motion picture film
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter, printmaker, photographer, and educator Beverly Hallam measure 24.2 linear feet and 2.73 Gigabytes, and date from 1899-2013. The collection includes biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, writings, journals, teaching materials, printed material, photographs, film, video, and sound recordings, guest books, and artwork.


Biographical material includes family histories for both Hallam and Mary-Leigh Smart, as well as Hallam's family estate management, in addition to résumés and travel documents. Correspondence is both professional and personal, including extensive letters with the writer May Sarton. Personal business records include gallery and exhibition records, including some consignments, loans and price lists, as well as donation records. Writings include a master's thesis, artist statements, articles and lectures by Beverly Hallam, as well as student assignments and writings by others. Hallam's journals include travel and artwork journals, as well as heavily annotated and interleaved yearly planners. Teaching materials date back to Hallam's earliest lessons delivered while obtaining her bachelor's degree of education Massachusetts College of Art, and include her work at Lassell Junior College and her tenure teaching at Massachusetts College of Art. 

The printed material series includes extensive clippings regarding Hallam's career as well as family history and the careers of notable friends and colleagues, in addition to those regarding regional artists and the art scene in Maine. Also included are invitations and catalogs for Beverly Hallam's exhibitions, and early research into polyvinyl acetate. Photographs include those of Beverly and her friends and family, as well as artwork and albums documenting installations for exhibitions throughout Hallam's career. Some albums more closely document the homes and estates of Surf Point belonging to Hallam and Smart, as well as Wild Knoll belonging to May Sarton. Also included are photographs Hallam created as illustrations for writing projects by Sarton. 

The film, video, and audio recording series includes numerous home movies documenting Hallam's family life and her home at Surf Point, as well as some reels documenting her artwork and exhibitions and a few audio recordings most likely of artist talks. Guest books document attendance for select exhibitions in Hallam's career, as well as of her various homes. The artwork series is comprised of sketchbooks including those detailing Hallam's airbrush works, holiday cards drawn and designed by Hallam, and prints of later computer-generated works.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The originals of some letters from May Sarton, 1954, and 1966-1994, included in this collection as photocopies, appear in the May Sarton papers held at New York Public Library's Archives and Manuscripts.