Nan Tull papers
name: label: Creator
content: Tull, Nan
topic: label: Occupation
content: Draftsmen (artists) -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Art, Abstract -- United States
label: Topic
content: Photocollage
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated in 2025 by Frank Wezniak, Tull's widow.
creator: label: Creator
content: Tull, Nan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Nan Tull papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter Nan Tull measure 10 linear feet and 6.53 gigabytes and date from 1932 to 2023. The collection documents Tull's career and involvement in the Boston art community through diaries and journals, writings, exhibition files, professional files, personal business records, printed material, photographic material, both digital and analog, artwork, and digital audio and video recordings.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Nan Tull (1937-2023) was a painter who worked primarily in Boston, MA.

Born in Washington, DC, Tull moved throughout the United States in her childhood due to her father serving in the air force. She attended Wellesley College, where she received her B.A. in 1959, then Stanford, graduating in 1960 with her M.A. After getting married in 1959, Tull initially taught French and German at the high school level in California prior to pursuing a career in the arts. She was inspired, after a chance encounter with an introductory painting kit, to take painting lessons. She received a studio art diploma at the School at the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and pursued further art studies with various artists in California, Switzerland, Tennessee, and throughout Massachusetts from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. Her work benefitted from extensive traveling and fellowships, such as the MacDowell Colony Fellowship that she was awarded in both 1991 and 1994.

Eventually, she settled in Boston, MA where she primarily worked until her death in 2023. Her earlier works consisted of charcoal drawings and paintings, later in her career she began working with encaustic. She was involved in many New England museums and galleries, donating many pieces of her own work and artwork by others that she and her husband, Frank, had collected. She was also an advocate of artist run community spaces and co-founded the 249 A Street Artists Cooperative in the Fort Point neighborhood of Boston. Tull's paintings and drawings are held in numerous collections such as Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Fuller Museum of Art, Danforth Museum of Art, and deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 10 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 6.53 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1932-2023
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.tullnan
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 10 series. The correspondence series has been further divided into three subseries.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1940-2016 (0.3 Linear Feet: Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1932-2023 (1 Linear Foot: Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Diaries and Journals, circa 1977-2008 (0.4 Linear Feet: Box 3)

Series 4: Writings, circa 1940-2019 (0.5 Linear Feet: Boxes 3 and 4; 4.37 Gigabytes: ER0001-ER0003)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, circa 1969-2023 (0.7 Linear Feet: Boxes 4 and 10; OV 11; 0.829 Gigabytes: ER0004)

Series 6: Professional Files, circa 1974-2023 (0.2 Linear Feet: Box 4)

Series 7: Personal Business Records, circa 1960-2022 (1.9 Linear Feet: Boxes 4-6; 0.009 Gigabytes: ER0005)

Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1946-2021 (1 Linear Foot: Boxes 6, 7, and 10; OV 12)

Series 9: Photographic Material, circa 1938-2010 (1.7 Linear Feet: Boxes 7-9; 1.33 Gigabytes: ER0006 and ER0007)

Series 10: Artwork, circa 1949-2019 (1.4 Linear Feet: Boxes 9 and 10; OV 13-17)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: This collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Sam Neat in 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter Nan Tull measure 10 linear feet and 6.53 gigabytes and date from 1932 to 2023. The papers document Tull's career and involvement in the Boston art community. Material includes biographical information, correspondence, diaries and journals, writings, exhibition files, professional files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, artwork, digital audio and video recordings, and digital photographs. 

Biographical material includes academic transcripts, passports and other identification documents, early school memorabilia, material on Tull's family history, and certificates and awards. Correspondence includes personal, family, and professional letters and postcards. The personal sub-series also includes envelopes that contain calligraphy that Tull appreciated. Diaries and journals contain reflective handwritten notes and documents day to day activities from Tull's travels. Writings include artist statements, notes on Tull's artistic process, and academic papers. Also included are writings and poems by others, as well as inspirational quotes that Tull referenced. The exhibition files series consists of various exhibition announcements, invitations, press releases, and reviews, as well as planning correspondence. Professional files contain material on Tull's participation in the co-founding of the artist cooperative, 249 A Street, in Boston, her business venture, Art Ensemble Associates, membership and nomination material, and her involvement in the Wellesley College Friends of Art group. Personal business records include Tull's "Art Summary", which contain detailed information about her budget, exhibitions, publications, and press arranged chronologically. Also included are appraisal documents, collection inventory, artwork price lists, teaching material, and bequest and sales documents. Printed material consists of journal and newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements, brochures, and catalogs. Also included are large exhibition posters and a scientific poster that Tull referenced for source material. Photographic material contains photographs of the artist, as well as family and personal photographs and digital photographs. Most of the photographs are of Tull's artwork, many annotated. Also included are photographs documenting the Big Dig in Boston and Tull's various studio spaces. The artwork series includes many sketchbooks, collages, a maquette, paintings, and sketches mainly by Tull.