Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions Records
name: label: Creator
content: Art Foundry
label: Creator
content: Art Foundry Editions
label: Names
content: Allen, Terry, 1943-
label: Names
content: Arnoldi, Charles, 1946-
label: Names
content: Bell, Larry, 1939-
label: Names
content: Benglis, Lynda, 1941-
label: Names
content: Chicago, Judy, 1939-
label: Names
content: Dill, Lesley, 1950-
label: Names
content: Hackett, Dwight
label: Names
content: Hanbury, Una, 1904-1990
label: Names
content: Houser, Allan, 1914-1994
label: Names
content: Jimenez, Luis, 1940-2006
label: Names
content: Lin, Maya Ying
label: Names
content: Lord, Andrew
label: Names
content: Morris, Robert, 1931-2018
label: Names
content: Nauman, Bruce, 1941-
label: Names
content: Orozco, Gabriel, 1962-
label: Names
content: Otterness, Tom, 1952-
label: Names
content: Rees, Michael, 1958-
label: Names
content: Scholder, Fritz, 1937-2005
label: Names
content: Shelton, Peter, 1951-
label: Names
content: Smith, Kiki, 1954-
label: Names
content: Soares, Valeska
label: Names
content: Tuttle, Richard, 1941-
topic: label: Topic
content: Publishers and publishing
label: Topic
content: Sculpture
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records were donated by Dwight Hackett in 2014.
creator: label: Creator
content: Art Foundry
label: Creator
content: Art Foundry Editions
setName: label: See more items in
content: Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records measure 25.7 linear feet and 0.891 GB and date from circa 1975 to circa 2007. Records include administrative files; correspondence with artists, collectors, dealers, galleries, and others; eight gallery appointment books and fourteen notebooks; exhibition files; extensive artists' files; financial and legal materials; sculpture production and inventory files; and photographic and digital materials.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Art Foundry (est.1980-closed 2000) and Art Foundry Editions (est. 1992-closed 2000) were organizations founded and operated by Dwight Hackett in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

While working for another foundry in New Mexico, Dwight Hackett met Una Hanbury and began casting her work at his home, using a relatively new technique called cold casting.  The process produced work that lighter than bronze and less expensive to produce.  Una Hanbury helped Hackett travel to Washington, D. C. to study with Harvey Moore at his foundry. He formally established his studio, Art Foundry, in New Mexico, in 1980 with a loan from Hanbury and subsequent investment from the Apache sculptor Allan Houser. According to Hackett, Art Foundry's mission was to "collaborate with artists, not just work for them, and to challenge the limits of traditional casting technique."

In 1990, Hackett extended the operation by establishing Art Foundry Editions (AFE) through which he invited artists to come to Santa Fe for a residency and produce multiples of their work. AFE would acquire half of each artists' edition, and then market the works to galleries and collectors. One of AFE's first artists was Lynda Benglis, who purportedly came for a two-week residency and stayed for nine months.

Hackett sold Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions in 2000.

(Much of the biographical note was taken from collecting specialist Jason Stieber's acquisition report published in the Archives of American Art Journal, Volume Number 54, 2016.)
function: label: Function
content: Foundries
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 25.7 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 0.891 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1975-circa 2007
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.artfoued
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged as 8 series.  Researchers should note that Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records were merged prior to processing.

Series 1: Administrative Files, circa 1980-circa 2004 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1985-2000 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Gallery Appointment Books and Notebooks, 1985-2000 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1986-1997 (0.2 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 5: Artists' Files, circa 1980-circa 2007 (16.8 linear feet; Boxes 3-19, OV 27-31, 0.891 GB; ER01-ER03)

Series 6: Financial and Legal Materials, 1991-circa 2001 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 19-20)

Series 7: Sculpture Production and Inventory Files, circa 1975-circa 2002 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 20-23, OV 31)

Series 8: Photographic Materials, circa 1977-circa 2002 (3.0 linear feet; Boxes 23-26)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Multiple accessions were merged and archivally processed, and a finding aid prepared by Anna Rimel in 2016 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund. The Archives of American Art has implemented accelerated processing when possible to increase information about and access to more of our collections. For this collection, accelerated processing included arrangement to the series, subseries and folder levels, adhering to the creator's original arrangement as much as possible. Generally, folder contents were simply verified with the original folder titles, but items within folders were not arranged further. All materials were rehoused in archival folders and boxes for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records measure 25.7 linear feet and 0.891 GB and date from circa 1975 to circa 2007. Records include administrative files; correspondence with artists, collectors, dealers, galleries, and others; eight gallery appointment books and fourteen notebooks; exhibition files; extensive artists' files; financial and legal materials; sculpture production and inventory files; and photographic and digital materials.

Administrative records document the daily operations of the Art Foundry and AFE. Correspondence is with artists, galleries, art collectors and dealers, patrons, and others.

The appointment books and notebooks document daily operations within the Foundry administrative offices, including phone messages and daily appointments, and also include notes and conversations regarding various artists' ongoing sculptural plans and projects. Entries have been made by Dwight Hackett, artists, and other staff members.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of artists' files representing over 132 artists, which may include scattered correspondence and notes; scattered exhibition materials; financial materials; photographic materials; digital materials; and sketches and plans for various sculptural productions and projects. Artists include Terry Allen, Larry Bell, Lynda Benglis, Judy Chicago, Lesley Dill, Una Hanbury, Luis Jimenez,  Allan Houser, Maya Lin, Andrew Lord, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman,  Gabriel Orozco, Tom Otterness, Michael Rees, Fritz Scholder, Peter Shelton, Kiki Smith, Valeska Soares, and Richard Tuttle, among many others. Seven CD-Rs contain material related to artists Terry Allen, Charles Arnoldi, Lesley Dill, and Michael Rees.

Financial and legal materials include invoices and financial statements, consignment agreements, and miscellaneous legal documents. 

Sculpture production and inventory files document casting guidelines and costs incurred; casting logs and records; sculpture production records for various artists; and inventory cards and photographs and digital documentation for various projects and works.

The collection contains hundreds of snapshots and Polaroids that depict the collaborative atmosphere Hackett was able to create at Art Foundry.  There are also slides, negatives and nine photograph albums.