Barbara Rossi papers
name: label: Creator
content: Rossi, Barbara, 1940-
label: Names
content: Art Institute of Chicago. School
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- Illinois -- Chicago
label: Topic
content: Chicago Imagists (Group of artists)
label: Topic
content: Women artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated in 2024 by the Kohler Foundation via Laura Roenitz, executive director.
creator: label: Creator
content: Rossi, Barbara, 1940-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Barbara Rossi papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Chicago painter, printmaker, and educator Barbara Rossi measure 19.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2020, with the bulk from 1960-2000. The collection comprises biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, exhibition records including a traveling exhibition of Indian folk art curated by Rossi, writings, subject files, teaching records, printed material, photographic material, and artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Barbara Rossi (1940-2023),  painter and educator in Chicago, Illinois, was an original member of the Chicago Imagists. 

Rossi  was raised in Maywood, Illinois, a  suburb of Chicago, where she pursued religious studies and fine art simultaneously in her youth. After receiving her bachelor of arts degree from St. Xavier University, she spent several years serving as a Catholic nun before pursuing a career as a visual artist. She eventually received her Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 1970, where she would teach throughout most of her career, rising to the rank of Full Professor in 1993. As an original member of the Chicago Imagists, Barbara took part in early group exhibitions at the Hyde Park Art Center and other venues as early as 1968 while enrolled at SAIC. 

In the 1980s Rossi traveled to India and soon after cited Indian and South East Asian folk art as a strong influence in her illustration style underlying her paintings. During this period she also welcomed visiting artist speakers to SAIC from India and organized a series of Indian folk art exhibitions, notably including the traveling museum exhibition "From the Ocean of Painting: India's Popular Paintings 1589 to the Present. Notable solo exhibitions include a mid-career retrospective at at the Renaissance Society as well as a 2016 show at the New Museum in New York City. Her work is featured in collections including the National Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Fine Art Boston, Crystal Bridges, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Denver Art Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 19.5 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1900-2020
label: Date
content: bulk 1960-2000
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.rossbarb
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as ten series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1910-2009 (1.2 Linear feet: Boxes 1, 16-17)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1956-2019 (1.3 Linear feet: Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, circa 1966-2016 (3.6 Linear feet: Boxes 3-6)

Series 4: From the Ocean of Painting, circa 1986-2011 (2.2 Linear feet: Boxes 6-8)

Series 5: Writings, circa 1950-2011 (1.2 Linear feet: Boxes 8-9)

Series 6: Subject Files, circa 1970s-2009 (1.4 Linear feet: Boxes 9-11)

Series 7: Teaching Files, circa 1969-2014 (0.7 Linear feet: Box 11)

Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1953-2020 (2.6 Linear feet: Boxes 13-14; 18-19; OV29)

Series 9: Photographic Material, circa 1900-2003 (0.9 Linear feet: Boxes 13-14)

Series 10: Artwork, circa 1960s-2009 (4.4 Linear feet :Boxes 14-15; Rolls 20-26; OV27-28)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a fainding aid prepared by Ryan Evans in 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter, printmaker, and educator Barbara Rossi measure 19.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2020, with the bulk from 1960-2000. Biographical materials include family records and childhood records, including student assignments, and photograph albums. Also included are family histories and genealogical research and an historic family album, academic diplomas and yearbooks, academic and professional awards and memberships, identification cards, and records related to Rossi's brief tenure as a Catholic nun. Correspondence is personal and professional in nature with regular correspondence between close friends including Mary Jo Furgal and Karl Wirsum, and letters from students, letters of recommendation, and letters received during her second journey to India.

Personal business records include appointment books, financial records, exhibition files, grants, and professional affiliations and board service including the Intiuit Center, the Roger Brown Study Center at SAIC, gallery records from the Phyllis Kind Gallery, and inventory and donation information pertaining to Rossi's personal artwork as well as her art collection. From the Ocean of Painting series includes planning documents and proposals for the travelling exhibition, documentation of the various venues and subsequent press, as well as the catalog published by University of Oxford press, royalty payments, and correspondence with lenders and host institutions.

Writings include artist statements and artist talks, early poetry, college writing assignments, lectures, catalog essays, and grant reports, bibliographies related to Indian art, various notebooks and loose notes, as well as writings by others. Subject files include various printed material as well as notes and sporadic correspondence on various topics, many of which overlap with courses taught by Rossi at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as topics of Indian and Southeast Asian art. Also included are folders pertaining to select artists in the history of western art, including fellow Chicago artist Christina Ramburg. Teaching files document teaching contract and faculty appointments and sabbatical periods from long-term employer School of the Art Institute of Chicago, files on various courses taught including course bibliographies, as well as course lecture notes. 

Printed material includes school publications, scrapbooks from Rossi's early artist career as well as one on the topic of theater from the 1950s, clippings and invitations organized by year, postcards (many bearing correspondence) and mailers organized alphabetically by topic, and oversize posters. Photographic material includes artwork slides of Rossi's work, photographs of family and friends, photographs of artworks including slides and printed photographs, pet photographs, and various object photographs. Artwork includes numerous preparatory works for paintings in the form of drawings on paper and vellum, color scheme paint samples relating to finished works, sketchbooks and loose sketches, and small artworks by others.