Janet Kardon papers
name: label: Creator
content: Kardon, Janet
label: Names
content: Philadelphia College of Art
label: Names
content: University of Pennsylvania. Institute of Contemporary Art
label: Names
content: Grooms, Red
label: Names
content: Mapplethorpe, Robert (Robert Michael)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art museum curators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
label: Occupation
content: Art museum directors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
label: Topic
content: Women museum curators
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by Janet Kardon in 2005.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kardon, Janet
setName: label: See more items in
content: Janet Kardon papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Janet Kardon papers measures 6.7 linear feet and date from 1905, and circa 1950-1995, with the bulk of the records dating from 1975-1991. Papers include exhibition files, professional records, legal records, photographs, printed material, and some audiovisual material. The collection primarily documents Kardon's work on various exhibitions during her time at the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Art museum director and curator Janet Kardon, curated multiple exhibitions at the Philadelphia College of Art and then served as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, before her appointment as director of the American Craft Museum in New York City. 

Kardon received her B.S. in education from Temple University in 1955, and her M.A. in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966. In 1984 she received an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Moore College of Art.

Kardon was a lecturer at Gwynedd Mercy College (1967) and the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), from 1968 to 1975, and was hired by the PCA in 1975 as director of exhibitions. While at PCA, Kardon curated fifteen exhibitions including Labryinth (1975) Time (1977),  Projects for PCA (1976-1978), and Artists' Sets and Costumes (1977). In 1979 Kardon accepted a position at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania (ICA). 

During her decade-long career at ICA, Kardon curated twenty-three exhibitions including Urban Encounters: Art Architecture Audience (1980), Machineworks: Vito Acconci, Alice Aycock, Dennis Oppenheim (1981), Red Grooms' Philadelphia Cornucopia and Other Sculptopictoramas (1982), Siah Armajani (1985), David Salle (1986), and Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment (1988). Kardon's traveling Mapplethorpe exhibition made national headlines in 1990 when Ohio prosecutors charged ICA Director Dennis Barre with obscenity due to the graphic nature of Mapplethorpe's photographs.  Kardon was brought into court as an expert on the topic of photographic art and curation. The charges were ultimately dropped.

In 1989 Kardon became the director of the American Craft Museum.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6.7 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1905
label: Date
content: circa 1950-1995
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.kardjane
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged as 3 series.

Series 1: Exhibition Files, circa 1950-circa 1995

Series 2: Professional Files, 1970-1993

Series 3: Printed Material, 1905, 1967-1991
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid written by Christopher DeMairo in 2019.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Janet Kardon papers measures 6.7 linear feet and date from 1905, and circa 1950-1995, with the bulk of the records dating from 1975-1991. Papers include exhibition files, professional records, legal records, photographs, printed material, and some audiovisual material. 

The collection primarily documents Kardon's work on various exhibitions during her time at the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania. The files include photographs of artwork, correspondence, audiovisual material, some insurance information, photographs of exhibitions, printed material, and ephemera. Notable people represented include David Salle, Robert Mapplethorpe, Alice Aycock, and Red Grooms.

Professional records consist of papers related to Kardon's administrative duties while at ICA, PCA, and the American Craft Museum, as well as a few panels and review boards that Kardon served on. The records consist of correspondence, printed material, a resume, audiovisual material, and some artist files.

Printed Material consists of clippings and periodicals, artist books, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and event pamphlets.