Art Space records
name: label: Creator
content: Adelman, Lucy, 1909-1997
label: Names
content: 18th Street Gallery
label: Names
content: Chaffee, Marta
label: Names
content: Lowry, Janice Ann, 1946-2009
label: Names
content: Starbuck, Marjorie, 1921-
label: Names
content: Walding, Clark
topic: label: Topic
content: Women art dealers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The records were donated in 1992 by Lucy Adelman, the director of Art Space.
creator: label: Creator
content: Adelman, Lucy, 1909-1997
setName: label: See more items in
content: Art Space records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The records of Los Angeles gallery Art Space measure 9.9 linear feet and date from 1964-1993.  The collection documents the gallery's history and exhibition schedule throughout its operation from 1977-1991, primarily through artist and exhibition files for solo and group exhibitions. Records include artist biographical material and statements, correspondence, loan and price lists, invoices, and printed and photographic material. Also found are correspondence files of artist inquiries and correspondence with other galleries and organizations, gallery financial and administrative records, slides of artwork, and scattered slides of exhibitions at Art Space and elsewhere.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Art Space operated in Los Angeles from 1977 to 1991 and was owned by artist, philanthropist, and activist Lucy Adelman (1909-1997). The gallery was known for a commitment to showing under-represented local artists, and began with an emphasis on minimal and conceptual art before branching out to embrace a wide variety of artistic expressions.


Settling in Los Angeles in 1938, Adelman was also one of the founders of the Womanspace Gallery, a cooperative gallery for feminist activities established in 1972 in Los Angeles. Opening Art Space in 1977, Adelman was determined to offer what she saw as a wealth of untapped local talent at affordable prices, and her first show showcased the work of women artists Ann Morris, Fran Raboff, Judy Simonian, and Hazel Slawson. Adelman stated that the gallery had two purposes: "[Art Space] is for artists, creative people who communicate through many different fields of expression...It will also be a meeting place for people who wish to acquaint themselves with different concepts and directions."  Initially exhibitions, lectures, events, performances, and meetings were held in the space at 10550 Santa Monica Boulevard. Adelman was intent on showing little-known local artists solely on their merit and did not initially represent any individual artists. Artists participated by assisting in the installation of their exhibitions and contributing a fee "commensurate with their ability to share the cost of keeping Art Space alive." By 1982 the gallery represented six artists - Barbara Magnus, Kent Rush, Herb Rabbin, Tracy Colvill, Jack Kleinberg, and Janice Lowry - but continued to reserve most of its schedule for new talent. The gallery held 118 exhibitions before closing its doors in 1991.   

Adelman and her husband, Isadore, were also involved in philanthropic activities and gave generously to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Venice Family Clinic, which honored them at its annual fund-raising Art Walk Festival in 1988. Adelman died in 1997 in Santa Monica, California.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- California -- Los Angeles
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 9.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1964-1993
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.artspac
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 4 series.

Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1976-1992 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1) 

Series 2: Artist and Exhibition Files, 1964-1993 (6.7 Linear feet; Boxes 1-8, OV 12)

Series 3: Financial and Administrative Records, circa 1970s-circa 1992 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 8)

Series 4: Slides,  1971-1992 (2.1 Linear feet; Boxes 8-11)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Eden Orelove in 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian's Collection Care Pool.

The collection was further processed and prepared for digitization by Stephanie Ashley in 2024 and was digitized in 2024 with Federal support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2024 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. Records not digitized include duplicates, blank versos of photographs, and the full text of some printed publications for which only title and/or relevant pages may have been digitized.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The records of Los Angeles gallery Art Space measure 9.9 linear feet and date from 1964-1993.  The collection documents the gallery's history and exhibition schedule throughout its operation from 1977-1991, primarily through artist and exhibition files for solo and group exhibitions. Records include artist biographical material and statements, correspondence, loan and price lists, invoices, and printed and photographic material. Also found are correspondence files of artist inquiries and correspondence with other galleries and organizations, gallery financial and administrative records, slides of artwork, and scattered slides of exhibitions at Art Space and elsewhere. 

Correspondence with artists consists primarily of artist inquiries about showing work at Art Space and the gallery's responses. Correspondence with other galleries and organizations includes records documenting Adelman's involvement in collaborative exhibitions and events, including with the 18th Street Gallery, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, Texas Commerce Bank, Venice Family Clinic and the Venice Art Walk, and The Works Gallery.

Artist and exhibition files form the bulk of the collection and include records for individual artists such as correspondence, resumes,and printed material documenting artists' exhibitions and activities outside of Art Space, as well as exhibition files for their solo exhibitions at Art Space. Additonal exhibition files for two-person and group shows held at Art Space may include correspondence, artist resumes and statements, exhibition announcements and programs, price lists, sales records, loan agreements, and photographs and slides of artwork and exhibitions. Particularly rich files exist for artists Marta Chaffee, David Hines, Walter Gabrielson, Janice Lowry, Lorraine Lubner, Robert Lubner, Kent Rush, Mary Schairer, Marg Starbuck, Robert Tomlinson, and Clark Walding.  

Scattered financial and administrative files document some of the gallery's business dealings and history and include a statement of purpose and a complete chronological list
of exhibitions held at Art Space, price lists, forms and legal records, an inventory, and financial statements.  

The collection includes a substantial number of slides primarily of artwork by individual arists as well as scattered images of exhibitions and installations at Art Space and elsewhere. Artists Shigeo Miura and Tracy Colvill have particularly sizeable slide files.  Most of the artists with slides are also represented in the exhibition files.