Stella Waitzkin papers and Lynn S. Mullins research material regarding Stella Waitzkin
name: label: Creator
content: Waitzkin, Stella
label: Creator
content: Mullins, Lynn S.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Book artists
label: Topic
content: Women artists -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in 2024 by Lynn S. Mullins.
creator: label: Creator
content: Waitzkin, Stella
label: Creator
content: Mullins, Lynn S.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Stella Waitzkin papers and Lynn S. Mullins research material regarding Stella Waitzkin
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Stella Waitzkin papers and Lynn S. Mullins research material regarding Stella Waitzkin, circa 1920s-2023, measure 30.7 linear feet. The Stella Waitzkin papers document artist Stella Waitzkin's personal and professional career through biographical material, correspondence, exhibition files, writings and sketches, personal business records, films, interviews, and radio shows, printed material, and photographic material. The Lynn S. Mullins research material regarding Stella Waitzkin includes project documentation, writings about the collection and original guides, research files, chronology of Stella Waitzkin, material regarding the Waitzkin Memorial Library Trust, digital photographs, and draft catalogue raisonne.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Stella Waitzkin (1920-2003) was a sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and performance artist active in New York City, and a resident of the Chelsea Hotel from 1969 until her death in 2003. A student of abstract expressionism, she studied with Hans Hofmann, Willem de Kooning, and art historian Meyer Shapiro, and attended Alfred University, New York University, and Columbia University. Waitzkin's most well-known works are with her cast polyester resin book sculptures and "libraries" or wall installations. She exhibited regularly beginning in the late 1960s, with the bulk of her solo exhibitions taking place in the 1970s. 

Lynn S. Mullins, previous director of the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgers Univeristy, began working with Stella Waitzkin in 1998 to help document the artists' life, organize her files, and write a catalogue raisonne for the artist. She continued with this project for the next 20 years, after Waitzkin's death in 2003. Mullins worked to thoroughly research the artist and to further establish Waitzkin's legacy, ultimately seeking a repository for her research and Waitzkin's original archival material.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 30.7 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1920s-2023
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.waitstel
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as two series.

Series 1: Stella Waitzkin papers, circa 1920s-2005, 2017-2023 (13.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-14, 32)

Series 2: Lynn S. Mullins research regarding Stella Waitzkin, 1979, 1998-2023 (17.2 linear feet; Boxes 14-31)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Anna Rimel in 2024.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Stella Waitzkin papers and Lynn S. Mullins research material regarding Stella Waitzkin, circa 1920s-2023, measure 30.7 linear feet. The Stella Waitzkin papers document artist Stella Waitzkin's personal and professional career through biographical material, correspondence, exhibition files, writings and sketches, personal business records, films, interviews, and radio shows, printed material, and photographic material. The Lynn S. Mullins research material regarding Stella Waitzkin includes project documentation, writings about the collection and original guides, research files, chronology of Stella Waitzkin, material regarding the Waitzkin Memorial Library Trust, digital photographs, and draft catalogue raisonne.

The Stella Waitzkin papers encompass Waitzkin's work in sculpture, painting, performance art, radio, films, and teaching. Family ephemera, membership materials, and calendars can be found among biographical material. Correspondence is with friends, colleagues, Chelsea Hotel residents and other neighbors, photographers, art dealers, and institutions. Artist statements, assorted notes and diary notes, as well as planned artwork sketches are found among writings and sketches. The collection also includes films by and including Stella Waitzkin, as well as recorded news segments and interviews with Stella Waitzkin and others. Time spent on radio shows include a Tony Fruscella memorial program, panel on Artists in Rebellion, and the 1940s "Beauty is Not Yours" program. Exhibition files document solo and group exhibitions, as well as performance art, and professional files include artist residency programs, book arts symposium panel discussion, project proposals, and teaching roles. Personal business records include files on art dealers, appraisals and auctions, donations and sales, grants, artwork inventories, reproduction requests, prices lists, and assorted other art handling, materials, and shipping receipts. Clippings about Waitzkin and others, as well as magazines, journals, and few books with special articles about or images of Waitzkin and her work are found in printed material, and photographs, snapshots, and slides primarily depict works of art, in addition to personal and family photographs. 

The Lynn S. Mullins research material regarding Stella Waitzkin documents Mullins' work to help organize and research Stella Waitzkin to produce a catalogue raisonne. Project documentation, extensive research files, digital photographs, and files on the Waitzkin Memorial Library Trust, are included. In addition, an unpublished catalogue raisonne, chronology of Stella Waitzkin, writings about the collection, and original organizational explanatory guides, are also found.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Stella Waitzkin conducted by Doloris Holmes in 1971 for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.