Linda Freeman papers
name: label: Creator
content: Freeman, Linda, 1941-
label: Names
content: L & S Video, Inc.
label: Names
content: Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988
label: Names
content: Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000
label: Names
content: Pindell, Howardena, 1943-
label: Names
content: Pippin, Horace, 1888-1946
topic: label: Occupation
content: Multimedia artists -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women filmmakers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in 2015 by Linda Freeman, L and S Video.
creator: label: Creator
content: Freeman, Linda, 1941-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Linda Freeman papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of multimedia artist and filmmaker Linda Freeman measure 32.9 linear feet and date from 1971-2015, with the bulk of the material dating from 1990-2011. The collection primarily consists of the production archives of Freeman's video documentary production company L and S Video, producer of 27 short subject documentaries on contemporary American art and artists. Subjects include Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Charles Burchfield, Elizabeth Catlett, Chuck Close, Robert Colescott, Jimmy and Max Ernst, Red Grooms, Jacob Lawrence, Richard Mayhew, Howardena Pindell, Horace Pippin, Faith Ringgold, and Betye and Alison Saar. Additional documentaries on subjects other than single artists include works on Luba artists of Central Africa, the creative process (on Freeman and five other artists featured in other documentaries in the collection), mixed media artists (on Alvin Loving, Flo Oy Wong, and Alison Saar), self-taught artists (on William Hawkins, Bill Traylor, and Grandma Moses), and a six-part series on art subjects for children called I Can Fly.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Linda Freeman(1941- ) is a multimedia artist and filmmaker in New York, New York. Freeman manages L and S Video (established 1987), a company that creates, produces, and distributes documentaries about American Artists. 

In a lecture by Freeman at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in October 2000, she describes how she received training in filmmaking at New York University, and set out to create documentaries about contemporary artists who were both widely recognized as important artists and had not yet been the subjects of documentaries. Her first subject was Faith Ringgold, who she approached in 1990 for what would become Faith Ringgold: The Last Story Quilt. Freeman went on to produce 28 documentaries with director and writer David Irving featuring primarily living African American artists, but also women artists, self-taught artists, and mixed-media artists. The documentaries are based on extended interviews with the artists, studio footage of the artists working, and interviews with notable curators, dealers, critics, art historians, and other artists with expertise in the work and career of the subject at hand. Freeman included herself in the documentary The Creative Process: Artists at Work along with footage of other artists from her previous productions that had not been used in her finished works to date. 

As an artist, Freeman has shown work in multiple traveling group exhibitions including "Women Call for Peace: Global Vistas," "Our Ancestors Quilt Project," "Women Only! In Their Studios," "Voices in Cloth: Story Quilts," and has had solo exhibitions at the Henry Gallery at Penn State Great Valley and SOHO20 gallery.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 32.9 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1971-2015
label: Date
content: bulk 1990-2011
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.freelind
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Moving images
label: Type
content: Documentary films
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 25 series, with most series representing the records of a single documentary production. Order of series is alphabetical by subject's last name, followed by titles for non-biographical works. 

Media within series are typically grouped into three subseries: one for original, unedited footage and transcripts; one for production material, including media artifacts from intermediate stages of production and paper records of the production such as notes and drafts; and finally one for finished documentaries. Footage obtained from third-party sources is arranged with production material. Smaller series are arranged similarly but without formal subseries.

Audio and video tapes are housed separately from paper and digital records to facilitate access to both types of material. Also note that media are listed as items, which may be comprised of multiple tapes or single tapes, or multiple items on a single tape. As a result, physical folders may contain tapes from more than one item, and items can span multiple folders.

Series 1: Emma Amos: Action Lines (1996), 1991-2005 (1.3 linear feet; boxes 1-2, 28)

Series 2: Benny Andrews: The Visible Man (1996), 1991-2000 (1.2 linear feet; boxes 2, 28)

Series 3: Romare Bearden: Visual Jazz (1995), 1971-2000 (2.3 linear feet; boxes 3-4, 28, FC 34-36)

Series 4: Charles Burchfield's World (2004), 2004-2005 (0.3 linear feet; boxes 4, 28)

Series 5: Elizabeth Catlett: Sculpting the Truth (1998), 1998-2000 (1.3 linear feet; boxes 4-5, 28-29)

Series 6: Chuck Close: Close-up (2003), 2003-2006 (0.8 linear feet; boxes 6, 29)

Series 7: Robert Colescott: The One-Two Punch (1992), 1980-2005 (1.7 linear feet; boxes 6-8, 29, 33)

Series 8: "Pit Stop" by Robert Colescott (1995), 1995-1998 (1.1 linear feet; boxes 8, 29, FC 37-38)

Series 9: Jimmy and Max Ernst: Dada's Son (2005), 2005 (0.2 linear feet; boxes 8, 29)

Series 10: Red Grooms: Sculptopictoramatist (2008), 2008 (1.2 linear feet; boxes 9-10, 29)

Series 11: Jacob Lawrence: The Glory of Expression (1993), 1991-2007 (2.3 linear feet; boxes 10-11, 29, 32-33)

Series 12: Richard Mayhew: Spiritual Landscapes (2000), 1999-2000 (0.8 linear feet; boxes 11-12, 29)

Series 13: Howardena Pindell: Atomizing Art (1998), 1991-2005 (0.9 linear feet; boxes 12-13, 29)

Series 14: Horace Pippin: There Will Be Peace (1997), 1997-2000 (0.9 linear feet; boxes 13-14, 29-30)

Series 15: Faith Ringgold: The Last Story Quilt (1992), 1990-2007 (1.9 linear feet; boxes 14-15, 30, 33)

Series 16: Faith Ringgold Paints Crown Heights (1994), 1994-2005 (2.5 linear feet; boxes 15-17, 30, 33)

Series 17: Betye and Alison Saar: Conjure Women of the Arts (1994), 1990-2005 (2.3 linear feet; boxes 17-19, 30, 33)

Series 18: African Art, Women, History: The Luba People of Central Africa (1998), 1990-2000 (1.0 linear feet; boxes 19-20, 30)

Series 19: The Creative Process: Artists At Work (2011), 2006-2011 (0.3 linear feet; boxes 20, 30)

Series 20: I Can Fly Series, 1999-2011 (3.8 linear feet; boxes 20-23, 31)

Series 21: Mixed Media Masters (2008), 1991-2008 (1.0 linear feet; boxes 24, 31)

Series 22: School's Out: Self-Taught Artists (2001), 1995-2001 (1.1 linear feet; boxes 24-25, 31)

Series 23: Women in Their Studios: Jennifer Bartlett and Jackie Winsor (2006), 2005-2006 (0.6 linear feet; boxes 25-26, 31)

Series 24: Other Projects, 1988-2015 (1.6 linear feet; boxes 26-27, 31-32)

Series 25: L and S Video Records, 1990-2008 (0.5 linear feet; boxes 27, 32)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Megan McShea in 2019. During processing, many duplicates of video recordings, created as part of the production process and not needed for archival purposes, were discovered. All unique content was retained, and where duplication was discovered, the earliest generation copies and best secondary copies were retained. For master material, an additional copy may have been retained to maintain the highest quality format of each master video.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Moving images
label: Genre/Form
content: Documentary films
label: Genre/Form
content: Unedited footage
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of multimedia artist and filmmaker Linda Freeman measure 32.9 linear feet and date from 1971-2015, with the bulk of the material dating from 1990-2011. The collection primarily consists of the production archives of Freeman's video documentary production company L and S Video, producer of 27 short subject documentaries on contemporary American art and artists. Subjects include Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Charles Burchfield, Elizabeth Catlett, Chuck Close, Robert Colescott, Jimmy and Max Ernst, Red Grooms, Jacob Lawrence, Richard Mayhew, Howardena Pindell, Horace Pippin, Faith Ringgold, and Betye and Alison Saar. Additional documentaries on subjects other than single artists include works on Luba artists of Central Africa, the creative process (on Freeman and five other artists featured in other documentaries in the collection), mixed media artists (on Alvin Loving, Flo Oy Wong, and Alison Saar), self-taught artists (on William Hawkins, Bill Traylor, and Grandma Moses), and a six-part series on art subjects for children called I Can Fly. 

For each documentary, original, unedited footage shot by Freeman of artist interviews, studio footage, and interviews with subject experts is found, featuring curators, gallerists, collectors, and art historians speaking about the documentary subjects. In almost every case, significant original footage is found that was not used in the finished documentary and therefore unique to this collection, especially in the form of original interviews and studio footage. 

Footage obtained from third-parties for use in the documentaries is found for several works including the Red Grooms, Luba, Crown Heights, and Romare Bearden documentaries. Notable among third-party material is a copy of Howardena Pindell's video performance work "Free, White, and 21" (1980). Also found are original footage and master material for "Pit Stop," a short fiction film by Robert Colescott, produced by Linda Freeman.