Donald Saff papers and Saff Tech Arts records
name: label: Creator
content: Saff, Donald, 1937-
label: Creator
content: Saff Tech Arts
label: Names
content: Graphicstudio
label: Names
content: University of South Florida. Division of Fine Arts
label: Names
content: Graves, Nancy Stevenson, 1940-1995
label: Names
content: Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997
label: Names
content: Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008
label: Names
content: Rosenquist, James, 1933-
label: Names
content: Turrell, James
topic: label: Occupation
content: Fabricators -- Maryland
label: Occupation
content: Artists -- Maryland
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated in 2022 by Donald Saff.
creator: label: Creator
content: Saff, Donald, 1937-
label: Creator
content: Saff Tech Arts
setName: label: See more items in
content: Donald Saff papers and Saff Tech Arts records
abstract: label: Summary
content: Donald Saff papers and Saff Tech Arts records measures 31.8 linear feet, and 9.82 Gigabytes, and dates from circa 1710, 1800-2013, bulk 1965-2010. Donald Saff's papers document his career as an artist, and contain professional records prior to the founding of Saff Tech Arts, including his tenure at University of South Florida and Graphicstudio. Also included are records and correspondence documenting consulting and other collaboration outside of Saff Tech Arts. The series includes biographical material, correspondence, professional records, writings, exhibition files, printed material, and artwork. Saff Tech Arts (later Saff & Co.) records includes correspondence, founding documents including funding, fabrication and supplies information, artist files documenting working relationships ranging from potential collaboration, to long-term fabrication and representation, regular business relationships such as Knoedler & Co., and legal and insurance information including leases and worksite assessments. The series includes correspondence, artist files, business records, and printed material including clippings and subject files. Some materials are in digital formats.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Donald Jay Saff, born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1937,  is an artist, art historian, and fabricator in Oxford, Maryland known for close collaboration with leading American artists on the fabrication of technically complex artworks. He was exposed to printmaking while an undergraduate at Queens College in 1959, where he earned a B.F.A., followed by a master's degree in art history from Columbia University in 1960, and a M.F.A from Pratt Institute in 1962, and an Ed.D. in studio art and art history from Columbia University in 1964. In 1964 Saff was awarded a Fulbright grant which allowed him to study and work in Urbino, Italy. As an artist Saff created work and exhibited regularly throughout the 1980s. Donald Saff married Ruth Saff in 1960 and they have two sons, Stephen and Jeffery Saff. 

Donald Saff was the founder of Graphicstudio in 1968 at the University of South Florida, where he was also chairman of the visual arts department. The studio became known for innovating new printing processes, including helio relief and waxtype. In 1971, Saff became the founding dean of the College of Fine Arts and was awarded the rank of distinguished professor at the university in 1982. In 1986, the National Gallery in Washington announced it would create an archive for all the work of Graphicstudio, a great tribute to Saff's accomplishment. Saff worked with a number of notable artists at Graphicstudio, creating collaborative bonds that would lay the ground for working together on his next venture. In 1991 Saff established his studio Saff Tech Arts (later Saff and Company) in Oxford, Maryland, partially thanks to a loan from key collaborator Robert Rauschenberg. During the early years of Saff Tech Arts Donald Saff also served as a gallery director to Knoedler and Co., which hosted exhibitions for many Saff Tech Arts collaborations. Other frequent collaborators include Nancy Graves, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and James Turrell. 

Saff was later named Dean emeritus by University of South Florida in 1989, and distinguished professor emeritus in 1996. In 1999, Saff was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts. As work at Saff Tech Arts slowed down Donald Saff became open to other opportunities in the arts, including a stint as Director of Capital Projects of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, in 2001, followed by the appointment to Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings in 2002.
function: label: Function
content: Artists' studios
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 31.8 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 9.82 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1710, 1800-2013
label: Date
content: bulk 1965-2010
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.saffdona
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as two series:

Series 1: Donald Saff Papers, circa 1710-2010 (9.6 Linear feet: Boxes 1-10, 33)

Series 2: Saff Tech Arts Records, circa 1970-2013 (22.2 Linear feet: Boxes 10-32, 34)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed in 2023 by Ryan Evans; born-digital processing by Ryan Evans in 2023.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Donald Saff papers and Saff Tech Arts records measures 31.8 linear feet, and 9.82 Gigabytes, and dates from circa 1710, 1800-2013, bulk 1965-2010. 

Donald Saff's papers document his career as an artist, and contain professional records prior to the founding of Saff Tech Arts, including his tenure at University of South Florida and Graphicstudio. Also included are records and correspondence documenting consulting and other collaboration outside of Saff Tech Arts. Biographical material includes printed resumes as well as a biographical scrapbook with a hand-written letter in Italian dated 1710 and a biographical listing from "Who's Who in American Art." Correspondence is largely professional with some personal correspondence including letters with other artists. Listed chronologically, followed by an alphabetical run, this correspondence represents Saff's activities while affiliated with the University of Southern Florida and Graphicstudio. Also included are letters of reference for former students, studio assistants, and other colleagues, as well as regarding Saff's own job searches. The professional records subseries encompasses Saff's career as an artist including information on various bodies of artwork particularly in printmaking. This series focuses on Saff's professional career before Saff Tech Arts including Graphicstudio, as well as professional work after the height of Saff Tech Arts including consulting and curatorial work for the Guggenheim Museum and the status of Saff's registered patents. The writings subseries includes correspondence and manuscript material regarding Saff's 1978 book Printmaking co-authored with Deli Sacilotto, as well as follow-up and writings submitted for a possible update and reprint in the mid-1990s. Also included are published articles on the collaboration process. The exhibition subseries includes Saff's solo and group shows as an artist, as well as shows focusing on him as a fabricator and collaborator including the unrealized Joint Venture: Donald Saff and the Art of Collaboration, which was scheduled to open in Fall of 2009 at the Brooklyn Museum. The printed material subseries contains printed material related to Donald Saff's life and career before and following Saff Tech Arts, focusing on him as an educator and artist and founder of Graphicstudio, and the legacy of the art collection Saff assembled. The artwork subseries includes various sketches and notes by Donald Saff, as well as a test print made for wither Saff or another artist.

Saff Tech Arts (later Saff & Co.) records includes correspondence, founding documents including funding, fabrication and supplies information, artist files documenting working relationships ranging from potential collaboration, to long-term fabrication and representation, regular business relationships such as Knoedler & Co., and legal and insurance information including leases and worksite assessments, and printed material including clippings and subject files. Correspondents are usually clients including collectors and galleries. Artist files document a range of interest and working relationships ranging from potential collaboration, to long-term fabrication partnerships including representation. Regular collaborators included Nancy Graves, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, James Turrell, and James Rosenquist. Materials include printed material, fabrication information, sales and consignments, exhibition planning, shipping documents, and damage and restoration documentation. Business records include inventory, sales and consignments including multiple artists, regular business relationships including Knoedler & Co., appointment books, fabrication schedules, employee timesheets, and legal and insurance documents including claims, disputes and leasing information, as well as the pursuit of trademarks on production techniques. Some materials are in digital formats.