Athena Tacha papers
name: label: Creator
content: Tacha, Athena, 1936-
label: Names
content: Oberlin College
label: Names
content: Brancusi, Constantin, 1876-1957
label: Names
content: Johnson, Ellen H.
label: Names
content: Lippard, Lucy R.
label: Names
content: Rodin, Auguste, 1840-1917
topic: label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- Ohio
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- Ohio
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated 1998, and 2019-2023 by Athena Tacha.
creator: label: Creator
content: Tacha, Athena, 1936-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Athena Tacha papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of sculptor and educator Athena Tacha measure 36.84 linear feet and date from 1959 to 2019. Found are biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, research and writing files, commission and project files, teaching files from her position at Oberlin College, professional activities files, subject files, printed material, and photographic material. Of note are files documenting Tacha's numerous public art commissions throughout the United States.

There is a one item addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes a handwritten notebook of works sold by Athena Tacha. The notebook dates from circa  date from circa 1964-2017.

There is a 0.8 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2023 that includes six notebooks by Tacha consisting of "Pages from Notebooks," 1966-76; "Forms of Matter, Study I: Spheres, 1," 1970; Forms of Matter, Study I: Spheres, 2," 1970; "Forms of Matter, Study II: Spirals, 1," 1970; Forms of Matter, Study II: Spirals, 2," 1970;  and "Creating the Photo Environments," documentation of Athena's "photo environments," 2011-16. Materials date from 1966-2016.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Athena Tacha (1936-) is a Greek-born sculptor, and educator active in Oberlin, Ohio.

Athena Tacha was born in Larissa, Greece in 1936. She studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Athens and was accepted at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio under a Fulbright scholarship in 1960. There, she became close with her mentor Ellen H. Johnson. She continued her education at The Sorbonne, University of Paris where she completed her PhD. Returning to Oberlin, Tacha became assistant curator at the Allen Memorial Art Museum in the mid-1960s and later taught sculpture at Oberlin College until 1998. 

Tacha began exhibiting her works throughout Ohio including at the annual Cleveland May Show at the Cleveland Museum of Art and around the United States. She held solo shows at Zabriskie Gallery and the Max Hutchinson Gallery. In the 1970s, Tacha focused on large environmental public sculpture, using brick, LED lighting plants, steel, stone, and water.

Athena Tacha married art historian Richard Spear in 1965. Together, they traveled extensively through the United States, Asia, South America, and Europe. They live in Washington, D.C.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 36.84 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1959-2019
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.tachathe
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Motion picture film
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 11 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1960s-2000s (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, OV 37)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1961-2016 (5.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-6)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1959-2019 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)

Series 4: Research and Writing Files, circa 1960-1974 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 7-9, OV 37)

Series 5: Commission and Project Files, circa 1974-2016 (9.2 linear feet; Boxes 9-18, OV 37)

Series 6: Teaching Files, 1963-circa 2000 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 18-19)

Series 7: Professional Activities Files, 1968-2000 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 20-22)

Series 8: Subject Files, 1960s-2000s (5.0 linear feet; Boxes 22-27)

Series 9: Printed Material, 1963-2013 (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 27-30, OV 37)

Series 10: Photographic Material, 1960s-2015 (6.8 linear feet; Boxes 30-36, OV 37)

Series 11: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1964-2017 (.01 linear feet, Folder 38)

Series 12: Unprocessed Addition, 1966-2016 (o.8 linear feet, Boxes 39-40)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2021.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Motion picture film
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of sculptor and educator Athena Tacha measure 36.84 linear feet and date from 1959 to 2019. Found are biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, research and writing files, commission and project files, teaching files from her position at Oberlin College, professional activities files, subject files, printed material, and photographic material. Of note are files  documenting Tacha's numerous public art commissions throughout the United States.

Biographical materials include resumes, scattered personal business records, and small sketches and handmade cards by Tacha. Largely, Tacha's correspondence comments on her professional career and includes letters from Ellen H. Johnson and Lucy Lippard and other artists, art historians, colleagues, and institutions. Writings by Tacha include her PhD thesis, drafts of articles, and an interview. More extensive files are found for Brancusi's Birds, and Rodin Sculpture.

The largest series contains material concerning Tacha's commissions and projects, both completed and unrealized. Files may contain detailed designs and construction information, correspondence, financial records, video recordings, and photographs. Professional activity and organization files concern Tacha's exhibitions of her works of art, and her participation with various groups such as the College Art Association and the New Organization for the Visual Arts. Subject files and photographic materials may include extensive source material used by Tacha to create her sculpture. Found are photographs, slides, sound and video recordings, and born-digital material. 

There is a one item addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes a handwritten notebook of works sold by Athena Tacha. The notebook dates from circa  date from circa 1964-2017.

There is a 0.8 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2023 that includes six notebooks by Tacha consisting of "Pages from Notebooks," 1966-76; "Forms of Matter, Study I: Spheres, 1," 1970; Forms of Matter, Study I: Spheres, 2," 1970; "Forms of Matter, Study II: Spirals, 1," 1970; Forms of Matter, Study II: Spirals, 2," 1970;  and "Creating the Photo Environments," documentation of Athena's "photo environments," 2011-16. Materials date from 1966-2016.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an interview of Athena Tacha conducted 2009 December 4-6, by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art's U.S. General Services Administration, Design Excellence and the Arts oral history project.

Athena Tacha donated her teaching files, as well as her research files relating to Ellen Johnson's Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oberlin, Ohio, to Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, and her early and student writings to the Balch Institute of Ethnic Studies, Philadelphia, Pa. Tacha was the executor of Ellen Johnson's estate, and worked with the Archives in donating Johnson's papers in 1994 (cataloged separately under Johnson).