Professional Activities
name: label: Collection Artist
content: Smith, Art, 1917-1982
setName: label: See more items in
content: Art Smith Archive
unitdate: label: Date
content: bulk 1946-2003
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Professional Activities series (circa 1946-2003) documents Arthur Smith's work as a studio jewelry artist throughout his life with the addition of photographs taken of his jewelry posthumously. A significant portion of the series documents Arthur's business including client interactions and correspondence with wholesalers relating to his Art Smith Jewelry store, sketches and drawings of jewelry, publicity and advertising planning, loans for exhibitions, his cufflinks patent, and business finances. Notably the series includes a facsimile of an "Illustrated Catalogue" of Arthur's designs and a sketch of his collaborative design with artist and friend Joyce Scott, among other original drawings.  This series also contains photographs documenting both Arthur in his shop and his jewelry for use in exhibitions and advertisements. Photographs of jewelry as objects are also included showing work related to cataloging the individual pieces. Large photo boards showing pieces of jewelry and models wearing jewelry present in this series may have been hung in Art Smith's shop, his home, and/or used in exhibitions. Notable photographers represented include Peter Basch and Lida Moser. Some personal photographs appear to be mixed in photographs that appear to be related to Arthur's work. Lastly, this series includes a significant amount of materials related to Arthur's exhibitions, workshops, and teaching endeavors. The series documents his involvement in "OBJECTS: USA" in 1968-1969, the exhibition of his work at Brookfield Craft Center, his work with the Harlem Research Center, his involvement in "The Haystack Encounter: Summer 1974," and his workshop at the First National African American Crafts Conference and Jubilee in 1979, among others.

Materials in this series include photographs, drawings and designs, exhibition catalogues and ephemera, correspondence, business and financial records, event ephemera, and loose notes and notebooks.

This series is arranged in three subseries: 

Subseries 2.1: Business Records and Jewelry Designs, circa 1947-1980

Subseries 2.2: Professional Photographs of Jewelry and Art Smith, circa 1946-2003, undated

Subseries 2.3: Exhibition Records, 1948-1981