Scope and arrangement
The records document the history and activities of the Yellow Springs Institute, in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, from its founding by John A. Clauser in 1975, until its demise. Included are administrative records, many financial records, photographs, negatives, and some slides. There are also a number of oversized materials, such as a scrapbook signed by the resident artists, several posters of Institute events, blueprints for the theater and lighting, and also for the conference center. Of particular note is the wooden sign that must have hung outside the Institute. There is little correspondence documenting the everyday operation of the Institute.
The Yellow Springs Institute records are arranged in five series:
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1972 - 2004, undated
This series contains institutional records pertaining to the history and founding of the Yellow Springs Fellowship for the Arts, and its development as a residency center for international artists and scholars.
- Sub-series 1 - General
- Sub-series 2 - Minutes
- Sub-series 3 - Artists’ Applications
- Sub-series 4 - Papers, Publications, and Publicity
- Sub-series 5 - Organizations
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1976 - 2002
Included in this series are the institute’s financial records, including statements, correspondence, and applications related to funding.
- Sub-series 1 - Financial Records
- Sub-series 2 - Government Grants
- Sub-series 3 - Other Funding
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1972 - 2001, undated
This series consists of applications, correspondence, agreements, programs, publicity materials, and clippings for artists receiving residencies at Yellow Springs Institute. Applications contain project proposals, artists’ resumes, and materials about the artists’ body of work. Programs for Yellow Springs Institute performances are filed with the first artist or group listed on the program. Performance categories follow the Institute’s code, except for “Other,” which includes humanities, visual arts, and interdisciplinary projects, as well as Institute-produced workshops
- Sub-series 1 - Dance
- Sub-series 2 - Music
- Sub-series 3 - Theater/Performance Art
- Sub-series 4 - Other
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1975 - 1994, undated, 1993
This series consists of prints, contact sheets, negatives, and slides of performers, performances, grounds, physical facilities, and the staff of Yellow Springs Institute. Also included are photos of the American Center in Paris, taken in 1993 by Erich Koyama. There are some color negatives and slides, but most are black and white. Contact sheets, negatives, and slides are filed by the number assigned by the Institute’s archives.
- Sub-series 1 - Prints
- Sub-series 2 - Contact Sheets, Negatives, and Slides
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1975 -1994, undated, 1982, 1980, 1981
This series includes a scrapbook of resident artists’ signatures, sketches, and brief thoughts, but consists mostly of blueprints both for the theater, its construction and lighting, as well as for the conference center. There are also lapel buttons for YSI programs Ages Apart (1982), Six Saturdays (1980), and Transformations (1981).