- unitid
-
{"value"=>"21747", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 2004-007", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"calendar"=>"gregorian", "era"=>"ce", "type"=>"inclusive", "value"=>"1972–2004"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Yellow Springs Institute records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"50 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"22 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Billy Rose Theatre Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The records consist primarily of administrative and financial papers, as well as photographs documenting the history and activities of Yellow Springs Institute, an international residency institute for artists and scholars that was located in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Yellow Springs Institute for Contemporary Studies and the Arts", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Chester Springs, eastern Pennsylvania spa that was to become Yellow Springs, dates from approximately 1730. In 1778, the Continental Congress authorized the building of a hospital for Continental soldiers at Yellow Springs, the only facility of its kind constructed during the war. Following the Civil War, the Yellow Springs Village was operated as a home for war orphans.</p> <p> From 1861 to 1952 the Village of Yellow Springs was owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts as a summertime painting and sculpture colony. The large sculpture studio was located on the ground floor of the large barn building that became the Institute's theater. The \"Swedish Nightingale,\" Jenny Lind, is said to have visited Yellow Springs in the mid-nineteenth century.</p> <p> From 1952 to 1974, the Village was owned by Good News Productions, the film studio that produced (at Yellow Springs) the cult classic film, <span class=\"title\">The Blob</span>, featuring Steve McQueen in the role that launched his career. Historic Yellow Springs purchased the entire village and began renovations in 1974.</p> <p> The Yellow Springs Fellowship for the Arts, later Yellow Springs Institute (YSI) for Contemporary Studies and the Arts, was founded in 1975 to \"establish an interdisciplinary laboratory for creative individuals whose work interprets aspects of contemporary experience, encourage creation of works that expand artistic boundaries, enlarge cultural understanding, and employ art and artists in the life of communities.\" John A. Clauser, an architect, was its founding director and ran the Institute for its entire existence.</p> <p> The Institute offered residency programs from one to three weeks between mid-May and October to both performing and visual artists, as well as presenting workshops. Those artists selected received room, board, and a stipend to develop their unproduced works during the residency, culminating in a work-in-progress performance before an audience. At its height, the Institute received more than three hundred applications from troupes and individuals all over the world. It accepted sixteen.</p> <p> In the late 1970s, the physical facilities were built, including a two-story performance facility with an amphitheater. <span class=\"title\">The Earthwork</span> was an outdoor, experimental performance space. In 1990, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation funded the building of a conference center complex.</p> <p> Among its most notable programs were <span class=\"title\">Six Saturdays: Explorations in Six Archetypal Themes</span> in 1980; mythology scholar Joseph Campbell and poet Robert Bly held workshops for this program; <span class=\"title\">Ages Apart</span>(1982) which examined cultural transformation and change, also with Robert Bly; and <span class=\"title\">ACCIONES</span> (1989), a project concerned with the cultural realities and concerns of Latino interdisciplinary artists from the two Americas.</p> <p> Many of the artists who worked at Yellow Springs Institute included those on the cutting edge, such as Ping Chong and Company (1990), Mabou Mines (1993), and composer Morton Subotnick (1992). Other participating artists included Ridge Theater (1991) and Shaliko Company (1989), performance artists Holly Hughes (1992) and John Kelly (1992), composer Pauline Oliveros (1983, 1991), musical groups Orchestra of Our Time (1980), the Philadelphia Trio, Relâche, and dancers Kei Takei (1980), Joan Lombardi (1983), and Toby Vann (1991).</p> <p> Drastic cuts in government funding in the late 1990s forced the sale of the Institute's fifteen-acre site. In 1997, Historic Yellow Springs, Inc. purchased the Institute's buildings and land. Clauser unsuccessfully sought a Philadelphia site for the Institute and spent the last few years of his life compiling an archive of the Institute's activities. He died of pulmonary fibrosis in 2002.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>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 are 8 masks used in performance and the wooden sign that must have hung outside the Institute. There is little correspondence documenting the everyday operation of the Institute.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Yellow Springs Institute records are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21747#c451056'>Series I: Administrative Records</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1972 - 2004, undated</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>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.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21747#c451296'>Series II: Financial Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1976 - 2002</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Included in this series are the institute's financial records, including statements, correspondence, and applications related to funding.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21747#c451397'>Series III: Programs and Performers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1972 - 2001, undated</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>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</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21747#c451566'>Series IV: Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1975 - 1994, undated, 1993</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>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.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21747#c451995'>Series V: Oversized</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1975 -1994, undated, 1982, 1980, 1981</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>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 <span class=\"title\">Ages Apart</span> (1982), <span class=\"title\">Six Saturdays</span> (1980), and <span class=\"title\">Transformations</span> (1981). Also included are masks used in performance.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Yellow Springs Institute Records were donated to The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in 2004 by the Yellow Springs Institute Board of Directors.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Audiovisual materials separated from this collection are cataloged individually and can be found in the Library's Research Catalog.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Camille Croce Dee and Katharine Elkington. Machine-readable finding aid created by Camille Croce Dee.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Box 3A, Folder 2 is RESTRICTED from patron access until 2060.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Yellow Springs Institute audiotapes, videotapes, tape reels, and DVDs were separated to the Music and Recorded Sound Division, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, and Theatre on Film and Tape Archive in the Theatre Division, according to genre and format.</p>"}
- note
-
{"value"=>"The Yellow Springs Institute records are held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and have been separated into four groups: paper records in the Billy Rose Theatre Division, music in the Music Division, audio materials in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound and video materials in the Theatre on Film and Tape (TOFT) collection."}
- sponsor
-
{"value"=>"Processed and encoded through a gift from Robert W. Wilson. "}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"Added container descriptions for Boxes 3A, 5A and 50 and updated the frontmatter accordingly.", "date"=>"2026-04"}
- extent_statement
-
22 linear feet (50 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Yellow Springs Institute records, *T-Mss 2004-007. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}