Acquired from the UK-based private press of I.M. Imprimit, the Pouchée Specimen Sheets are a rare collection of antique ornamented types, originally produced at the foundry of Louis John Pouchée (b. 1782, d. 1845). The letters were engraved by hand in the 1820s as patterns from which metal types could be made and sold to poster printers. They are richly ornamented fat-face styles, incorporating images of flowers, fruit, animals, musical instruments, agricultural implements, and Masonic symbols within the letterforms.

The George Jergenson papers offer an overview of his life, especially his career in industrial design. Organized during his retirement years, this collection consists of correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, and artwork. One of the highlights is the General Motors Train of Tomorrow that he designed, a three-year labor of love for Jergenson. From concept sketches to spec sheets to a film of the finished cars, the collection documents the entire project. Another focus of this collection is his surface development teaching materials which he used while at General Motors to share his expertise with young designers and engineers.
Series 1 contains personal materials including biographical notes with ancestral origins, lists of events, financial papers, and detailed accounts of his departure from Art Center.
Series 2 consists of letters from Jergenson's employment at General Motors Styling and Art Center School, as head of Industrial Design. Occasional course outlines, meeting minutes, and expense reports can also be found.
Series 3 contains course outlines, lecture notes, annotated bibliographies, speeches, and reports compiled by Jergenson while teaching at Art Center and in later years. A 1959 re-accreditation report from Art Center reviews curriculum, student services, demographics, school events, and a professional directory.
Series 4 contains materials related to Jergenson's freelance work from 1944-1968 for American Motors Corporation (AMC), Outboard Marine Corporation, and Pan Am. Included are correspondence, contracts, design evaluations, market research reports, meeting notes, and technical drawings.
Series 5 consists of work Jergenson did while at General Motors Styling. The earlier files relate to his design work for the Train of Tomorrow. The later files showcase his expertise in surface development.
Series 6 contains materials related to several professional industrial design organizations including IDEA, IDI and IDSA. This series also includes materials from the Society of Art Center Alumni such as articles of incorporation, correspondence about scholarships and contributions, and meeting minutes.
Series 7 consists of an array of images from throughout Jergenson's life. Included here are family photographs and slides of his paintings. There are images from Art Center and a surface development slide show. Of interest are photos of his design sketches for the Train of Tomorrow. There are also slides of Eero Saarinen's iconic Styling Administration Building at the General Motors Technical Center.
Series 8 contains seven scrapbooks which offer an overview of Jergenson's life, especially his careers in industrial design and education. Compiled by Jergenson in the 1980s, they consist mostly of clippings, photographs, and correspondence with some handwritten exposition.
Series 9 has five 8mm movies shot by Jergenson. The films cover the General Motors Train of Tomorrow, Art Center trips to Paris, London, and Japan, and the Catalina Project, a Product Design student project.
Series 10 contains original paintings by Jergenson, as well as a few items from other artists. Also included is a list of titles, dates, and other details for slides of Jergenson's paintings.

The Charlie Potts photographs were primarily taken by Potts while he was a student and consist mainly of portraits of models. Also included are four early photographs of his family members and a few images labelled Preston Duncan Studio.

Collection contains personal and professional materials related to the life and work of Vernon Milton Simpson, printer in Los Angeles, California, including his work with California Institute for the Arts.

Items in the collection are predominantly printed works, including pages and final copies of the "Red Books" specimen binders; marketing material for bicentennial posters; and the posters themselves. There is relatively little correspondence or original writings.

Books given as part of the original donation are not included in this description. They can be found cataloged in the online catalog at http://library.artcenter.edu/.

The Adams family papers consist mainly of photographs of Art Center School in the early 1950s, especially of students and faculty in classroom settings. Also included are some personal photos of Tink and Virginia's 1951 wedding, their Silverlake home, and Tink with his bonsai. Most of the faculty in the Art Center photos have been identified by Virginia Adams. Of interest are the photographs of Japanese exchange students through the JETRO program, including Kenji Ekuan. Three oversized photographs are housed separately.

Adams's correspondence concerns design work he was hired to do, mainly for Sloan's Liniment package and counter display. Virginia's correspondence consists of materials sent to her as a member of Art Center's Board of Trustees. The magazine advertisements are a varied collection torn out of magazines from the early part of the 20th century. The reminiscences about Tink's house, written by his daughter, discuss the purchase and renovation of his Silverlake home.

The plaque (box 5) was presented to Adams by Japanese designers and reads: "In appreciation of Edward A. Adams' continuous interest to educate and help Japanese designers, some of whom have enrolled in the Art Center School to become leaders in the development of design in Japan. 1965" Below the inscription is a list of names that includes some Art Center alumni.

Artwork by Virginia Adams, late 1930s-early 1940s, consisting of 20 pieces of mostly advertising original art, many in mat boards 7.5" x 8". Enclosure titled "Los Angeles Fashion Report Spring 1939" with 9 loose sheets of original fashion artwork. Several printed advertisements (some on newsprint) for I. Magnin & Co.

This collection consists of files and printed materials created by the Admissions department from the 1930s through 2007. The bulk of the collection is statistic reports on incoming students.

The Administrative Files of Series 1 include form letters used by the department. In addition to Admission Statistics reports in Series 2, there are statistics on enrollment, grades and inquiries by prospective students. The restricted Portfolio Review Logs in Series 3 list all the prospective students by the date they brought their portfolios in to be reviewed, and whether or not they were accepted.

The Printed Materials in Series 4 are mainly handouts to prospective students, including brochures and “View”, which is geared toward high school students. Series 5 consists of general recruitment posters. The 2006 posters feature artwork by alumni Calef Brown (ILLU 1988) and Ann Elliot Cutting (PHOT 1987).

The Edward A. Adams Papers relate mainly to Adams's personal life. The pieces related to Art Center are a brochure announcing the opening of the school, correspondence about the school's federal tax exemption, memos about design education in Australia, student honors and awards, as well as the publication "The Future of Japanese Industrial Design". The bulk of the correspondence is to his friends and family members, including daughter Marjorie Stotsky. The legal papers relate to various personal property issues. Three of the photographs are of Adams, one taken on a visit to Japan. The remaining two photographs are promotional images of an advertising class.

This small collections contains mostly Advertising Department brochures and newsletters.

The Public Relations files were created by the former Directors, mainly Jan Kingaard, and staff of Public Relations. Although the dates of the collection span 1944 to 2008, the majority of the records are from the mid-1990s to 2002. The bulk of the collection is the administrative files in Series 1 which document the varied responsibilities of the department, from internal meetings to media outreach.

The files in Series 2 (Academic Departments) and Series 5 (People) contain information collected on Art Center faculty and departments to be used in publicizing Art Center accomplishments. Series 3 (Art Center Campuses) contains publicity about the physical plant, including the move to Pasadena and the acquisition of South Campus.

The Events files in Series 4 document on and off-campus events that the department publicized, especially Super Thursdays. Related to those files are the Sponsored Projects files in Series 7, which contain information on the corporations, projects and students involved for publicity purposes.

The media outreach efforts of the Public Relations Department can be seen in Series 6 (Press Kits and Releases) and Series 8 (Clippings), the latter containing hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles related to Art Center, its students, and their work. The Media Summaries in Series 9 are packets of clippings compiled by Public Relations to be distributed to other administrative departments on campus. These packets are arranged chronologically, following departmental practice.

Series 10 contains the internal communication component of Public Relations. Notable in this series are the Third Thursday Newsbriefs that are distributed to the Art Center community every month and spotlight Art Center news and events.

Printed materials, such as letterhead, business cards, and brochures, some dating back to the 1950s, make up Series 11. Series 12 consists of computer files, almost all of which are on compact disc.

Although part of the Clippings series, several oversized copies of news articles are filed separately, including a reprint of a 1954 Saturday Evening Post article profiling Art Center. Also filed separately are three scrapbooks of clippings that duplicate and supplement the photocopied and filed clippings that were collected by the department from 1971-1985. The oversized items are housed in Boxes 31, 32, and 33.

The Photography and Imaging Department records are mostly catalogs and brochures from the 1930s to the 1950s, which contain detailed information on faculty and classes taught. Also of note is a file related to former chair Charlie Potts, containing biographical information on him. There are also announcements and catalogs from the late 1990s-2000s.

A unique piece in the collection is a small book from 2005 created by Rene Sheret (PHOT 1954) featuring some of his student work digitally altered.

The Photography and Imaging materials were originally in the main collection of catalogs and brochures saved by the Library prior to the establishment of the Archives, plus a few items directly from the department.

The Office of Development collection contains records related to the various fundraising efforts of the College. Many of the files were created by the directors of the Development departments, namely Paul Millman (Director of Annual Giving in the mid-late 1980s), Jay Sanders (Director of Individual Giving, Assoc. Director of Corporate Relations, and Director of Annual and Special Giving), and Dyan Sublett. Many of the other files are mass-produced brochures and appeals. The Administrative files consist of donor correspondence, internal planning documents, giving statistics, and communications with the Art Center community. Of particular interest are records from the early 1980s related to the creation of the alumni annual giving program.

The files in the Appeals series and Campaigns series consist mostly of mass-produced mailings and reports documenting the outreach efforts and major College campaigns throughout the years. The publication Why Design? is an elaborately illustrated appeal for the 1987 campaign, consisting of two booklets entitled "Why Design?" and "Why Art Center?" and a "How to Participate" brochure.

The Campus Development series consists of case books, master plans, and planning documents related to the College's architectural projects including the Ellwood building construction and updates, South Campus, and the Design Research Complex.

The Donor Recognition series and the Events series contain mainly invitations to donor and fundraising events. The Event series contains all of the printed materials for the Car Classic series.

The few files in the Foundation Relations series contain correspondence with foundations regarding giving. Of note is the Fairchild Foundation which helped fund the construction of the Pasadena campus and Ellwood building.

The Giving Groups series contains a sub-series for each giving group including: Art Center 100, Art Center Circle, Art Center Partners, and Legacy Circle. The files mainly consist of appeals and invitations to events.

The Planned Giving series and the Scholarships and Memorial Funds series contain mainly brochures and mailings.

This collection contains ArtCenter exhibition invitations, announcement, posters, and catalogs from the early 1930s to the present. The collection did not come from one source, and was compiled from years of various exhibitions. In addition, the collection represents all of the ArtCenter galleries, although exhibitions from the Williamson Gallery make up most of the collection beginning in 1992.

Series 1 has materials from Art Center's main exhibits, featuring many prominent artists. Some of these exhibits are traveling, and some are curated by Art Center staff and guests. There is a gap in our collection between 1955 and 1976. An exhibit on Richard Avedon's photographs was an important event for Art Center, shown just two months after the opening of the Ellwood building in 1976. Also historical was the Christopher Le Brun exhibit in 1992 that launched the new Alyce de Roulet Williamson gallery. Beginning in the early 2000s we began more partnerships with other Pasadena institutions, such as with Neuro, 2003 and ear(th), 2004 (both collaborations with Caltech), The Universe, 2001 (with related exhibits around Pasadena), and In the Dermisphere, 2007 (part of a Pasadena festival: SKIN: Art and Ideas).

Series 2 contains invitations and announcements for student exhibits from 1934 - 2004. The early records are mostly for an annual exhibit of student work from all departments. Most of the later records are for individual student MFA shows. This series is incomplete and contains records that were gathered together in 2003. Other materials for student shows may be found in individual department collections. The regular Grad Show announcements are found in the Graduation collection.

The Morgan Sinclaire photographs are images of Art Center Photography Department field trips and studio assignments shot by Sinclaire while he was a student. Also included are photographs he took later in life while traveling.

The Irene Vermeers papers consist almost entirely of photographs of Art Center School in the mid-1930s, especially faculty portraits and student work. Some of her images were less formal and capture rare candid images of students. The bulk of the collection is photographs of an Industrial Design Department class project from the mid-1930s taught by Kem Weber, whose objective was to design and build a model for a future Art Center campus to be located on Wilshire Boulevard.

Also included in this collection are Art Center Photography faculty Al King's color theory notebooks and the camera and tripod she used as a student.

The Marion Strahl Boyer photographs consist mainly of images taken by Strahl during Art Center Photography Department field trips in 1942. Of interest is a trip to Yosemite with instructor Ansel Adams. Also included are photocopies of two magazine articles about Art Center photography students and six advertisements for Art Center School.

This collection consists of documents and brochures from the undergraduate Environmental Design Department, and Environmental-related coursework prior to the establishment of the department in 1992. Of particular note is a 1938 brochure of a Kem Weber course. There are also some files on special projects led by Chair Patricia Belton-Oliver in the early 2000s that eventually led to the creation of the Educational Planning Office.

There are related CDs of media kits containing images of student work and Environmental Design projects from the early 2000s.

The Kenneth Staley papers are mainly his memoir that documents his experiences at Art Center before and after World War II, his involvement during the war as a rifleman, and his career at General Electric Company. Photocopies of his sketches, a photograph of himself during the war, and the original letter from Art Center confirming his enrollment (1939) are included.

A large portion of this collection consists of administrative records related to the Ellwood building, Design Research Complex, and South Campus. Materials include meeting agendas and minutes, timelines, reports, and planning documents. Dana Hutt was included in many of the planning meetings for the Sinclaire Pavilion, South Campus and the Design Research Complex, and documents reflect her involvement.

Another large component of this collection consists of research. Dana Hutt did research on the Ellwood building at the Art Center Archives and Cal Poly Pomona Archives. Other research about the Ellwood building includes original documents from Peter Blake, who was an architect and close friend to Ellwood. The records include correspondence to Ellwood and his family, articles related to Ellwood, and an obituary on Ellwood by Blake. These records were given to Dana Hutt by Peter Blake for her research and to be kept by Art Center. At the time of her research on the Ellwood building, she was preparing to write a book on the history of the building. Research from Caltech related to the Wind Tunnel is also included in the collection.

Finally, the collection contains planning documents related to the L.A. Now book project, that Dana Hutt worked on with Richard Koshalek.