Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Irene Vermeers papers
Date(s)
- 1935-1937 (Creation)
Extent
2 linear feet (7 boxes)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Irene Gutterman (PHOT 1937) was born in New Mexico on April 2, 1912. Working as the school photographer to help pay tuition, she documented Art Center’s faculty, students, student work and classes across all academic departments. A number of her images appeared in the 1937 catalog. In the early 2000s, Vermeers donated over 200 of her original prints and negatives to Art Center. Her collection contains some of the earliest photographs we have in our College Archives and serves as an excellent document of the 7th Street era. In addition, she donated her original camera and tripod that she used as a student. It was at Art Center that Irene met her future husband, Art Vermeers, who studied industrial design. They married after graduating, and went on to start a family. Irene Vermeers died at the age of 96 on October 9, 2008 in La Jolla, California.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
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.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright held by Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, Calif.).
Digital materials and catalog records are made available for educational and research purposes only and cannot be reproduced, distributed, or published without written permission from Art Center College of Design.