Downtown Flyers and Invitations
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The collection consists of flyers and invitations relating to downtown galleries, performance spaces, and nightclubs. The bulk of the materials were collected by Mark Swartz, a downtown New York resident.
Historical Note
Mark Swartz, who was a supporter of the downtown scene of the 1980's, collected over that period a significant number of flyers and invitations that were assembled into what became this collection. It gives a glimpse into how the scene was promoted and what was happening in music and the arts of the period.
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically by venue and then chronologically within each heading.
The files are grouped into three manuscript boxes and one oversize box.
Missing Title
- Flyers and Invitations
- Oversize Materials
Scope and Content
The Downtown Flyers and Invitations Collection is a part of the Downtown Collection at Fales Library, New York University. The Fales Library is the primary special collections division of the NYU libraries, housing over 200,000 volumes of English and American literature from 1700 to the present. Strengths of the collection include the development of the English and American novel, with an emphasis on the Gothic and the Victorian novel. The Downtown Collection comprises printed materials, archives, audio and video materials, manuscripts, and other materials related to the downtown New York City art, literary, and performance art "scenes" from the 1970s through the 1990s.
The bulk of the Downtown Flyers and Invitations Collection consists of material relating to downtown galleries, alternative art spaces, performance spaces, and nightclubs. The collection is particularly strong with regard to material from Performing Space 122, The Alternative Space at the West Broadway Gallery, The Kitchen, and La Mama. Also, there is a sparse, but nice, collection of nightclub flyers from the Limelight, the Palladium, and Area.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Downtown Flyer and Invitations; MSS 119; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by multiple donors in 2001. The accession number associated with this gift is 2001.119.
Provenance
Donated by Mr. Mark Swartz in the fall of 2001, the Downtown Flyers and Invitations Collection consists of flyers and invitations sent to Mr. Swartz over the greater part of the 1980s. In 2007 additional materials were donated by the Museum of Modern Art Library (Box 1 Folders 117a - 177c and Box 4 Folder 2), The Keith Haring Foundation (Box 2 Folder 236a) and Lynn Gumpert (Box 4 Folder 3). Johan Kugelberg donated additional materials in 2008. Dread Scott donated an item (Box 3, Folder 407a) in 2010.
Separated Material
There is no information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials that have been physically separated or removed.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2019 have not yet been recorded.
In February 2019 materials for accession 2001.119 were rehoused into two boxes, Box 5 and 6. T-shirts were wrapped in tissue paper and housed in Box 5. Pins were pinned to a foam board, placed in an archival folder and housed in Box 6. One flyer was placed in an archival folder and housed in Box 6.