RESEARCH & WRITINGS, 1965 - 2015

This collection contains material related to the professional life of New Jersey-based Joan Arbeiter as an artist and a teacher. The material in this collection reflect Arbeiter's career in New Jersey and New York during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, spanning the years from 1975 to 2017. Documents found in this collection include photographs, correspondence, notes, reproductions of Arbeiter's artwork, exhibition information, articles, audio cassettes, VHS cassettes, and more. Arbeiter's work is greatly influenced by feminist themes, which are reflected in this collection. Much of the material was originally housed in thematic binders, which is reflected in the series arrangement of the collection. Several of the binders documented Arbeiter's involvement in the art world through the years, others were specific to artwork and exhibitions, while others documented Arbeiter's teaching, writings, and feminist research.

In the audiovisual material series, there are a number of audio cassettes and VHS tapes, many of which are related to the New York Feminist Art Institute (NYFAI), Ceres Gallery, and/or the Women's Caucus for Art. These recordings are of events, panels, and lectures. The majority of the material in this section appears to be from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Please note that some of the cassettes have no or incomplete labels.

Included in the Works & Exhibitions section of this collection is material on the shows and exhibitions in which Arbeiter was involved. This includes material specific to these works, such as photographs of exhibit spaces and events, announcements, artist statements, photographs or slides of the artworks, and more. Some of this material seems to have been intended to serve as supplimental material in an exhibit in order to help give context to the works presented in the exhibitions, providing updates, artistic movivations, or the processes Arbeiter undertook to create the pieces.

Additionally, there were a number of binders that chronologically documented Arbeiter's professional life. These binders were labeled based on what years they documented and started from 1975 and went up to 2017. These were rehoused and are now found in the chronological files section of this collection. This material documented Arbeiter's involvement in the feminist art community, including events, correspondence, and photographs.

Furthermore, Arbeiter was a teacher at the duCret School of Art, located in Plainfield, New Jersey. In the teaching series of this collection, there are materials related to Arbeiter's time teaching at this school as well as lectures or workshops Arbeiter taught. This includes lesson plans, handouts, photographs of classes, and teacher evaluation forms.

This collection also contains material related to Arbeiter's writings. In addition to the material related to the book Arbeiter co-wrote, Lives & Works, which can be found in the Works & Exhibitions section of this collection, there is also a section specific to Arbeiter's writings and research. This includes articles and papers written by Arbeiter, as well as material not written by Arbeiter that appears to be research material that influenced her. Much of the research material is related to feminism and art, including a number of articles on Artemisia Gentileschi.

In the Catalogs & Newletter section of the collection, there are a small number of catalogs related to feminist art and the newsletter from the Women's Studio Center, titled Women's Art News. There are copies of this newsletter spanning the years from 2000 to 2007.