950 South Raymond Ave, Room 210
626 396-2208
archives@artcenter.edu
Monday – Friday, 9am – 4pm

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Walk-ins are welcome for students, faculty, and staff. Researchers need to contact us to make an appointment to view the collections.

All visitors must store their bags and any food/drinks in secure lockers.

The Jules Bates Artrouble Center is the research space for Archives and Special Collections. The space is made possible through a generous gift from ArtCenter Trustee Melissa Lora and Michael Lora in memory of Melissa’s brother, Jules Bates (BFA 78). Bates was a Los Angeles-based photographer who was the photo editor for L.A. Weekly and co-founded Artrouble with David Allen and Phyllis Cohen in 1978. Artrouble was an art collective that created artwork and album covers for punk and new wave bands. Tragically, Bates died in a motorcycle hit and run in 1982. In 2008 he received a posthumous honorary doctorate at ArtCenter.

Framed prints of Bates’ work are viewable in the Center, and researchers can make an appointment to view his collection of photographs. A digital catalog of his work is currently being created, and our digital exhibits include an introduction to his work, Jules Bates: A Photographer Ahead of His Time.

Students, faculty, staff, and scholars can also view historic photographs and records of ArtCenter, and research a variety of special collections of art and design, rare books, video, graduate theses, oral histories, and artist books.

The special collections books do not circulate and must be viewed in the Center. The books are cataloged in the online Library catalog with the location of SC Special Collections.

Archives and Special Collections is located on the second floor of the 950 South Raymond Building in Room 210 which is accessible by elevator and ramp.

We provide different styles of chairs and a standing desk, upon request. There are six tables with 24 chairs in the main research space, and a smaller table and chairs in the book room, which is a quieter space with dimmable lights.

There is one touch screen computer with Fusion software, which includes both ZoomText and the JAWS screen reader.

Service animals are welcome, and visitors must follow ArtCenter’s Services/Support Animal Policy. Contact us for more information.

If you require any additional accommodations, please let us know prior to your visit.

The Virtual Archives contains thousands of digital images and ArtCenter publications, as well as finding aids and descriptions of archival collections from Archives and Special Collections and the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography. Photograph descriptions with no digital images have not yet been digitized. Contact us if you want to see something not yet scanned.

The digital exhibits are curated selections from our archival collections, which help tell the history of ArtCenter, its alumni, students, and faculty.

We encourage faculty to bring classes into Archives and Special Collections. Some of the topics covered in classes that we have hosted include book design, photographic processes, typography, and graduate thesis preparation. Contact us to discuss how we can collaborate with you to create a positive experience for students learning about and using archival and rare materials.

Submit a reservation before bringing classes into Archives & Special Collections so we can prepare for your visit. Submit the form at least two weeks in advance of your class.

We are located on the second floor of the 950 building in Room 210 which is accessible by elevator and ramp. If anyone in your class requires any accommodations, please let us know.

All students and faculty must store their bags and any food/drinks in a secure locker.

We have six tables that can seat up to 24 people. Moving the tables out, we can accommodate up to 50 seats, which we have done for graduate thesis presentations and events. There is also a TV monitor and a whiteboard which you can use for presentations.

In 2022, we completed a two-year IMLS grant project titled Reimagining Access: Inclusive Technology Design for Archives and Special Collections, which incorporated human-centered design in two studio classes hosted by Interaction Design and Designmatters and explored how to improve access to digital archives for people with disabilities. The project also entailed a related virtual symposium with designers, instructors, archivists, librarians, and disability advocates. The project website includes details on the project, video of the symposium, examples of student work, and downloadable Creative Prompts meant to facilitate discussion on improving digital access.

The accompanying Research Guide contains links to resources on accessible design and improving accessibility in libraries and archives.

In select cases, we accept donations of rare or out of print books and periodicals.

While there are some special collections books in our collection dating back to the late 1800s, the majority of our collection is from the 1970s-2020s. There is an emphasis on illustrated books, fine arts, graphic design, photography, industrial design, artists’ books, entertainment design, small press, risograph books, zines, and faculty and alumni publications.

Collecting criteria include:
● Fewer than three libraries in California hold copies; fewer than ten libraries in the U.S. hold copies
● Books by and about marginalized and underrepresented artists and designers
● Demonstration of various methods of printing, binding, and construction
● Books from artists and publishers from around the world
● Institutional interest (faculty/alumni publications, etc.)
● Market value of over $500
● Limited editions
● Artists’ books
● Out-of-print books

Archives and Special Collections staff review all donation offers prior to accessioning. In some cases, ArtCenter faculty help review collections for importance and relevance to the curriculum. Sometimes monetary donations are requested with the donation, in order for us to have the resources to process and preserve the materials.

Archives and Special Collections selectively accepts donations of archival materials. The two main collecting criteria we consider are that the materials support the curriculum of the College and that we are able to preserve the materials by having adequate space and resources to process and store collections.

The collecting emphasis is personal papers and artwork of alumni, prominent faculty and chairs, student work, and photographs and film/video of ArtCenter. Additional collecting areas include archival collections related to industrial design (especially product and transportation design), illustration, graphic design, media design, and entertainment/concept art.

Other collecting criteria include:
● Collections can be made available for research with no restrictions
● Original and primary source materials
● Materials in good condition

In general, we do not collect the following:
● Scans of photos. Preservation is a key aspect to our mission, so we prefer to collect original photographic materials (prints, transparencies, negatives, or born-digital).
● Three-dimensional artwork
● Photocopies
● Paintings

Archives and Special Collections staff review all donation offers prior to accessioning. In some cases, faculty help review collections for importance and relevance to the curriculum. Sometimes monetary donations are requested with the donation, in order for us to have the resources to process and preserve the materials.

Contact us if you want to license images from the Jules Bates photographs. All requests are reviewed by the family of Jules Bates. Licensing fees are also determined by the family, and proceeds go to the Michael Bates and Jules Bates Memorial Endowed Scholarship, which provides significant financial assistance to undergraduate Photography and Imaging students demonstrating both merit and financial need.

Contact us if you want to license images or video from the ArtCenter archives, or if you want to borrow items for an exhibition.

All licensing requests will be reviewed and approved by Archives and Special Collections and Marketing and Communications. You will be asked to fill out and sign an Image Use Agreement Form, which lists the terms.

We do not license images if ArtCenter does not own the copyright, nor do we license images showing only student work.

In addition to digital reproduction fees, there are commercial reproduction fees for licensing materials for which ArtCenter owns the copyright. All proceeds received go to the preservation and access efforts of Archives and Special Collections.

Digital reproduction fees

Photographs (high resolution)
● $10.00/image

Audio
● $100/tape ($50 additional for transcription)

Video
● Contact us for lab estimate

No reproduction fees for ArtCenter students, faculty, and alumni.
Graduate theses: Due to copyright, we only digitize theses for the authors, and there is no fee.

Licensing fees

Commercial motion picture, documentaries or television broadcast
● $250/image
● $30/second for moving images
● $10/second for audio

Commercial publication, website, poster, advertising
● $100/image

Exhibition, displays, presentations
● $50/image

Personal and non-profit websites
● $25/image

Scholarly journals
● No fee for images

Fees are subject to change at any time.

Licensing fees may be waived for small non-profit organizations or university presses engaging in non-commercial publication, or for the use of images by the news media in newspaper articles.

You may use items from ArtCenter’s archives for personal use. There is a $10.00 digital reproduction fee for a high-resolution image.

There are no reproduction fees for ArtCenter students, faculty, and alumni. Students may use images for class projects, but not for print or digital publication without approval.

Due to copyright, we only digitize graduate theses for the authors and there is no fee.