Series III: Exhibitions, Collecting, Programs

The Curatorial Office Records of Brian T. Allen, 1990-2004, contains records created and accumulated by Brian T. Allen in his capacity as a curator of the Clark Art Institute. This collection includes correspondence to and from Allen and the curatorial office, invoices, contracts and loan information, budgeting for programming, trustees meeting minutes, and papers detailing the involvement of outside organizations with the Clark, such as the National Endowment of the Arts. The collection is also comprised of information about the planning of exhibitions, including grant proposals, exhibition proposal documents, paperwork for the acquisition of items, and research conducted by curatorial staff. Reinstallation and deaccession agreements for the shows are within this collection, as well as the planning for a series of music programs in 1999-2001.

Series One, Administrative Files, is comprised of records from the curatorial offices and Brian T. Allen. These records include information regarding different subscriptions and contact information for the curatorial department, staff announcements, annual reports, the department’s strategic planning information, and correspondence to and from different museum professionals and organizations. Details of the Clark's Board of Trustees meetings are included in this series, as are meeting minutes and department proposals for the Board. Subseries A, Financial Documentation, includes all the budgetary, loan, and invoice paperwork accumulated by Allen and the Curatorial Department, including budgets for individual exhibitions and acquisitions. Subseries E, Clark Specific Files, details documents within the collection that pertain to only internal affairs of the Clark, including plans of the building and grounds, work-study position postings, master documents for multiple departments at the Clark as well as more technical paperwork such as the sabbatical policy and a code of ethics.

Series Two, “Professional Files” contains the personal work of Brian T. Allen. This includes course concepts and articles he used in his teaching; multiple essays and letters of recommendation; Allen's 1998 Yale PhD Dissertation, and details of lectures and talks given during his tenure at the Clark.

Series Three, Exhibitions and Programming, includes the original Acoustiguide Audio Tour for the Clark's Permanent Collection. Subsequent files include the written transcript of the recording that was used for The Clark, the planning process for the guide, and a sample from the Toledo Museum’s audio tour.

The Elizabeth Burrows Silver collection was appraised and brought to The Clark for exhibition in 1999 and 2000. Information regarding the Clark's acquisition of the Burrows silver collection, the process of planning the exhibition, A Fresh and Large Assortment, and images of the appraised objects are included in these files.