About the Dorothy Weiss Gallery records

The Dorothy Weiss Gallery was renowned in San Francisco for the quality of its crafts program and the artists it represented. Weiss focused on contemporary ceramic and glass sculpture with an emphasis on non-functional, sculptural work. She also showed some paintings, drawings and monotypes, and her interests in this area expanded, particularly in the mid-1990s, when she began exhibiting works by artists such as Daniel Brice, in addition to showing drawings by artists generally known for their sculpture.

Weiss represented many of the country's most prominent and well-respected artists working in glass, including Hank Murta Adams, Dale Chihuly, Richard Marquis, William Morris, Jay Musler, Clifford Rainey, Italo Scanga, Therman Statom, and James Watkins. Glass exhibitions at the gallery included site-specific installations by artists such as Statom, Adams, and Rainey.

The gallery was also an important venue for contemporary ceramists such as Rudy Autio, Annette Corcoran, Ruth Duckworth, Michael Lucero, Beverly Mayeri, and Robert Turner. Monthly exhibitions were held on the Third floor with the Fourth floor gallery space being reserved for a variety of work by gallery artists. "Teapot Invitationals," and exhibitions of "new glass" featuring teapots and glass sculpture by a variety of artists were held regularly at the gallery.

Weiss was an active participant in the wider art community, hosting collector's groups from around the country and guests during conferences, such as a special Glass Invitational in conjunction with the Glass Art Society Conference in March 1994. As a member of the San Francisco Art Dealers Association (SFADA), Weiss participated in First Thursday, holding opening receptions to new exhibitions on the first Thursday of every month and often accompanying them with artists' talks. She also participated in an annual Introductions show along with other SFADA members, representing younger, emerging artists in the Bay Area and nationwide. In addition, Weiss assisted the American Craft Museum in developing its exhibition programs, and was a Collectors Circle Affiliate for the American Craft Council.

Dorothy Weiss closed the gallery in 2000, retiring at the age of eighty. On October 4 of that year the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco opened A Tribute to Dorothy Weiss, an exhibition selected from her own collection. HIDE

The bulk of the collection consists of Series 1: Artist Files, which includes correspondence with artists, biographical material, printed material relating to exhibitions at the Dorothy Weiss Gallery and elsewhere, photographs of artwork, and administrative records such as price lists, inventories, and loan and consignment documentation.

Series 2: Exhibition Files contains records of approximately twenty-five group exhibitions held at the gallery, such as the Teapot Invitationals, and various exhibitions of glass artists. Records relating to exhibitions for a single artist's work can be found in Series 1: Artist Files.

Series 3: Subject Files consists of a small group of general subject files maintained by the gallery, such as correspondence with different types of clients, and records relating to specific projects outside the gallery in which Weiss participated. HIDE

Files typically include any or all of the following: announcements and press releases for exhibitions held at the gallery; correspondence with artists, buyers, collectors, museums and art institutions; biographical material such as résumés and artist statements; consignment, loan and shipping records; inventories and price lists; printed material; photographs of artists; and photographs of artwork.

Correspondence generally includes original incoming letters and drafts or copies of outgoing letters. To preserve the original order of the collection, records relating to a particular artist were broken down according to the system imposed by the creator. Consequently, files labeled "correspondence" may also include material such as price lists, inventories, consignment and loan records, invoices, and shipping records.

Photographic material generally consists of images of artwork and may also contain images of gallery installations or photographs of work in an artist's studio. Photographs of artists are filed separately and/or noted in the container list.

Additional slide transparencies of artwork by many of the artists represented here can be found at the end of the series. These were separated from the artist files in which they were originally housed for storage reasons. Researchers should check the list of transparencies for additional information about any artist of interest. "SB" next to the box number indicates the slide box in which particular slide transparencies are housed.