Special Collections and University Archives

The University Library's Department of Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) serves as the principal location for the historical research collections at California State University, Sacramento. The primary strengths of the collection are post-World War II political, social, and environmental history of the Sacramento region and the history of the California State University, Sacramento. The Department's holdings include printed books, literary and historical manuscripts, photographs, and university archives. Subject collections include the Japanese American Archival Collection (JAAC), the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, archives of the Mexican-American and northern California Native American communities, and the Sexual and Gender Identity Collection. For more information about how to access our collections, please call (916) 278-6144 or email.

Collection History

The Art Department art collection was established in the sixties by then Chair of the Art Department, Irving Marcus, and ceramics professor, Ruth Rippon. Collecting art did not start off as an intentional decision; rather it was a consequence of funds acquired from selling student artwork at campus artwork sales events and Prof. Irving Marcus purchasing prints for teaching purposes with the proceeds. Other artworks in the collection have been donated by faculty, students, and private donors.

Under the direction of Art Department Chair Dr. Dan Frye, all the art objects that could be located were moved to the Butler Building, a temporary building located behind El Dorado Hall, in 2012. The Art Department adapted a collection policy template to establish a policy unique to the Art Department.

With the Butler Building slated for demolition in the fall of 2015, the Art Department collection was moved to the lower level of the University Library building, where it currently resides.

Acquisitions

The collection reflects a vibrant period in regional art history and highlights the University's role as the region's great patron of the arts in bringing outstanding artists to Sacramento and supporting them in the creation of art and the education of artists, art professionals, and the art community.

Notable acquisitions for the collection include:

• Le Vieux Roi (1959), Pablo Picasso
• Star of Persia, II (1967), Frank Stella
• Homage to Carrière (1963), Nathan Oliveira
• An Affair in the Islands (1972), H.C. Westermann

Artists Represented

The collections include a body of work from a diverse community of artists such as: Suzanne Adan, John Altoon, Robert Arneson, Clayton Bailey, Paul Beckman, Kevin J. Boyd, Massimo Campilgi, Richard Carmassi, Fred Dalkey, Deloris Davisson, Robert Else, Ricardo Favela, Ernst Fuchs, Sharmon Goff, Fred Gordon, Anne Gregory, Hans Hofmann, James S. Kaneko, Frank La Pena, Kent Lacin, Laureen Landau, Sylvia Lark, Le Corbusier, Bob Mackie, Irving Marcus, Gary Miller, Joan Moment, Emmanuel Catarino Montoya, Jose Montoya, Jack Ogden, Nathan Oliveira, Tarmo Pasto, Pablo Picasso, Gary Pruner, Ruth Rippon, Fritz Scholder, Nate Shiner, Paul Soldner, Frank Stella, Carol Summers, Rufino Tamayo, Wayne Thiebaud, Ellen Van Fleet, Peter VandenBerge, Andy Warhol, H.C. Westermann, Raymond W. Witt.

Faculty artists from the department's first decades represented in the collection are Paul Beckman, Robert Else, Joan Moment, Jack Ogden, Tarmo Pasto, Ruth Rippon, Irving Marcus, José Montoya, R.W. Witt, and Ellen Van Fleet.