Archives of American Art
Kathy Vargas papers
Vargas, Kathy
AAA.vargkath
Archival Resource Key
10.8 Linear feet
circa 1965-2016
The papers of San Antonio-based educator and photographer Kathy Vargas measure 10.8 linear feet and date from circa 1965-2016. Vargas's career is documented through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, project and exhibition files, professional files, and printed material.
English
.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Kathy Vargas papers were donated in 2016 by Vargas.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2019.
Preferred Citation
Kathy Vargas papers, circa 1965-2016. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival records with audiovisual records with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
Biographical / Historical
Kathy Vargas (1950- ) is an educator and photographer in San Antonio, Texas.
Vargas's early influences were the stories of her elder family members, Catholicism, and her uncle Antonio Valdez, a photographer. In the early 1970s, Vargas became acquainted with rock and roll photographers who introduced her to their world of professional photography. Her interest led to taking photography classes at the Southwest Craft Center where she studied under photographer Tom Wright. She quickly became captivated with the art form and started freelancing as a rock and roll photographer. Around this time, Vargas also became familiar with Chicano art and the artist group Con Safo, co-founded by Mel Casas. Vargas and Casas maintained their friendship until his death.
In addition to attending the Southwest Craft Center, Vargas also attended San Antonio College. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Art in 1981 and a Master of Fine Art in 1984 from the University of Texas in San Antonio. Vargas has exhibited her work, as well as curated numerous exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad, collaborating with colleagues such as Jim Goldberg, close friend Lucy Lippard, and others. Vargas is a professor and art department chair at the University of the Incarnate Word where she developed a Bachelor of Fine Art program for photography. Previously she was the Visual Arts Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.
Scope and Contents
The papers of San Antonio-based educator and photographer Kathy Vargas measure 10.8 linear feet and date from circa 1965-2016. Vargas's career is documented through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, project and exhibition files, professional files, and printed material.
The collection contains biographical materials, including a video recording of an interview, photographs of family and friends, and records for Vargas's studies at the University of Texas. Correspondence is with Lucy Lippard, Jim Goldberg, Jeff Perrone, colleagues, and others. Topics of professional correspondence includes exhibitions, publications, and residencies. Writings and notes that include five notebooks, manuscripts by Vargas and others, notes, and lecture and panel talks. Project and exhibition files document her work on major exhibitions of Chicano art, and include twelve sound recordings of interviews for the exhibition Hospice: A Photographic Inquiry. Other projects include the Guerrilla Girls Fotonovela and research on San Antonio shrines. Professional files document Vargas's activities on various boards and committees, employment, and for her work on selection panels. Printed material includes clippings, exhibition material, magazines, posters, and other publications.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as six series.
- Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1965-2014 (Boxes 1, 12; 0.4 linear feet)
- Series 2: Correspondence, 1979-2014 (Boxes 1-5, 12; 4.0 linear feet)
- Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1985-2014 (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear feet)
- Series 4: Project and Exhibition Files, 1984-2004 (Boxes 6-8, 12; 2.0 linear feet)
- Series 5: Professional Files, 1975-2016 (Boxes 8-9; 1.0 linear feet)
- Series 6: Printed Material, 1974-circa 2010 (Boxes 9-12, OV 13; 2.4 linear feet)
Related Materials
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history with Kathy Vargas conducted by Jacinto Quirarte, in San Antonio, Texas on November 7-25, 1997 for the Archives of American Art.
Women artists
Latino and Latin American artists
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Interviews
Photographers -- Texas -- San Antonio
Educators -- Texas -- San Antonio
Women educators
Women photographers
Lippard, Lucy R.
Goldberg, Jim, 1953-
Perrone, Jeff
Guerrilla Girls (Group of artists)
Biographical Material
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
0.4 Linear feet
Boxes 1, 12
circa 1965-2014
Scope and Contents
Biographical material includes two appointment books, awards and certificates, education records for the University of Texas in San Antonio, one video recording of an interview, and written interviews. Also included is a draft of a report on the Eleanor Heard survey of Latino art in San Antonio for which Vargas was interviewed. Photographs include Vargas at exhibition and political events, and with friends; photographs of her uncle, who was also a photographer; and one photograph by Christopher Rauschenberg.
Appointment Books
Archival Resource Key
1994
1997
1
1-2
Awards and Certificates
Archival Resource Key
1979-2004
1
3-4
Awards and Certificates
Archival Resource Key
2000
12
1
Education
Archival Resource Key
circa 1983
1
5
Education
Archival Resource Key
1981-1984
12
1
Interviews
Archival Resource Key
1996-2014
1
6
Interview, "What Follows... Mixing It Up III"
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (VHS)
1990
1
7
Photographs
Archival Resource Key
circa 1965-circa 2000
1
8-9
Correspondence
Series 2
Archival Resource Key
4 Linear feet
Boxes 1-5, 12
1979-2014
Scope and Contents
The series contains Kathy Vargas's correspondence with Allan D. Coleman, Jim Goldberg, Lucy Lippard, Chon A. Noriega, Jeff Perrone, May Stevens, Kay Turner, and colleagues and collectors, as well as correspondence regarding donations, exhibitions, publications, and residencies and grants.
Business
Archival Resource Key
1981-2006
1
10
Coleman, Allan D.
Archival Resource Key
1992-1998
1
11
Colleagues
Archival Resource Key
1988-2014
1
12-18
Collectors
Archival Resource Key
1994-2012
2
1-2
Community and Community Awards
Archival Resource Key
1985-2004
2
3-4
Donations
Archival Resource Key
1991-2013
2
5-7
Exhibitions
Archival Resource Key
1979-2014
2
8-15
Exhibitions
Archival Resource Key
1979-2014
3
1-12
Scope and Contents
Includes records for exhibitions of Vargas's work organized by Juan Bruce Novoa, Con Safo, Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation (CARA), and other exhibitions.
Goldberg, Jim
Archival Resource Key
1996-1997
3
13
Internet, Regarding
Archival Resource Key
1995-2002
3
14
Lippard, Lucy
Archival Resource Key
1987-2012
3
15-16
Scope and Contents
Includes post cards, illustrated envelopes, photographs of travel to Oaxaca in Mexico, and a photographs album of Vargas's trip to New Mexico to visit Lippard.
Lippard, Lucy
Archival Resource Key
1987-2012
4
1-3
Lippard, Lucy
Archival Resource Key
circa 1989
12
1
Noriega, Chon A.
Archival Resource Key
1993
4
4
Panels, Lectures, and Talks
Archival Resource Key
1980-circa 2005
4
5-9
Perrone, Jeff
Archival Resource Key
1984-1989
4
10-11
Personal
Archival Resource Key
circa 1995
4
12
Publications
Archival Resource Key
1989-2012
4
13
Publications
Archival Resource Key
1989-2012
5
1
Residencies and Grants
Archival Resource Key
1991-2005
5
2
Stevens, May
Archival Resource Key
2000-2001
5
3
Turner, Kay
Archival Resource Key
1989-2013
5
4
Writings and Notes
Series 3
Archival Resource Key
1 Linear foot
Boxes 5-6
circa 1985-2014
Scope and Contents
Writings include a commencement address, various lectures and panel talks that include three video recordings, manuscripts and drafts by Vargas and others that includes one electronic disc, five notebooks, and notes.
Commencement Address
Archival Resource Key
circa 1985
5
5
Lectures
Archival Resource Key
circa 1985-1994
5
6-7
Scope and Contents
Includes a videocassette recording of a telecourse titled "The New Patronage" at the University of California in Davis.
Manuscripts and Drafts
Archival Resource Key
circa 1985-circa 2014
5
10-16
Scope and Contents
Includes manuscripts and drafts for the book Born of Resistance; an article in the journal Nueva Luz that also includes an electronic disc; a manuscript titled "A Gust of Wind Through the Mexican Apple Tree" for the Revelaciones/Revelations symposium; manuscripts, notes, and newspapers for articles published in San Antonio Light. Also included are manuscripts by Shifra M. Goldman and Amelia Malagamba-Ansotegui.
Notebooks
Archival Resource Key
circa 1990-circa 1997
5
17-20
Scope and Contents
Includes five notebooks with notes on artwork for exhibitions, lists of artwork, writings about empowerment and mentoring, contact information, and project notes.
Notes
Archival Resource Key
circa 2005
5
21-22
Scope and Contents
Includes notes on the preface by Vargas for the book Available Light. Also included is a published copy of the book along with sketches and other notes.
Panels
Archival Resource Key
2 Videocassettes (VHS)
circa 1990-2005
6
1-2
Scope and Contents
Panels include "Lightning in a Bottle" at Texas State University and a panel in conjunction with the exhibition Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation at the Wight Art Gallery.
Project and Exhibition Files
Series 4
Archival Resource Key
2 Linear feet
Boxes 6-8, 12
1984-2004
Scope and Contents
The series consists of material for American Voices, Chicano: An American Experience, Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, and Intimate Lives: Work by Ten Contemporary Latina Artists. Also included are files for a Blue Art Space exhibition, drawings for the Guerrilla Girls Fotonovela, Vargas's research on San Antonio shrines, and 12 sound recordings for the exhibition Hospice: A Photographic Inquiry.
American Voices
Archival Resource Key
1992-2002
6
3-15
Scope and Contents
Includes letters with Robert Buitron and artists, artist lists, meeting notes, material for a Latino book, slides of artwork, and correspondence.
American Voices
Archival Resource Key
1994
12
1
Blue Art Space Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
2001
6
16
Chicano: An American Experience, Consultant
Archival Resource Key
1999
6
17
Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, Panel Moderator
Archival Resource Key
2001-2004
6
18
Guerrilla Girls Fotonovela
Archival Resource Key
1989
6
19
Hospice: A Photographic Inquiry
Archival Resource Key
circa 1995
7
1-11
Scope and Contents
Includes writings by hospice workers and relatives of patients, loan papers, correspondence, research material on death and hospice care, and 12 sound cassettes tapes of interviews.
Intimate Lives: Work by Ten Contemporary Latina Artists
Archival Resource Key
circa 1993
7
12-16
Scope and Contents
Includes slides of artwork, correspondence with artists, and the original proposal for the exhibition.
San Antonio Shrines
Archival Resource Key
1984-1995
8
1-5
Scope and Contents
Includes research material and notes, slides, manuscripts, and records related to Vargas's participation in the Smithsonian Folklore Summer Institute as a Community Folklore Scholar.
Professional Files
Series 5
Archival Resource Key
1 Linear foot
Boxes 8-9
1975-2016
Scope and Contents
Vargas's professional files contain records for her membership on various boards and committees; her employment with the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, as a music photographer, and at the University of the Incarnate Word; Juan Bruce Novoa memorabilia, including photographs and printed material; and files for her work on selection panels.
Board, Art Matters
Archival Resource Key
1992-2006
8
6-7
Boards, Various
Archival Resource Key
1986-2013
8
8-9
Committee, AIDS Fundraising
Archival Resource Key
1991
8
10
Committee, Gateway San Antonio Public Art Project
Archival Resource Key
2004-2005
8
8
Employment, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
Archival Resource Key
1987-2000
8
12-14
Employment, Rock and Roll Photographer
Archival Resource Key
1975-1996
8
15
Employment, University of the Incarnate Word
Archival Resource Key
2000-2016
8
16-17
Employment, University of the Incarnate Word - Tenure and Promotion Presentation Book 1
Archival Resource Key
circa 2002
9
1-2
Scope and Contents
The tenure and promotion presentation books contain correspondence, printed materials, and other documents that highlight Vargas's professional accomplishments.
Employment, University of the Incarnate Word - Tenure and Promotion Presentation Book 2
Archival Resource Key
circa 2002
9
3-5
Novoa, Juan Bruce
Archival Resource Key
1983-circa 1995
9
6
Selection Panels
Archival Resource Key
1987-2013
9
7-9
Printed Material
Series 6
Archival Resource Key
2.4 Linear feet
Boxes 9-12, OV 13
1974-circa 2010
Scope and Contents
The series consists of a book and book jacket, clippings, three scrapbooks of clippings, a documentary video recording of the Day of the Dead event, exhibition announcements and catalogs, journals and magazines, newsletters, posters, press releases, programs, and a thesis written by Ann Marie Leimer about Vargas.
Book Jacket, No Bluebonnets, No Yellow Roses: Essays on Texas Women in the Arts
Archival Resource Key
2005
9
11
Book, Native Soil: Poems from South Texas Poets
Archival Resource Key
2007
9
11
Clippings
Archival Resource Key
1974-2013
9
12-15
Clippings
Archival Resource Key
1974-2013
12
3
Clippings Scrapbook
Archival Resource Key
1977-1991
10
1-3
Scope and Contents
3 scrapbooks
Documentary, "The Day of the Dead" - Institute of Texan Cultures
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (VHS)
circa 2000
10
4
Exhibition Announcements and Catalogs
Archival Resource Key
1976-circa 2010
10
5-18
Scope and Contents
The files contain materials on Vargas's early exhibitions, her first solo exhibition announcement, group exhibitions, exhibitions in which Vargas served on the jury, and catalogs with text written by Vargas.
Exhibition Announcements and Catalogs
Archival Resource Key
1993
12
3
Journals and Magazines
Archival Resource Key
1978-2009
10
19-20
Scope and Contents
Includes articles by Vargas.
Journals and Magazines
Archival Resource Key
circa 1985-circa 2010
11
1-4
Journals and Magazines
Archival Resource Key
circa 1985-circa 2010
12
2
Newsletters
Archival Resource Key
1994
11
5
Posters
Archival Resource Key
circa 1980-circa 2010
13
Press Releases
Archival Resource Key
1991
11
6
Programs
Archival Resource Key
1998
11
7
Thesis on Vargas by Ann Marie Leimer
Archival Resource Key
2001
11
8