In 1959, the University Gallery hosted a Japanese flower-arranging demonstration in conjunction with the exhibition "Japanese Prints", and I discovered this contact sheet documenting the event in the files. I love contact sheets, since they show every shot the photographer took on that roll, prior to editing.

Though a majority of processing has consisted of rhythmic re-foldering, several boxes have also contained mysterious miscellany found amongst the folder sets...

After removing each of the two folders containing materials for the Grace Hartigan Exhibition, (held at the University Gallery from Sept. 23 - Nov. 4, 1963), an item, which had been shoved underneath the folders, was revealed at the bottom of the box: a smaller cardboard box!

From Box 3, in a folder titled simply, "Staff Photographs, Resumes," circa 1941 - 1959, a candid photograph of the University Gallery's first permanent director, Ruth Lawrence:

Most of the exhibition files from the late 1930s and early 1940s do not have photographs in them, but when they do, these images give a window into the times. This Swedish Arts and Crafts exhibition from 1944 actually still feels quite modern (I'm looking at you, IKEA). Some of the wall label drafts for the show are also quite interesting — Label IV reads:

Processing the WAM collection allows for direct exposure to the documentation of institutional history. Contained within the third box of the WAM collection is a folder titled, "Biennial Report to President, 1947-1948." The contents consist simply of four delicately aged pages, on which is contained a draft composed by then University Gallery director Ruth Lawrence. The draft opens with Lawrence acknowledging that the Gallery has "completed 15 years of service to the University.