John Begley Audiovisual Collection, ca. 1970s-early 2000s
Collection held by the Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky
Title: Begley, John, b. 1945. Audiovisual collection, ca. 1970s-early 2000s
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for this collection, contact the Collections Department at gro.lacirotsihnoslif@hcraeser.
Size of Collection: 49 VHS, 42 audio cassettes, 2 Betamax, and 1 document folder
Location Number: 024PC24
Finding aid created by: Hannah O’Daniel McCallon
Date finding aid created: 2/6/2026
Date finding aid last updated: 2/18/2026
Scope and Content Note
The collection documents the late twentieth- to early twenty-first-century visual arts scene of Louisville, Kentucky, through the perspective of arts administrator, educator, and artist John Begley.
Arts organizing, funding, and collaboration are represented in recordings of meetings, events, and published videos of the successive Water Tower Art Association, Art Center Association, Louisville Art Gallery, and Louisville Visual Art Association.
The collection also documents individual artists’ work through recordings of talks and interviews, grant applications, independent films, footage of galleries and installations, and studio spaces.
Recordings and published videos document arts education, including children’s camps, college-level instruction, and professional development for artists.
Related collections:
Aubespin, Mervin (1937-). Papers, 1910-2020 [Mss. A A892]
Begley, John. Ohio Valley arts ephemera, 1990-2012 [023×85]
John Begley Ohio Valley Arts Poster Collection [023PR2]
Collage of the Louisville Visual Art Association Board of Directors, ca. 1955 [GBP-23]
Setzer, John. Papers, 1975-1988 [Mss. A S495]
Carr, Geoff (1953- ) Artist Series Photograph Collection, ca. mid-1980 to early 2000s [023PC16]
Ohio Valley Artist Files
Conditions of Access and Use
Staff can pull audiovisual materials for researchers to view the original media, but the content can only be accessed once digitized. Please speak to staff for more information.
Biographical or Historical Note
John Begley (b. 1945) was a founding director of the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art in Indiana, holding this position from 1975 to 1983. He left this position to serve as director at the Louisville Visual Art Association until 2001. He became gallery director, assistant professor of Art (emeritus), and Critical and Curatorial Studies graduate program coordinator for the Allen R. Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville until he retired in 2014. Since retirement John has been a freelance art worker; his work has included creating art, curating, and offering varying arts services. In addition to his career, he has served on various community boards and committees. In Louisville, he was a founding member of Zephyr Gallery Artists Cooperative (1987-2014), and he served on the board of directors for the Arts & Cultural Attractions Council (1999-2003), Downtown Design Review Overlay District planning committee, and the Visual Arts Network (as of 2026, now called LOOK, or Louisville Art Dealers and Presenters Network).
Item List
Art Center Association (ACA), Water Tower Art Association, and Louisville Visual Art Association (LVAA), ca. 1979-late 1990s
Cassette 1: History of the Water Tower, ca. 1979-1980, Betamax, up to 2 hours
Cassette 2: Art Center Association Executive Committee Meeting, December 1, 1981, audio cassette, up to 1 hour
Cassette 3: Art Center Association, Water Tower, Master 1, before June 1983, audio cassette, up to 2 hours
Cassette 4: Water Tower History, ca. 1983, 2 audio cassettes, up to 3 hours
Cassette 5: Board Brainstorming/Business, ca. mid 1980s, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 6: WTAA-LAG Initial Merged Board Orientation, March 26, 1988, VHS, up to 2 hours. See Folder 77 for printed orientation agenda.
Cassette 7: Off The Walls demo, 1987, VHS, 5 minutes
Cassette 8: Off The Walls intro, ca. 1987-1990s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 9: Off The Walls, Episodes 1-4, 1987, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 10: Off The Walls, Episodes 5-8, 1987, VHS, 2 hours. Digitized. Click here to view digitized video and transcript.
No. 5: Comic Book Art: Mark Steiner, Jason Noble, Don Rosa
No. 6: Black Artists: G Caliman Coxe and Anna Huddleston
No. 7:
International Art, “Are You Irish?”
Children’s Free Art Classes promo
Boat Race Party promo
Caroline Homolka Interprets the Art
Retrato de un Pueblo, Wendy Ewald in Colombia (español)
Boat Race Party April 29
No. 8: Tom Butsch – Intersection
Cassette 11: Best of Off The Walls, 1986-1987, ca. 1988-1990s, VHS, up to 30 minutes
Cassette 12: Tapestry of an Art Association, ca. 1988-1990s, VHS, up to 30 minutes
Cassette 13: Board Meeting and Reflex and Reflection talk, January 24, 1990, March 20, 1990, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 14: LVAA Board Meeting, March 19, 1990, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 15: Marian Long and Mary Walker Bernard interview and board meeting, Spring 1991, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 16: Long range planning sessions, July 21, 1993, August 25, 1993, 3 audio cassettes, up to 4 hours, 30 minutes
Cassette 17: Long range planning sessions, November 12, ca. mid-late 1990s, 4 audio cassettes, up to 6 hours
Cassette 18: Long range planning sessions, November 17, ca. mid-late 1990s, 7 audio cassettes, up to 10 hours, 30 minutes
Art education, 1986-2000
Cassette 19: Side A: Joe Gray Interview (film maker) WFPL, January 29, 1986; Side B: Artists Rights lecture with Tom Goetzel, March 20, 1986, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 20: Animation session taught by Ron Schildknecht, ca. 1980s-2000s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 21: Critics Talk, February 25, 1990, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 22: Summer Visual Art Camp Week 1, July 1992, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 23: Summer Visual Art Camp Week 2, July 1992, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 24: Summer Visual Art Camp Paper Pulp Fun, July 1996, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 25: GeoGraphis (Composite Tape), Fall 1997, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 26: GeoGraphis – Sam Gilliam visiting artist class lecture, September 11, 1997, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 27: Animation class by Ron Schildknecht, 1998, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 28: Business of Art by John Begley, ca. 1990s, 2 audio cassettes, up to 3 hours
Cassette 29: Scholastic, Inc. “A Creative Journey” arts competition, August 2000, VHS, 5 minutes, 54 seconds
Cassette 30: Artopia classroom, WAVE-3, November 13, 2000, VHS, up to 2 hours
Artists and shows, late 1970s-ca. 2000s, undated
Cassette 31: Betsy Dines artist show talk, late 1970s-early 1980s, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 32: Channel 29 Art Scene, 1984, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 33: Karen Lyverse and Peter Walker artist show talk, January 6-30, 1985, 2 audio cassettes, up to 3 hours
Cassette 34: Collaborative Effort Symposium, July 8, 1985, 3 audio cassettes, up to 4 hours, 30 minutes
Cassette 35: Watersipe fair, 1987, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 36: This is not an art video this is Documentation, Scott Scarboro sculptures, ca. 1988, VHS, up to 2 hours. Digitized.
Cassette 37: Russian Classics in Context promotion clips, September 11, 1989, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 38: Bob Lockhart artist show talk, Ed with Betsy Dines, ca. 1980s, 2 audio cassettes, up to 3 hours
Cassette 39: Gary Kaulitz artist show talk, ca. 1980s, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 40: Good Authority segment on Vietnam Art with Tim Peters, March 16, 1990, audio cassette, 5 minutes
Cassette 41a-b: The Somnambulist performance art, Mitchell and Chris Doerflinger, 2 copies, October 1990, VHS, up to 4 hours
Cassette 42: Looking Around Louisville by sculptor Don Lanham, PA Cable Channel 10, April 1993, VHS, 30 minutes
Cassette 43: Steven Powell glass Studio tour, 1993, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 44: Blessed are the Ties that Bind, Martha Desposito and Karen Snouffer at Zephyr Gallery, December 3, 1993-January 16, 1994, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 45: Art and Trauma, ca. 1990s, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 46: Governor Vietnam Commemorative Photo Collection Program, ca. 1990s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 47: Nite Time Sampler, Tannen, ca. 1990s, audio cassette, 6 minutes, 30 seconds
Cassette 48: University of Louisville BFA and student shows, spring 2002, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 49: Art Rollover by Russel Weedman, ca. 2000s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 50: Bell Somnus by Alex Ferguson, ca. 2000s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 51: New Works by Darryl Halbrooks, ca. 2000s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 52: Odd Fragments by Bill Whorrall, ca. 2000s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 53: Words(IN) Tension by Steven Skaggs, ca. 2000s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 54: Narrations: Raw Footage, undated, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 55: Valerie Sulivan Fuchs, undated, VHS, 5 minutes
Cassette 56: Virginia Fitzpatrick, undated, dictation audio cassette, up to 15 minutes
Cassette 57: Artist interview with Yoko Ono, undated, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Galleries and museums, ca. 1980s-1990s
Cassette 58: Louisville Art Gallery, before 1986, Betamax, up to 3 hours
Cassette 59: Interview with Peter Morrin, Director of J.B. Speed Art Museum, August 6, 1986, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 61: TriArt / VAN (Visual Art Network), ca. 1990s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Independent film, 1992-ca. 2007, undated
Cassette 60: Fontaine Ferry Park: A Time of Innocence, written and directed by Jerry L. Rice. Tim Young Productions (New Albany, Ind.), 1992, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 62: Shaker Images: Into a More Perfect Order, ca. 1996-1997, VHS, 14 minutes
Cassette 63: A Friend of the Family by Rob Caudill, late 1990s-2001, VHS, up to 2 hours. See Folder 77 for corresponding film festival submission letter. Film shot in Louisville.
Cassette 64: Louisville Film and Video Festival compilation, 2002, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 65: The Dainty Festival: A Schnitzelburg Tradition, written and produced by Morgan Atkinson, ca. 2007, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 66: Bernice: A Story of Life by Aaron Frisbee, ca. 2001, VHS, up to 2 hours. See Folder 77 for corresponding film festival submission letter.
Cassette 67: Dogtown: Robert Straini, undated, VHS, up to 2 hours. Produced by John Begley during his residency at Indiana University Southeast.
Cassette 68: Nice Guys Sleep Alone by Archy Borders, undated, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 69: Under the Old Oak Tree, undated, VHS, up to 2 hours
Kentucky Educational Television (KET), ca. 1990s-2000s, undated
Cassette 70: Arts for the 21st Century, ca. 1990s-2000s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 71: Children for Peace, undated, VHS, up to 2 hours
Public Art, 1987-ca. 1990s
Cassette 72: FLAPP (Future of Louisville Art and Public Places) symposium, 1987, audio cassette, up to 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cassette 73: ARN/Bortz / Public Art / VAN (Visual Art Network–Gallery Association), September 23, 1988, VHS, up to 2 hours
Cassette 74: Downtown Development Corporation, November 12, 1995, VHS, 16 minutes, 15 seconds
Cassette 75: Downtown Development Corporation: Creating Special Places, produced by Videobred, May 1, 1996, VHS, 29 minutes, 1 second
Cassette 76: Lucid Moment by Mags Harries, ca. 1990s, VHS, up to 2 hours
Paper documents
Folder 77:
WTAA-LAG initial merged board orientation agenda, March 26, 1988
Film festival correspondence, 2001 (relates to Cassettes 63 and 66)
Subject Headings
For more details on how the below subjects appear in this collection, search the subject in the manuscript database at https://filsonhistorical.org/collections/manuscript-database/.
African American artists.
Art – Study and teaching.
Documentary films.
Independent films.
Kentucky – Artists.
Kentucky – Louisville – Art.
Kentucky – Louisville – Public art.
Louisville Visual Art Association (Louisville, Ky.)