Begley, John, ca. 1945-, Ohio Valley Arts Poster Collection, ca. 1970s-2010s
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Begley, John, ca. 1945-
Title: Ohio Valley Arts Poster Collection, ca. 1970s-2010s
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these prints, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 1 box and 11 ovsz. flds.
Location Number: 023PR2
Scope and Content Note
The collection includes 385 posters and promotional materials for a wide array of cultural and visual arts organizations, associations, and events from the 1970s to 2020, collected by Louisville artist John Begley.
Posters are organized by subject in series. Due to size, smaller posters [folders 2, 4, 9, 11, 13, and 15] have been removed from the larger folders and are stored in a box.
Series 1 contains posters from various Louisville Visual Arts Organizations.
Series 2 contains posters and advertisements for various festivals and events in the Louisville area.
Series 3 contains posters from individual artists.
Series 4 contains posters for various exhibitions, galleries, and events at universities and colleges.
Series 5 contains posters for Louisville performing arts events and organizations.
Series 6 contains posters of various Louisville businesses- and government-related entities.
Series 7 contains a mix of items representing other Kentucky institutions.
Series 8 contains miscellaneous posters for a variety of events and programs.
Click to view full item list for detailed descriptions of the posters.
Biographical Note
John Begley is a prominent artist living and working in Louisville, Kentucky. His primary focuses during his art career have been printmaking, video making, and installation pieces.
Begley graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with distinction from the University of New Mexico in 1969. He served in the U. S Army as a first lieutenant training officer from 1971 to 1972 before returning to school and earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University in 1975. Early in his art career, he worked as a printer for Landfall Press in Chicago, Illinois, and New Harmony Print Workshop in New Harmony, Indiana. At this time, he also began teaching in the art department at the University of Evansville.
Begley 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. Begley now does freelance work in the artistic community, including curating exhibitions and providing art services. He remains an active member in various art foundations and galleries around Louisville.
Folder List
Series 1: Louisville Visual Arts organizations
Folder 1 (ovsz.): Louisville Visual Arts organizations, 1979-2005
Includes posters and promotional materials from various organizations in the Louisville Visual Arts Association, including the Water Tower Art Association, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Speed Art Museum, Liberty Gallery (Liberty National Bank), Zephyr Gallery, and the Annual Tattooist Art Show.
Folder 2 (in box): Louisville Visual Arts organizations, ca. 1980s-2020
Series 2: Festivals and events
Folder 3 (ovsz.): Festivals and events, 1982-2016
Includes posters and promotional materials for events happening around Louisville, including the New Albany Public Art Bicentennial Series, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference, LABC Black Filmmakers Festival, Global Day of Compassion, Kentucky Folklife Festival, Festival of Trees & Lights, Idea Festival, Original Highlands Festival, The Olmsted Festival, Quilt Week, Abbey Road on the River, Louisville Film and Video Festival, the Classics in Context Series, and various heritage weekends (Korean, Ukrainian, French, Greek, Indian, Arab, German, and Afrikan).
Folder 4 (in box): Festivals and events, 1971-2020
Includes posters and promotional materials for events in and around Louisville, including Idea Festival, the Annual Lava Halloween Party, Enid Yandell: A Life of Art and Activism, St. James Court Art Show, Flyover Film Festival, Louisville’s International Festival of Films, El Dia de los Muertos, Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville Design Week, Forecastle Fest, Kentucky Folklife Festival, Kentucky State Fair, Louisville Visual Art Association’s Waterside event, Louisville Bluegrass Music Festival, Blues Ballet, and Halfway to Forecastle Fest.
Series 3: Individual artists (mixed, exhibition posters)
Folder 5 (ovsz.): Julius Friedman, 1978-2002
Several posters in this run are from Friedman’s Images series.
Folder 6 (ovsz.): Julius Friedman and Nathan Felder, 1977-1985
Folder 7 (ovsz.): Garry Kaulitz CitySeen series, ca. 1980s
CitySeen was a series of posters in the 1980s advertised as “Louisville’s guide to dining, entertainment, and the arts,” created by printmaker Garry Kaulitz.
Folder 8 (ovsz.): Miscellaneous artists, 1978-2001
Includes posters and promotional materials by or related to various artists, including Cynthia Torp, Peter Bodnar III, Garry Kaulitz, C. J. Pressma, Williams L. Fischer, Walter McCord, Keith Spears, Dean Lavenson, Bob Lockhart, Mark Priest, Wendell Berry, Ed Hamilton, and Jim Foose.
Folder 9 (in box): Miscellaneous artists, ca. 1970s-2018
Includes posters and promotional materials by or related to various artists, including Cynthia Torp, Jim Foose, Joe Downing, Kevin Booher, Madison Cawein, Irit Batsy, Don Pendergraft, Darryl Halbrooks, and Harlan Hubbard.
Series 4: Universities/colleges
Folder 10 (ovsz.): Universities/colleges, 1977-2009
Includes posters and promotional materials for events at University of Kentucky, University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute, Norton Center at Centre College, and Morehead State University
Folder 11 (in box): Universities/colleges, 1978-2016
Includes posters and promotional materials for various colleges and universities, including Louisville School of Art, Spalding University, Jackson Hall Gallery and Kentucky State University, University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute, Kentucky Institute for International Studies, and an exhibition at the Ronald L. Barr Art Gallery at Indiana University Southeast featuring works from the Louisville Science Center.
Series 5: Louisville performing arts organizations
Folder 12 (ovsz.): Louisville performing arts organizations, 1979-1993
Includes posters and promotional materials for various performing arts organizations in Louisville, including a Louisville Downtown Arts calendar, WFPK (public radio), Manual High School’s Youth Performing Arts School, Fund for the Arts, Louisville Ballet, Louisville Opera, Kentucky Center Chamber Players, the Alo Symphony Ballgame (Louisville Orchestra), and Kentucky Opera.
Folder 13 (in box): Louisville performing arts organizations, 2000-2018
Includes posters and promotional materials for various performing arts organizations in Louisville, including performances at the Bunbury Theatre and Macauly Theatre, a concert by The Pine Club, Louisville Ballet at Iroquois Amphitheater, and performances at the Riverbend Winery.
Series 6: Louisville businesses/government
Folder 14 (ovsz.): Louisville businesses/government, 1976-2010
Includes posters and promotional materials for Louisville-related businesses and governmental entities, including the Louisville Water Tower, Louisville Metro Government, Louisville Graphic Design Association, St. John’s Center, Kentucky Harvest, Louisville International Airport, Kinetic Corporation, Fetter Printing Company, Tyvek, and South-Central Bell.
Folder 15 (in box): Louisville businesses/government, 1986-2016
Includes posters and promotional materials for Louisville-related businesses and governmental entities, including the Athens Paper Annual Report Show, Commercial Lithographing Company, TransWestern Publishing, the Original Highlands landmark dedication, Smoketown Monument Site, Bardstown Road Farmers Market, and Gutenberg Louisville at the Louisville Free Public Library.
Series 7: Other Kentucky institutions
Folder 16 (ovsz.): Other Kentucky institutions, 1976-2017
Includes posters and promotional materials for various Kentucky institutions, including Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen, Kentucky Horse Park, Mary Anderson Center (Ind.), Louisville Slugger Museum, the Louisville Free Public Library, 21c Museum Foundation, Muhammad Ali Center, Shaker Villages (South Union and Pleasant Hill), The Kentucky Center at the Kentucky Historical Society, and the Kentucky Arts Commission.
Series 8: Miscellaneous posters
Folder 17 (ovsz.): Miscellaneous posters, 1991-2017
Includes posters and promotional materials for a variety of events and projects, including the Tennessee Arts Commission, the 2017 Solar Eclipse, a photographic account of the Woodstock generation, International Day Without Art, Pompeys Pillar National Monument, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, and the Glass Art Society.
Subject Headings
Commercial art.
Craft festivals.
Dance posters.
Film posters.
Folk festivals.
Graphic design (Typography)
Libraries – Special collections – Posters.
Music – Posters.
Opera posters.
Political posters.
