Tropicana, Carmelita

The Real Art Ways collection documents the art displayed and artists who performed at the Hartford, Connecticut contemporary art space, Real Art Ways (RAW). A variety of information is included, most pertaining to exhibits and performances that would be taking place at RAW. Loan agreements, pick-up and drop-off receipts, contracts, and correspondence between RAW and the artists* feature prominently. Many of the files contain samples of the artists' work, as well as photocopies of news articles about the artists and their creations. Quite often the samples are in the form of photographs, slides, and compact discs. Later entries moved to DVDs. The collection had been arranged and re-arranged prior to the creation of this finding aid. Therefore, the original order was difficult to determine. The result is five series: Administrative, Artists, Artists in Residence, Exhibits, and Media.

Real Art Ways does not produce annual reports, so information about the structure of the organization must be gleaned from other sources. The Administrative series comprises material pulled from other areas that relates more to the organization as a whole, rather than any individual artist. This was not exhaustive; more may certainly be found.

Information about the Artists is split into four sub-series. Each sub-series is in alphabetical order. It is possible an artist may be found in more than one sub-series if they worked with RAW on more than one occasion. Each sub-series merely relates to when the information was put in storage. They are labeled as Parts A, B, C, and D, merely for identification purposes.

The Artist in Residence program allowed artists to spend an agreed upon time at RAW, creating. This series contains information on artists who were accepted to the program, and participated.

Major Exhibits put on by RAW may be found in the fourth series. Arranged in alphabetical order, the amount and type of information varies. For some of the exhibits, the material is split between administrative information and artist information. Two subseries found here are Other Assorted Artists and Exhibits and Rebekah Lamb's files. Smaller exhibits, and artist files out of scope in other areas, may be found in the former. In the latter are files attributed to Ms. Lamb. No other portion of the collection was labeled with a particular individual's name.

Slides make up the bulk of the Media series, with other forms including audio cassettes and VHS tapes. As opposed to the samples found in the previous series, this portion is the official RAW copy of exhibits, performances, and related events.

*Artist is used to refer to any and all creators of art, including (but not limited to) visual, musical, performance, public, and cinematic art.