Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) Records

Collection

Identifier: MSS-133

Scope and Content Note

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Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) Records consist of materials documenting the organizational history, administration,and exhibits and programs of MARS.The collection has been divided into five series.

Series I: Administrative Files (Boxes 1-8) includes materials related to grants, financial files and general adminstrative files. The materials document topics such as board of directors meetings, MARS employees and artists, payroll, fundraising efforts and other related material.

Series II: Exhibits and Programs (Boxes 10-14) includes materials related to exhibits and programs created and attended by MARS. The files contain flyers, correspondence,handouts and other materials created in preparation for and related to exhibits and programs. Some files include photographs and slides.

Series III: Printed Materials (Box 14-17) includes such materials such as clippings,newsletters, brochures, posters, flyers, and advertisements for MARS and other organizations.

Series IV: Subject Files (Boxes 9-10) includes files about artists, MARS artists and employees.

Series V:Correspondence (Box 9) includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence. Types of correspondence include business inquires, contracts, booking, and memorandums.

Dates

Creation: 1974-1992

Creator

Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (Organization)

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

The Arizona Board of Regents retains copyright to this collection for and on behalf of the Arizona State University Library. Requests to publish, display, or redistribute information from this collection must be submitted via our online application.

Historical Note

Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) was a non-profit visual arts organization, gallery and cooperative founded in 1978 by Jim Covarrubias and other Hispanic and Indigenous artists and was dedicated to exhibiting Hispanic artists. MARS was started MARS was started"to create an alternative gallery where they could show work without being censored by the constraints of what is marketable to a commercial gallery".

At one point, MARS was the only Hispanic run gallery in Arizona and the only artist run gallery in Phoenix, Arizona. MARS programs consisted of exhibitions, visiting artist series, slide presentations,artists in schools, workshops, and performance art. MARS was active from 1978-2002

The mission statement of MARS was "To promote and develop interest and support for the visual arts, and to establish an alternative space art gallery in the Chicano community."

Source: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/ghosts-of-mars-6411111

Full extent

10.25 Linear Feet

Full extent

18 Box(es)

Language of materials

English

Additional description

Abstract

The Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) Records consists of administrative files which contains grant files, financial files, and general administrative files, exhibit and program files, printed materials, subject files and correspondence documenting MARS and its’ work in Arizona and the United States during the late 1970s to early 1990s. The MARS Records contain under administrative files series: five boxes of grant files, roughly one and a half boxes of financial files, one and a half boxes of general administrative files, roughly four boxes in the exhibit and program files series, three boxes in the printed materials series, half a box in the subject files series and half a box in the correspondence series.

Arrangement

This collection consists of eighteen boxes divided into five series:

Series I: Administrative Files
Series II: Exhibits and Programs
Series III: Printed Materials
Series IV: Subject Files
Series V: Correspondence

Provenance

Liz Lerma, the former executive director of MARS, donated the Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) Records to the Chicano Research Collection in 1991. These materials were received in two accessions: gallery information (ACC# 1991-00515) and financial papers (ACC# 1991-00530).

Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) Records were transferred in 1997 in one accession (ACC# 1997-01815).

Lennee Eller and Jim Covarrubias donated the Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) Records to the Chicano Research Collection in 2013. These materials were received in one accession (ACC# 2013-04622).

Related Materials

Related materials can be found in the following locations:

ME CHI FP-20 (Ephemera): M.A.R.S. , 1984
ME CHI FP-24: M.A.R.S. Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado: Newsclippings
CE EPH FP-224: MARS, Phoenix Arizona: Informational Brochures (scattered dates beginning in 1988)
MP SPC 210: Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS) Photographs

Separated Materials

Materials in Accession numbers 2009-04294,1991-00515, and 1991-00530 have been separated for preservation remediation due to mold and is not accessible to users.