| About the Kellen Archives Center |
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Fashion designer
Norman Norell instructing students at Parsons, 1957. |
The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Archives Center for Parsons The New School for Design is a repository for archival materials relating to the history of art and design, with a special focus on the history of the school and the careers of its faculty, students, alumni, and other associates.
Originally named the Chase School, Parsons The New School for Design was founded in 1896 by American Impressionist painter William Merritt Chase. Focusing on the fine arts - painting, drawing, and sculpture - the burgeoning school encouraged individual style and innovation among its student body. Two years after its founding, the school changed its name to the New York School of Art. In 1907, Frank Alvah Parsons became an administrator at the school and made design an important part of the educational mission. He introduced the first full professional departments in Interior Design (1907), Fashion Design (1907), and Graphic Design (1910). To recognize the growth of the design curriculum, the school was renamed the New York School of Fine and Applied Art in 1909. Establishing the Paris Ateliers in 1921, the institution became the first art school in the country to have an overseas branch.
In honor of Mr. Parsons, who was important in steering the school's development and in shaping visual-arts education through his theories about linking art and industry, the institution became Parsons School of Design in 1941. It became a division of The New School in 1970, and its name as of 2005, Parsons The New School for Design, conveys this relationship. The school now has a wide curriculum in art and design, study abroad programs, and connections with affiliate schools around the world.
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Students from Parsons on a museum field trip, 1957.
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Kellen Archives Center Collection Information |
The Kellen Archives Center's collections are especially focused around those subject areas for which Parsons The New School for Design has departments, including architectural design, communication design, fashion design, fine arts, illustration, interior design, photography, and product design. The holdings take such forms as manuscripts, photographs, artwork, architectural plans, brochures, posters, clippings, scrapbooks, cassette tapes, videotapes, and films. |
Kellen Archives Center Access Information |
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Researchers are encouraged to write, call, or email with questions about the collections. |
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Advance appointments are necessary for those intending to visit the collection in person. |
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Materials may not be removed from the Center. |
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Photocopying restrictions apply to fragile and rare items and to original artwork and photographs.
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The Center reserves the right to impose other restrictions on access to its collections.
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Interior design class at Parsons Paris, 1920s.
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