Biography
Conditions Governing Access
Acquisition
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Scope and Contents
Separated Materials
Arrangement
Conditions Governing Use
Title: Kenneth Bartmess Masks and Photographs
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2013.008
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.5 linear feet.
3 flat archive boxes.
Date (inclusive): circa 1979-1985
Abstract: Four flower masks, one Don Kilhefner mask, and photographs of Radical Faeries gatherings from gay activist and craftsman,
Kenneth Bartmess, circa 1979-1985.
creator:
Bartmess, Kenneth
Biography
California native and longtime Los Angeles resident, Kenneth Bartmess, was a volunteer peer counselor at the Gay and Lesbian
Community Services Center during the 1980s-1990s. He earned a degree from Santa Monica College in the early 1990s, and was
involved in theater and dance. Bartmess was also a craftsman, and ran a custom lamp and lighting-fixture business. In 1991,
Bartmess lost his lover of 22 years, CJ Meagher, to an AIDS-related illness. He later wrote about his experience in
From a Burning House: The AIDS Project Los Angeles Writers Workshop Collection (1996). As a craftsman, Bartmess also made masks for artistic expression.
Source: Borger, Irene, Ed.
From a Burning House: The AIDS Project Los Angeles Writers Workshop Collection. New York, NY.: Washington Square Press, 1996.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Acquisition
Donated by Kenneth Bartmess, March 21, 2007.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Kenneth Bartmess Masks and Photographs, Coll2013-008, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC
Libraries, University of Southern California
Processing Information
Collection processed by Loni Shibuyama, January 2013.
Scope and Contents
The collection, circa 1979-1985, comprises five of Bartmess' hand-crafted masks, as well as a small collection of photographs
taken of gatherings of the Radical Faeries, a collective of spiritual gay men. One mask is in the likeness of gay activist
and Radical Faerie founder, Don Kilhefner; and the other four flower masks were used in
Without Reservations, a theatrical reading of stories from a gay theater group in Los Angeles.
Separated Materials
A pamphlet from Stonewater Circle, the San Diego gathering of Radical Faeries, has been separated from the collection and
placed with the "Radical Faeries" file in the ONE Subject Files Collection, Coll2012-001.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Kilhefner, Don, 1939-
Radical Faeries.
Gay men
Gay theater
Masks (costume)
Photographs
Spirituality