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American Hotel (The) and Al's Bar Project records
LSC.2305
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: The American Hotel and Al's Bar Project records
Creator:
Kreisel, Rachel
Creator:
Kreisel, Marc
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2305
Physical Description:
19.7 linear feet
(14 document boxes, 5 shoe boxes, 5 flat oversize boxes, 3 half document boxes, 2 no compromise boxes, 1 slide box, 1 flat
box, 1 oversize disparate box and 1 map folder)
Date (inclusive): 1976-2004
Date (bulk): 1979-2001
Abstract: The American Hotel and Al's Bar Project was a grassroots creative complex on the corner of Hewitt Street and Traction Avenue
in downtown Los Angeles. Conceptual artist Marc Kreisel designed the project as a work of functional sculpture to circulate
money and creative support back into the community. The collection spans from 1976-2004 and consists of flyers, posters, photographs,
correspondence, scripts, Rolodexes, calendars, theater programs, press releases, financial records, and bar memorabilia such
as the cash can, the jukebox records, the beer taps, t-shirts, signs, and a microphone.
Physical Location: Portions of the collection stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access
special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed audiovisual materials. Audiovisual
materials are not currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed audiovisual materials must be made in advance using the
request button located on this page.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9978585733606533
[Identification of item], The American Hotel and Al's Bar Project Records (Collection 2305). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Marc and Rachel Kreisel, 2015.
Processed by Kelly Besser with assistance from Frank Trotta and Rebecca Bucher and supervision by Megan Hahn Fraser, 2016.
Due to a silverfish infestation, Besser moved the collection to the UCLA Library Conservation Lab at the beginning of June
2016. Library Conservation Head Chela Metzger reported that the materials were frozen at -20 C for over 72 hours, and after
taking them out, absorbent paper was placed in the air space of the bins to help soak up any residual condensation. Under
Metzger's direction, Besser returned to the Library Conservation Lab in July 2016 and vacuumed the materials in the fume hood
to remove transferable dirt, insect frass (feces), and eggs. Upon completion of this conservation work, Besser transferred
the collection from the Library Conservation Lab to Powell 30 for processing.
The Biography/History note was written by Rachel Kreisel. While Besser processed the collection, Kreisel shared additional
history about the records. Electronic mail correspondence between Besser and Kreisel is documented within the collection file.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
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Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's library collections and archives.
In 1979, conceptual artist Marc Kreisel and three partners closed escrow on a building on the corner of Hewitt Street and
Traction Avenue in downtown L.A. Kreisel envisioned The American Hotel and Al's Bar as elements of a grassroots creative complex;
a work of functional sculpture that was rooted in Joseph Beuys'
Honey Pump. What Kreisel called the "Money Pump" was designed as a means to circulate money and creative support back into the community.
"It was a capitalistic endeavor to support the arts by itself—an alternative to the feds and the state and getting grants."
("Marc: My Words"
L.A. Weekly, July 5, 1985)
The residential hotel upstairs and the bar downstairs would become a self-sustaining entity by and for artists. The hotel
provided cheap housing for artists new to the area. Ten rooms were set aside for the American Gallery which showed works by
local artists. Profits from the bar often went to purchasing art. But it soon became apparent that the art community alone
could not sustain the bar. Kreisel agreed to let two tenants in the hotel book bands. By 1980 a newly energized music scene
was emerging in L.A. Kreisel's laissez faire management philosophy allowed a succession of bookers free reign to showcase
bands that were too unknown to play the larger Hollywood clubs, bands like Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Beck, Social Distortion and
Fear built their audiences by playing Al's. "It's nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the club to unsigned
and risk-taking bands." (Jim Freak,
L.A. Reader, March/April 1999)
Local writers and actors approached Kreisel, and together they established the one non-profit entity of the complex, Al's
National Theatre, which produced dozens of original works. "We had a policy back when I first opened where I would let people
go to their emotional limits," recalled Kreisel. ("The Goal at Al's Bar Is to Circulate Money"
The Reader, October 25, 1989)
The purpose was never gentrification. Kreisel intentionally retained the original uses of the building, i.e. the bar and the
hotel. Al's Bar and the American Hotel were intended, as Christopher Knight once noted, to realize "art as a verb."
The American Hotel and Al's Bar Project records range in date from 1976-2004. The collection consists of flyers, posters,
photographs, correspondence, scripts, Rolodexes, calendars, theater programs, press releases, financial records, and bar memorabilia
such as the cash can, the jukebox records, the beer taps, t-shirts, signs, and a microphone.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- 1. Programming materials
- 2. Publicity materials
- 3. Correspondence
- 4. Financial records
- 5. Memorabilia
S.A. Griffin collection of underground poetry, Scott Wannberg, and The Carma Bums, circa 1950-2015 (Collection 2248). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Punk zines and ephemera collection, 1977-2015 (Collection 2276). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Razorcake/Gorsky Press, Inc. records, 1989-2016 (Collection 2284). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Darby Romeo collection of zines, 1987- (Collection 1746). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Art, American -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century.
Punk culture and art -- United States
Experimental theater.
Alternative rock music -- California -- Los Angeles
Nightclubs -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives
Bars (Drinking establishments) -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives.
Alternative spaces (Arts facilities) -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives
American Hotel and Al's Bar Project -- Archives