Title: Corita collection

Dates: ca.1950s to present

Collection Number: CorColl

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 46 boxes; 6 flat file drawers

Repository: Corita Art Center

Abstract: The Corita collection includes exhibition materials from Corita’s group and solo art shows, in addition to materials relating to various design projects and public and private commissions. The collection also includes personal and business-related correspondence, press clippings, and photographic and audiovisual materials that were produced during her time as a teacher and head of the art department of the Immaculate Heart College (Los Angeles). Additional ephemera and materials related to Corita’s life and legacy have been acquired and added to the collection posthumously by the Corita Art Center.

Language of Material: English

Due to outstanding restrictions brought about by Covid-19, the collection is currently not accessible for research use.

The Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community holds copyright for a portion of the materials in its collection. The Corita Art Center provides access to the materials for educational and research purposes. Users are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions for use.

Corita collection. Corita Art Center

The Corita collection is ongoing and consists of materials donated from Corita’s estate through the Immaculate Heart Community and the Immaculate Heart College before its closure. Additional materials have been donated to, acquired, or produced by the Corita Art Center.

Corita Kent was an artist, educator, and advocate for social justice who worked primarily in serigraphy. Born Frances Elizabeth Kent on November 20, 1918 in Fort Dodge, Iowa and raised mainly in Los Angeles, California, Corita entered Immaculate Heart of Mary, a religious order in Hollywood, at age 18. She received her BA from Immaculate Heart College in 1941 and her MA in Art History from USC in 1951. Eventually, she became a professor and later, chair of the art department at Immaculate Heart College and was partially responsible for its reputation and recognizable style. In the early ‘50s, Corita began printmaking. Her work evolved from figurative and religious to incorporating advertising images and slogans, popular song lyrics, biblical verses, and literature. Throughout the ‘60s, her work became increasingly political, urging viewers to consider poverty, racism, and injustice. Corita also accepted a large number of diverse commissions, everything from billboards to a US postage stamp. Corita left the order in 1968. After 1970, her work evolved into a sparser, introspective style, influenced by living in a new environment, a secular life, and her battles with cancer. She remained active in social causes until her death in 1986. At the time of her death, she had created almost 800 serigraph editions, hundreds of watercolors, and innumerable public and private commissions.

The Corita collection materials range in date from the 1950s to the present day. The collection covers aspects of Corita’s life as a nun, her teaching career with the art department at Immaculate Heart College, and as her career as a serigraph and watercolor artist. The collection includes exhibition materials from Corita’s group and solo art shows, both during her lifetime and posthumously. Additionally, there is a significant amount of material relating to her various projects and commissions, which include her “Love” postage stamp, Boston Gas mural project, and Billboard Peace Project, as well as her greeting cards, books, and numerous design commissions. The collection includes personal and business-related correspondence, papers and publications both written by and about Corita, a large amount of newspaper clippings and articles, photographic and audiovisual materials, and assorted ephemera related to Corita’s life and legacy. Also included in the collection are licensed materials and merchandise created posthumously by the Corita Art Center. The collection is a valuable source for research pertaining to Corita’s art and teaching career, in terms of style, methods, and business. The collection is arranged in the following series: Exhibits and Galleries, Projects and Commissions, Publications and Writings, Correspondence, Immaculate Heart, Biographical Personal, Photographic Materials, Audiovisual Materials, Corita Art Center.