Judith Hoffberg (May 19, 1934 – January 16, 2009) was a

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

, lecturer, curator and art writer, and editor and publisher of ''

Umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

'', a newsletter on

artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

s, mail art, and

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...

art.

Biography

Hoffberg received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Political Science from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

in 1956. She went on to get an M.A. in Italian Language and Literature in 1960 and an M.L.S. from the UCLA School of Library Service in June 1964. She was a Special Intern at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

after serving as a cataloguer in 1964–65 at the Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center in Italy. At the Library of Congress, she was a cataloguer in the Prints & Photographs Division until 1967, when she served as the Fine Arts Librarian at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

from 1967 to 1969. She went on to

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing ...

from 1969 to 1971 as art, literature and language bibliographer and to the Brand Library in Glendale, CA as Director from 1971 to 1973. From 1974 to 1976, she worked for the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

as Archivist and Editorial Assistant for the ''Bicentennial Bibliography of American Arts''. In 1972, she co-founded

Art Libraries Society of North America The Art Libraries Society of North America (also known as ARLIS/NA) is an organization of approximately 1,000 art librarians, library students and visual resource professionals. The ARLIS/NA was founded in 1972. Activities ARLIS/NA organizes act ...

(ARLIS). She served as the Society's first chairman, editor of ''ARLIS/NA Newsletter'' from 1972 to 1977 and its Executive Secretary from 1974 to 1977. In 1978, Hoffberg founded Umbrella Associates. Her work included consulting with archives and libraries. She edited and published ''

'', a newsletter about

artists' book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...

s and publications. In her work as a writer, editor, and curator, she enthusiastically championed

, inexpensive

artists' books Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

mail art Mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, is an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the mail, postal service. It developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence School and ...

, rubber-stamp art, and many other offbeat forms of expression of the second half of the 20th century. Hoffberg also lectured widely throughout the US and abroad. Her collection of artist/s books is split between the University of California at Los Angeles and the

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

; her collection of some 15,000 pieces of Umbrelliana is at the

, in La Jolla. In 2000, Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron founded the International Edible Book Festival. Hoffberg was diagnosed with acute

myeloid leukemia Myeloid leukemia is a type of leukemia affecting myeloid tissue. Types include: * Acute myeloid leukemia: A cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of myeloblasts that build up in the bone marrow and blood and ...

in 2008 and died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

the following year.

Grants and awards

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, Service to the Field, 1980, 1981 * Australia & New Zealand Arts Council grants, lecture tour, 1982 * Dutch Government Research Trant, 1982 *

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Grant, 1983 *

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Research & Lecture Grant, 1984, (in New Zealand to work on Len Lye's archives) * Fluxus Research Fellow, Sonja Henie & Niels Onstad Foundation, Oslo, Norway

Curatorial activities

* ''Artwords & Bookworks'', (LAICA), Los Angeles, which traveled to

Herron School of Art Herron School of Art and Design, officially IU Herron School of Art and Design, is a public art school at Indiana University–Indianapolis (IUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a professional art school and has been accredited by the National As ...

(Indianapolis) Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans),

Franklin Furnace Franklin Furnace, also known as the Franklin Mine, is a famous mineral location for rare zinc, iron, and manganese minerals in old mines in Franklin, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. This locale produced more species of minerals (o ...

(New York), Australia & New Zealand (1978–79), co-curator: Joan Hugo * ''Book Exhibition'',

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, 1978 * ''The Umbrella Show'',

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, 1979 * ''Art & Society: Bookworks by Women'', Beyond Baroque, Venice, CA, 1981 * ''Ex Libris, Bookworks by Artists'', Traction Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1981 * ''Some Important Announcements'', Santa Monica Public Library for the Santa Monica Arts Commission, 1985 * ''Editions & Additions: International Bookworks'', Idea, Sacramento, CA, Northlight Gallery, Tempe, AZ, and UC Riverside, March 1986 * ''Undercover: The Book as Format'', Fresno Arts Center, 1987 * ''Art from the Page: Bookworks'', Salem Art Association, Bush Barn,

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

and

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a Public research university, public coeducational research university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, ...

, Denton, TX, 1987 * ''A Book of His Own: Men’s Visual Diaries'', Woodland Pattern Book Center, Milwaukee, WI, 1987 * ''A Book in Hand'', Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, Arvada, CO, 1989 * ''A Book of His Own: Man’s Visual Diaries'', UCLA Art Library, 1990 * ''Cross <+> Currents: Books from the Edge of the Pacific'', travelling artists' books exhibition beginning in California and travelling 1991–1993 to

, Cal State Hayward, Ringling School of Art and Design, Oregon School of Arts & Crafts * ''Boundless Vision: Contemporary Bookworks'', San Antonio Art Institute, 1991 * ''Freedom: International Mail Art Show'', Armory for the Arts, Pasadena, CA, 1992 * ''The Amazing Decade: Women and Performance Art in America, 1970-1980'', New Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 1993 * ''Shaped Structures: Bookworks in Form'', Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, CA, 1993 * ''Multiple World: An International Survey of Artists’ Books'', co-curated by Peter Frank, at

Atlanta College of Art The Atlanta College of Art (ACA) was a private four-year art college located in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Founded in 1905, it was the oldest art college in the Southeastern United States, Southeast when it was sold out by the ...

, Atlanta, GA, 1994 * ''John O’ Brien: Passe-partout: A Revised Study,'' New Gallery, Santa Monica, 1994 * ''Barbara Turner Smith: Who are We?..Hirokazu Kosaka: Woman with Mole'', New Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 1994 * ''Journey/Journals: Elsa Flores & Gronk'', New Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 1994 * ''Boundless: Liberating the Book Form'',

San Francisco Center for the Book The San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB) is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Mary Austin and Kathleen Burch in San Francisco, California in the United States. The first center of its kind on the West Coast, SFCB was modeled after ...

, 1998 * ''Women of the Book: Jewish Artists, Jewish Themes'', travelling exhibition which opened in Finegood Art Gallery in 1997–1998 and has traveled to Kutztown,

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...

, Brattleboro Art Museum, JCC of Minneapolis/Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Chicago, IL, La Jolla, CA and the

La Sierra University La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a Private university, private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was ...

, Riverside, CA, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, and Rutgers University, Camden, NJ. * "Six Degrees: Art in the Libraries," sponsored by Side St. Projects, Pasadena, CA, co-curated by Karen Atkinson and Sam Erenberg, 2001

Publications

* Co-Editor, ''Directory of Art Libraries & Visual Resource Collections in North America'' (New York, Neal Schuman, 1978) * "Bibliography of Women Artists’ Books", ''Chrysalis'' (Spring 1978) * "Artists’ Books" in ''Art & Technology: The History & Method of Fine Papermaking'' (San Francisco, World Print Council, 1979) * Editor & Publisher, ''Artists’ Publications in Print'', 1980–83 * "Art Book Column" in ''

High Performance Magazine ''High Performance'' was a quarterly List of art magazines, arts magazine based out of Los Angeles founded in 1978 and published until 1997. Its editorial mission was to provide support and a critical context for new, innovative and unrecognized ...

'', 1984–1994 * "Distribution and its Discontents" in ''Art Papers'' (Atlanta) May–June 1990 * Publisher, ''Cross<+>Currents: Books from the Edge of the Pacific'' (Pasadena, Umbrella Associates, 1992) * "Learning to Read Art: The Art of Artists’ Books," ''The New Bookbinder'', vol. 13, 1993 * Publisher, ''The Book Maker’s Desire: Writings on the Art of the Book'' by Buzz Spector (Pasadena, Umbrella Editions, 1995) * Publisher, ''Umbrella: The Anthology'' (Santa Monica, Umbrella Editions, 2000) * Editor and author, ''Women of the Book: Jewish Artists, Jewish Themes'' (Boca Raton, Friends of the Library, 2001)

External links

The Mail-Interview with Judith A. Hoffberg

Umbrella Digital Archive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffberg, Judith 1934 births 2009 deaths American librarians American art curators Art writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Deaths from lymphoma in California 21st-century American women librarians 21st-century American librarians American women curators