Arts Rescue Mission -Aid For Aging Artists
P u b l i s h e d W e e k l y, N e w s, A r t s, & S t o r i e s F r o m T e x a s
Vol. 1, Issue 1,
Oct. 14, 2025
page 1
A Visit with University of Houston Special Libraries with archivist Christian Kelleher
D.. M. Allison, Oct. 1, 2025
Parking at the University of Houston is a small adventure of its own. I recommend the Elgin Street Garage—it’s a long walk from there, but worth it. That walk sets the stage, really, for the kind of visit you’re about to have when stepping into the library’s archive wing. At the center of that visit is Christian Kelleher, the archivist. He landed his position not only because of his strong academic credentials from the University of Texas, but because he is one of the most personable and generous hosts you’ll ever meet. In my case, I can honestly say he made what might have been a routine archive consultation feel like a meeting of the minds.
Christian has been studying Houston’s art history for more than a decade. My own vantage point stretches back to 1980, when I was already in the thick of the city’s art scene. He comes at it from observation and scholarship; I come at it from lived experience and participation. Somewhere between those two perspectives, our conversation found a rich middle ground.
The Reception and Its Treasures
Stepping inside the library’s reception area is an experience unto itself. At first, I mistook the neat rows of lockers for gym storage—imagining students checking in before a racquetball match. In truth, they serve a much stricter purpose: to ensure that purses, bags, or any potential carriers stay outside the vault of irreplaceable works. Even in this threshold space, treasures are on view. Works by Robert Hodge, Dorothy Hood, and Mel Chin anchor the reception, while inset displays under glass reveal archival gems, a 1996 edition of the Houston’s Gay Yellow Pages, and a Fritz Leiber Hugo Award, among other objects that remind us how varied and layered Houston’s cultural fabric has been.
Inside the Reading Room
Once inside the reading room, the atmosphere shifts from guardhouse to temple. On display during my visit was a massive 30 x 40 in. silk-bound book of lithographs, the enigmatic Art Guys Codec, and a selection of Ant Farm posters and blueprints, including material from their legendary House of the Century, perched by Marilyn Oshman’s Lake Mo-Jo bird sanctuary. This wasn’t just a peek into history; it was a reminder that archives don’t have to be silent warehouses, this one was humming with invention and even mischief, the residue of artists who thought in ways that reshaped Houston. I was having fun because I was getting to tell Christian's stories about way back when and drinking champagne and smoking dope with Marilyn Oshman In the Ant Farm’s House of The Century That still resides at the head of Lake Mo-Jo, or telling him about my experience making a photogravure with artist Susie Paul, sharing how sick she was in her last days when we made “Clair with Fly,” along with what the circumstances were she took that picture, now in the U of H Special Libraries, of her sister while they were drinking beer and installing a show at Lawndale art and performance back in the 80s. Christian was the perfect audience, and followed up with more details I didn’t know. Back and forth for an hour, what fun!
Talking About Richard Stout
One purpose of my visit though, was to go over the logistics of handing off Richard Stout’s archive, from his son Stefan’s home, Richard’s studio and where he resided for the last 10 years of his life are on the back of the property. We'll do it later this month, however it's a matter of everyone's schedule. Richard has a show up at Sarah Foltz’s gallery at the time of this writing, and Stefan is stage director for the Houston Symphony with a Helter-Skelter patchwork of job-related scheduling, so things get complicated real fast. Luckily, I live 1 block away from Richard's former studio.
What’s the Proper Archive Format?
I’d finished Richard Stout’s archive by the end of the pandemic. I had put a team together during the pandemic his I was getting nowhere fast trying to do it by myself, and as fortune would have it there were several individuals glad to make a few bucks during the pandemic. I’d let my friends know, that were helping to accomplish this task, what the formats were for file image names, and document image names, but I've never been formally trained. I had queried Christian before my visit and was anxious to get his instruction about what the U of H Library is looking for when they receive archives from third parties. It was really my first question after our initial greeting. But I would have to wait. Once the tour was complete, he led me to a small lecture room. I sat down on the front row of our imaginary class and Christian Kelleher took to the podium left of a big screen, the lights dimmed, and class began. This was going to be a show; I thought about popcorn as he queued up a Power-Point presentation. I was back in school.
The rules, it turns out, are simple, for visual art; date first, then artist, title, media, and size, for documents; date first, then standard bibliographic format. Christian reassured me, “Dan, we have individuals with doctorates who’ve trained for years to handle these details once things arrive.” That kind of patience and professionalism is exactly what makes their system hum. I didn't ask for details, but I believe that they are better funded than any other archive in Texas that's not a major museum. It is certainly well run under Kelleher.
Archives for Everyone - The Poetry of Archiving
Perhaps the most impressive thing Christian showed me was not what’s already in the collection but how it’s being shared. Unlike other archives locked away behind paywalls or specialized research portals, the University of Houston is working hard to make their holdings searchable through Google, democratizing access so anyone, not just credentialed scholars, can find Houston’s history. Thinking about it, it was one of my concerns when creating Arts Rescue Mission Station on the web. So, there is a portal on the ARM Station for users to upload documents and image files. It's an open source, resource for the community to help us create books about our artists in Texas. That accessibility struck me as crucial, not only for the mission I’m undertaking with ARM but for the whole art scene. Christian had already instigated a Google search availability for their Special Libraries, something I believe that’s different than other archives, so we surely did have a meeting of the minds. For nearly two hours, Christian gave me his time, and I left both grateful and inspired.
Christian Kelleher, U of H Special Libraries, 09-11-2025
One of the truths I’ve come to see is that archiving is much more than filing “known works” and career clippings. It’s about telling the story of an artist’s journey, back to grandparents, childhood photos, awkward high school snapshots, the moments in college that tipped the balance toward a life in art. Because archives are organized by date and not name or title, a kind of narrative emerges on its own. The simple act of chronology creates poetry. I never imagined I would take such delight in this kind of homework, but it turns out that once ordered, these lives read like stories waiting to be told. I might point out here that this is how Ken Burns makes his documentaries, and the Smithsonian sprang to life after the January 6th insurrection and collected every broken gavel, twisted flagpole, and piece of rope to recreate the story and give us a credible account of the incident later on. Archiving is important.
Leaving with Air Under My Wings
After our meeting, I walked back across campus, enjoying the day and the sight of students streaming off to classes, job interviews, and bright futures. I couldn’t help but think back to my own student days at Sam Houston State University in the 1970s, when protest posters lined the campus. Today’s scene is quieter, but no less alive with possibility. That walk, and the time with Christian, left me with air under my wings, fuel for the mission of Arts Rescue: to preserve, shelter, restore, and provide for the artists who’ve built Houston’s cultural story.
We are organizing groups through Arts Rescue Mission to visit the University of Houston archives. When you come, you’ll see firsthand what I mean: it’s more than a collection, it’s a living, breathing history of art in Texas. Stay tuned. You’re in for a treat. d.m. allison 10-01-2025