Bea Nettles collection

This collection is divided into eight sub-series; Correspondence, Biographical Materials, Activity Files, Notebooks, Exhibition Materials, Publications and Printed Materials, Scrapbooks, and Photographic material.

Series 1 regards letters sent to or from Bea to others. At the moment the series is made up of a sample of typed correspondence from Bea to different publishers.

Series 2 revolves around items from Nettles’ life that are not explicitly connected to a project or photographic work. These include photos taken by others with notes on them and a letter Bea wrote to her grandmother as a child.

Series 3 is made up of three sub-series, each dedicated to certain projects or materials in Nettles’ career. The first is about the collaboration and work done by Bea and her mother Grace. These included edits by Grace on Bea’s work and a large amount of poetry created by Grace that was used in certain projects by Bea. The second revolves around materials that went into the creation of Nettles’ several artist books, primarily made up of mock ups. The final one is for other materials that do not fit exactly in the other categories or photographic work. At the moment, the sub-series just contains two letterpress projects created by Nettles in a class at Penland.

Series 4 is dedicated to 4 notebooks Nettles’ had revolving her work in darkrooms from 1978-2006.

Series 5 is comprised of exhibit and book announcements and materials revolving a re-staging of “Photography into Sculpture” in 2011.

Series 6 is dedicated to publications that were either authored by Nettles, have work contributed by Nettles, or are about her or her work. Sub-series 1 are books that were authored by Nettles, including her artist books and a guide to book binding. Sub-series 2 are books and periodicals that contain contributions by Nettles’, but are not solely authored by her. Sub-series 3 is made up of periodicals and other works that include articles about Nettles or her work.

Series 7 is made up of news clipping scrapbooks that Bea created from 1979 to 2022. Each scrapbook is divided by decade and includes a variety of clippings that include reviews, announcements, and stories about her work.

Series 8 is the largest series and is devoted to photographic material used by Nettles’. This series is divided into negatives and prints. The major projects that are represented in this series are Return Trips, Hair Loss, Seasonal Turns, Moon Sisters, and Life Lessons: A Mother’s Journal. As well, there are works that were either not incorporated into her projects or are from unrealized projects. There are also vintage prints of Bea. All of these materials were kept in the original envelopes given by Bea which contain notes on the items and how they were used in her various projects.

Photocopies of inventories by Bea, which also include contextual information for select items, can be found in the public control files for this collection.