Collections
The Archives include documents, photographs, publications, and other materials related to the history of MCAD and its predecessor institutions, along with information about individuals associated with the school, including students, faculty, staff, visiting artists, and others. The bulk of the materials exist only in hard copy and include a variety of formats such as papers, photographs, slides, and analog audio and video.
A finding aid for the largest collection, Minneapolis College of Art and Design General Collection, 1886-2013, is available online. For more detailed information on all of our holdings, click the link below to search our archives database. Please note that this database using open source software AchivesSpace is still under development. The database contains information about our collections, but is not a digital repository.
Search the MCAD Archives database
In 2013, most of the materials in the archives were organized into the collections listed below.
- Minneapolis College of Art and Design General Collection, 1886-2013
- Minneapolis College of Art and Design Oversize Materials on Paper Collection
- Minneapolis College of Art and Design Out of Hand Press Collection
- Minneapolis College of Art and Design Photograph Collection
- Minneapolis College of Art and Design Audio and Moving Images Collection
A new archives management policy was created in 2014 after which most of the new materials coming into the archives will be organized into record groups. For more information, please see the list of MCAD record groups in the Archives database.
The Minneapolis College of Art and Design Archival Processing Project was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, administered by the Minnesota Historical Society, through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.