Finding Aid for David M Nolan Photographs and Personal Papers, 1978-2015 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Nolan Vallier

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Collection Overview

Title: David M Nolan Photographs and Personal Papers, 1978-2015Add to your cart.View associated digital content.

ID: 12/9/137

Primary Creator: David M. Nolan (1945 -)

Extent: 6.7 cubic feet

Arrangement: Materials are arranged into two distinct series: Series 1. Photographs and Series 2. Personal Papers. The first series which highlights Nolan's professional career as a photographer are broken into seven distinct sub-series that highlight his professional interests and are arranged chronologically by subject area, the last of which contains numerous projects and photographs that were discarded in the previous projects, these include: sub-series 1. Fine Art, Nudes, and Nature Stills, 1978-2010; sub-series 2. Danville Manor Nursing Home, 1982-1990; sub-series 3. Illinois Arts Council Vermillion County Life Project, 1985-1988; sub-series 4. Iron Range Community Documentary Project, 1987-1988; sub-series 5. Urbana-Champaign Blues Concerts and Festivals, 1994-2000; sub-series 6. Contact Sheets, 1978-2010; and Photo of the Month, 2014-2016.

Date Acquired: 09/16/2014. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Danville, Illinois, Photographs, Photography, Popular Music--Illinois--Urbana-Champaign, Vermilion County, Illinois

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of photographic prints, negatives, and press clippings documenting the work of photographer David M. Nolan of Danville, Illinois. Photographic subjects include blues performances in Champaign, Illinois, daily life in Danville and Vermilion County, Illinois, nature, still life, and human models.

Biographical Note

David M. Nolan was born in 1945 and has lived mainly in Danville, Illinois since 1977. From the age of 12, Nolan held an active interest in photography. At Southern Illinois University Nolan studied geography and design, but he supported his interests in photography as a student by working at the Buckminster Fuller Archive and by working semi-professionally as a wedding photographer. Nolan initially worked as a city planner for Decatur, Illinois, Warren, Ohio, and Danville, Illinois, but since the mid 1970s has worked at Danville Manor Nursing Home as a counselor for the mentally ill. In 1978, after taking courses with Orville Stokes, Nolan rekindled his interest in photography and began to shoot photographs professionally. He was initially impressed with Depression-era photographs and began modeling his own style of photographs on the work of photographer Walker Evans. Many of his photographs from the 1970s and 1980s are of people on the streets. His early professional work also centers around fine art and nudes, two subjects that continue to be at the core of his photography. In 1985, he received a grant from the Danville Area Arts Council to capture through film community life in Vermillion County, Illinois. Soon after completing this project, Nolan was accepted into a Minnesota-based workshop in 1987 that culminated in a project called the Iron Range Community Project. Soon after this he moved to Warren, Ohio to work as a city planner and to assist his father with his trucking company. In addition, while in Warren, Ohio Nolan set up his first darkroom and began filming blues musicians. Nolan continued to photograph blues musicians when he moved back to Danville, Illinois in the early 1990s. Since then Nolan has become a member of the Danville Art League and is a member of the board of directors at the Urbana Museum of Photography. At the request of an exhibitor in 2009, instead of presenting nude portraits Nolan branched out of photography into the realm of sculpture and exhibited a collection called "Altered Images. In 2014 Nolan began a mail art project which he called the "photo of the month" mailing.

Subject/Index Terms

Danville, Illinois
Photographs
Photography
Popular Music--Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
Vermilion County, Illinois

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: Accrual acquired January 22, 2015 from David Nolan, which includes photo of the month, personal archaeology exhibit brochure, and a newspaper clipping.

Acquisition Source: David Nolan

Acquisition Method: Gift


Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Photographs, 1978-2015],
[Series 2: Personal Papers, 1985-2015],
[All]

Series 1: Photographs, 1978-2015Add to your cart.
This series encapsulates Nolan's career as a photographer and is arranged chronologically by project type.
Sub-Series 1: Fine Art, Nudes, and Nature Stills, ca. 1978-2010Add to your cart.
This subseries includes human figure images and nature stills that have been filmed and edited using a variety of different methods and techniques. Some of these techniques include: black and white images, motion bluring, bracketing, kinetic photography, long exposure shots, multiple exposure shots, short focus shots, infra red photographs, hand colored photographs, mixed-media photographs (namely photographs with added copper and colored paper), and photographs printed on handcrafted paper. The nudes within this subseries reflect both Nolan's experiemental work with photography and his desire to portray a wide social landscape.
Box 1Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Fine Art and Nudes, ca. 1990s-2010Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Matted Fine Art, ca. 1990s-2010Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Matted Fine Art and Nudes, ca. 1989-2010Add to your cart.
Box 2Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Nudes, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 2: Nudes and Fine Art, ca. 1992Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Matted Nudes, ca. 1996Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Matted Fine Art and Nudes, undatedAdd to your cart.
Box 3Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Nudes, 1989-2010Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Matted Fine Art and Nudes, 1978-2010Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Matted Fine Art and Nudes, ca. 1989-1992Add to your cart.
Box 4Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Matted Fine Art and Nature Stills, ca. 1990-2010Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Fine Art and Nature Stills, ca. 1990-2010Add to your cart.
Box 10Add to your cart.
Folder 1: People and Nudes, ca. 1978-2010Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Nature and Still Life Photographs, ca. 1978-2010Add to your cart.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 19: Winter abstracts (ice on windows) negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 20: Infra Red Landscape negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 21: Wide angle negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 22: Landscape negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Sub-Series 2: Danville Manor Nursing Home, ca. 1982-1990Add to your cart.
This subseries features images of residents at the Danville Manor Nursing home and events they participated in. The images in this subseries were never shown in a gallery, yet show Nolan's interests in documenting the social landscape of the nursing home.
Box 5Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Danville Manor Nursing Home Photographs, 1982, ca. 1980sAdd to your cart.
Folder 2: Matted Danville Manor Nursing Home Photographs, ca. 1980sAdd to your cart.
Box 11Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Danville Manor Nursing Home PhotographsAdd to your cart.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 23: Danville Manor contact sheets, ca. 1982-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 24: Danville Manor photo negatives, 1982-1987Add to your cart.
Sub-Series 3: Illinois Arts Council Vermillion County Life Project, 1985-1988Add to your cart.
This subseries includes images relating to the Illinois Arts Council Vermillion County Life project, which was a documentary project that aimed to photograph the social landscape of Vermillion County. The series captures local events, customs, ceremonies, and parades as well as images of ordinary life, street images, images of farm life from mid 1980s. Certain images of interest within this subseries include photographs of Danville's reaction to the Iranian Hostage Crisis, two photographs of members of the Ku Klux Klan, and images of the Allerton Centenial Celebration.
Box 6Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Vermillion County Life Photographs, ca. 1985-1988Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Matted Vermillion County Life Photographs, ca. 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Box 7Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Vermillion County Life Photographs, ca. 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Matted Vermillion County Life Photographs, ca. 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Box 8Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Vermillion County Life Photographs, ca. 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Matted Vermillion County Life Photographs, ca. 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Box 10Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Vermillion County Life Photographs, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Vermillion County Life Photographs, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Vermillion County Life Photographs, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Box 11Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Vermillion County Life Photographs: David Nolan Portraits, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Vermillion County Life Photographs: American Servicemen, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Vermillion County Life Photographs: People on the Street, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Vermillion County Life Photographs: Bars and Restaurants, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Vermillion County Life Photographs: Ku Klux Klan and Protest, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Vermillion County Life Photographs: Farming Life, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Vermillion County Life Photographs: Parade, 1985-1987Add to your cart.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 25: Iran Hostage Crisis Danville negatives, ca. 1980Add to your cart.
Folder 26: Turtle Races negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 27: Couple smiling by truck negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 28: Man in white hat negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 29: Bicentennial Tree, Oakwood, IL negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 30: Clowns and Ridge Farm negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 31: Patomic Horse Show negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 32: St. Patrick's Day, O'Leary's negatives, 1986Add to your cart.
Folder 33: Hoopston Halloween Parade negatives and contact sheets, 1982Add to your cart.
Folder 34: Skinner's Farm and Steam Days negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 35: Vermilion County Fair Queen negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 36: War Memorial negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 37: Horse trader negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 38: July 4, 1985 negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 39: Plastic cows negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 40: The Great Pumpkin and Save the Farmer negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 41: Psychic Fair and bean harvest negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 42: People in a wading pool negatives, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 43: Allerton Centennial Parade negatives and contact sheets, 1986Add to your cart.
Folder 44: Alex at Rendezvous negatives, 1988Add to your cart.
Folder 45: Mr. Magic and Joyce K. and friends negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 46: People behind trees negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 47: Danville Street negatives, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 48: Vermilion County Life photo negatives, ca. 1984-1985Add to your cart.
Sub-Series 4: Iron Range Community Documentary Project, 1987-1989Add to your cart.
This Subseries includes photographic materials that Nolan submitted as an entry for the Iron Range Community Project, a community documentary project in Minnesota's Iron Range that included photography, visual art, and poetry from the region.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 49: Iron Range Community Project submission, 1987Add to your cart.
Folder 50: Iron Range Project submission negatives, 1987Add to your cart.
Sub-Series 5: Urbana-Champaign Blues Concerts and Festivals, 1980-2000Add to your cart.
This subseries includes blues artists performing in various locations near the Urbana-Champaign area, Danville, and Rantoul including the following named performers: Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, Sam Myers, Robert Lockwood Jr., James Cotton, Dave Weld, "Honeyboy" Edwards, Koko Taylor, Debbie Davis, Sleepy LaBeef, Little Ed and Dave, Duke Robillard, Sonny Rhoades, Saffire-Uppity Blues Women, Mighty Blue Kings, Keith and Kathy Harden, Susan Hoeffer, Carla Payton, Lonnie Brooks, Pinetop Perkins, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Chubby Carrier, Eddie Snow Band, Chico Banks, Willie Smith, Junior Wells, Mighty Joe Young, Little Milton, Big Daddy Kinsey, and the Blind Boys of Alabama. These named composers can be found in Nolan's blues negatives.
Box 9Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Matted Blues Photographs, ca. 1980sAdd to your cart.
Includes: James Cotton, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Ronny Baker Brooks, Honeyboy Edwards, Robert Lockwood Jr..
Folder 2: Matted Blues Photographs, ca. 1980sAdd to your cart.
Includes: Sam Myers, Sleepy LaBeef, Mighty Blue Kings, Little Milton, Big Daddy Kinsey, Eddie Clearwater, Robert Lockwood Jr., Big Daddy Kinsey.
Box 10Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Blues Photographs, ca. 1994-2000Add to your cart.View associated digital content.
Includes: Mighty Joe Young, Little Milton, and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Folder 7: Blues Photographs, ca. 1994-2000Add to your cart.
Includes: Sam Myers, Big Daddy Kinsey, Sleepy LaBeef, Sonny Rhoads, Jr. Wells, Pinetop Perkins, Jonny Copleland and Son, Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, and James Cotton.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 51: Blues concert prints, 1995-1996Add to your cart.
Includes: Johnny "Clyde" Copleland, Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, Sam Myers, Robert Lockwood Jr., James Cotton, Dave Weld, "Honeyboy" Edwards, Koko Taylor, Debbie Davies, and Sleepy LaBeef.
Folder 52: Blues concert negatives, 1995-1996Add to your cart.
Susan Hoeffer, Carla Payton, Sonny Rhoades, Lonnie Brooks, Honeyboy Edwards,  Jr. Wells, Pinetop Perkins, Muddy Waters Tribute Concert, Mighty Blue Kings, Traci Knaub, Jimmy Rodgers, AC Reed, Sugar Blue, Chubby Carrier, Eddie Snow Band, Lil Ed and Dave, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Little Milton, Cico Banks, Big James, Willie Smith, Dave and Jack, Robert Lockwood Jr., Big Daddy Kinsey, Keith and Cathy Hardin, Zalike Reggae, Trisha, James Cotton, Debbie Davis, Sam Myer, Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, Johnny Copeland, Duke Rabliard, Coco Taylor, and Saphire-Uppity Blues Women.
Folder 53: Blues concert negatives, 1986-1998Add to your cart.
Includes unidentifed blues and rock bands performing in Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding area. Locations include: the Malibu Club, Friendly Tavern, and the Blind Pig.
Oversize Portfolio Case 1: Oversized Blues Photographs, ca. 1996Add to your cart.
Contains three large photographs, including one of the Blind Boys of Alabama and two of the 1996 Urbana Blues Festival.
Sub-Series 6: Contact Sheets, ca. 1978-2010Add to your cart.
This subseries contains contact sheets that include a combination of images from the previous subseries as well as unidentified images from other projects Nolan abandoned or did not have printed.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 54: Contact sheets (1 of 2), undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 55: Contact sheets (2 of 2), ca. 1989-1992Add to your cart.
Sub-Series 7: Photos of the Month, 2014-2015Add to your cart.
This subseries includes a mail art project begun in 2014 that highlights fine art images of sculptures that Nolan created for a fine art sculpture exhibition that took place in lieu of exhibiting nudes in 2010.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 16: Photos of the Month, 2014Add to your cart.
Folder 17: Photos of the Month, 2015-2016Add to your cart.

Envelope 1: 2015

Envelope 2: 2016

Series 2: Personal Papers, 1985-2015Add to your cart.
This series includes personal papers documenting art exhibits flyers, pamphlets, posters, and program books, financial records of photography projects, newspaper articles, and correspondence.
Box 4Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Oversized Posters, 1999, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 2: "Seeing Better: Milkweed Chronicle" Volume 7. No. 2, Spring/Summer 1986Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Oversized Newsclippings, 1985, undatedAdd to your cart.
Box 12Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Vermilion County Life newsclippings and program books, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Vermilion County Life model releases, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Vermilion County Life exhibit and interview, 1985-1986Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Vermilion County Life project financial records, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Danville Art League, 1986-1992Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Iron Range newspaper clippings and exhibit posters, 1987-1991Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Iron Range Community Project members list and correspondence, 1987-1991Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Iron Range Project and Research, 1987-1988Add to your cart.
Folder 9: Mitchell Museum exhibit, 1989-1990Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Photography exhibits, 1989-1996Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Candid photos from art exhibits, 1990-1992Add to your cart.
Folder 12: Gallery leaflets and posters, ca. 1992-1995Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Blue exhibit newspaper clippings and poster, 1996Add to your cart.
Folder 14: Danville Mural Dedication candid photographs, 2004Add to your cart.
Folder 15: Sculpture and photography exhibits newspaper clippings, 2005-2010Add to your cart.
Folder 18: Personal archaeology exhibit, 2012Add to your cart.

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Photographs, 1978-2015],
[Series 2: Personal Papers, 1985-2015],
[All]