Preservation and Collections

Written by student assistant, Ryann Ragsdale

When a lot of us think of archives, we imagine a dark, dusty corner of a library in a detective show. They sort through boxes of information, thick manila folders of looseleaf paper with financial records or newspaper clippings. After hours of back-bending research they find what they are looking for, some pivotal information that leads to an arrest or major discovery. While this is a reality for a lot of archives (and excitingly so!), there is a more colorful side to these spaces. For a lot of researchers, archives are where they go for inspiration, a trip down memory lane, or simply to look at rare objects they may not come across otherwise. So, what is so special about Special Collections? In this humble student’s opinion, I think it is an opportunity to interact with incredible works of art.

The University of North Texas has been collecting Artist Books since the 1990’s, a feat that has culminated into a really exciting collection. You might be wondering, what is an Artist Book? An artist book is “a medium in which to convey artistic expression using the form and function of a book,” as described by UNT. It is hard to imagine a book as anything other than bound pages with a front and back cover, but amazing artists like Alyssa Berry have imagined it in forms like a VHS tape! The artist book “Movies that Made Me: Vol.1” is one of the many standout creations housed by UNT Special Collections. Not only can you see this Artist Book in person, but you can turn the pages with your own hands. In this way, Archives become an interactive museum. Anywhere else and you’d have an attendant telling you to stand five feet back!

As if the Artist Books were not enough of a draw, UNT has also been working towards creating a Zine Library. Zines are independently published magazines, the creation of which started with science fiction fans in the 30s and 40s, according to the AMON Carter Museum of American Art. UNT’s collection of zines has a wide variety, with topics ranging from trans-allyship to Denton cats and even Bojack Horseman. There’s so much to discover in the 500+ zines housed in the collection!

Archives are special facilities and one like UNT’s is hard to come by. Not only does it house rare materials like medieval manuscripts, Kelmscott Press editions of classic literature, university records, and many other exciting traditional materials, it is a home to many works of art. So, the next time you are asked “what’s so special about special collections?” you’ll have an answer.

During their first visit to Special Collections, students spent time learning about the role of archives and primary sources in research, the importance of primary source analysis, and what they might look for when they began their own research journey. They were also introduced to the UNT Finding Aids, and shown how to locate collections, identify materials of interest, and request those items for access. At the conclusion of the session, students were able to put their new skills into practice by requesting materials related to their project that they wanted to view in-person when they returned for their second visit the following week.

During the second session, students spent their time accessing physical materials they had requested from the finding aids, reviewing digital materials on The Portal to Texas History, and discussing where they might look outside of UNT for additional sources and information. In order for students to gain experience analyzing and interpreting the primary sources they were finding, they were asked to add and describe materials, collections, and external repositories to a class Padlet which could be accessed by students as a shared knowledge base throughout the semester.

This project and the partnership between UNT Special Collections and Dr. Slaton is just one example of the many ways in which the Coursework Development Grant has allowed us to work with faculty to connect their students to archival and rare materials through unique and tangible learning experiences.

In conjunction with the Biennial Artist Book Competition, UNT Special Collections and Archives is proud to display in the Sarah T. Hughes Reading Room some of our artist book acquisitions through the years! In the spirit of “Rethinking the Codex”, this selection of books shows a small number of the myriad and unique artist books our vault contains using non-traditional materials or non-traditional shape language. These acquisitions come from students, community members, and professional artist book makers.

Kathy Lovas’ “One of Two”, Candace Hicks’ “Common Threads” and Howard Spillman’s “My Tooth Fairy Pillow” represent textile-based books, trading in paper and ink for fabric mediums like cloth, yarn, and handkerchiefs with Xerox-transferred images; others focus on the structural, model-like approach to making artist books with examples such as Julie VonDerVellen‘s “26.2 miles” (a pair of paper shoes), Edward Hutchin’s “Do Sit Down!” (a miniature model chair with a book inside), and Julie Chen’s “Chrysalis” (a sculptural book object in the shape of a faceted oloid that is held closed with magnets). Sophia Carswell’s “The Hypochondriac” and Edie Overturf’s “Peeling a never-ending onion” focus more on the housing of the book and the way in which one should read it, with Carswell’s being encased in a latched box and Overturf’s contained in several different booklets tucked into the main sleeve.

The ”Rethinking the Codex” Artist Book Symposium will take place on Saturday, March 28th, 2026. Come by the Sarah T. Hughes Reading Room before then to see these amazing examples in person! The display is available during open hours, 9am – 4pm, Monday – Friday

Teel Sale was an artist, writer, and teacher, and had a career of national and international shows (drawing, painting, printmaking, and performance art). Sale was a faculty member (drawing, painting, and honors) at the University of North Texas from 1975 through 1989. During that time Teel collaborated with fellow faculty member Claudi Betti to co-author the successful textbook Drawing: A Contemporary Approach (1980). By emphasizing the emotional and spiritual significance of art, using artwork from contemporary artists in a multicultural world, Drawing: A Contemporary Approach became one of the most widely adopted texts on drawing and is now in its sixth edition.

Teel had three sons with her husband, Richard Sale, who was a faculty member in the English department at UNT. Teel returned to college after her sons were born to complete her bachelor’s degree and MFA. In 1977 a series of Teel’s work toured Guatemala at the invitation of Guatemala Ministry of Education. The work featured a series of 36 etchings and drawings dealing humorously with death.

Teel’s artwork often incorporated humor and experimentation. Teel adopted new technology into her artistic practice, using a photocopier to manipulate images, and later a scanner and printer to alter images, or combine images into collages. Her series Retroperspective featured classical architectural imagery alongside abstract shapes and designs which were collaged into final prints using iron-on transfers.

A later series of work, Matisse in Masquerade, re-imagined Matisse’s line drawings of nude women with the addition of realistic animal masks covering their faces. Teel was a prolific creator of artist’s books, which often employed humor and irony, and whose titles include Still Spiro-Ling Moose Jaw: An Agnew Album, Tale of the Armless Woman, and Stringer’s Report from the Sesquee-Sentenial.

In January 2020, Teel Sale donated her archive to UNT Special Collections. The collection includes many examples of Teel’s art including relief printing, artist’s books, altered books, and collage. Some representative samples of Teel’s art have been digitized and can be viewed in The Portal to Texas History.

During the Spring 2025 semester, the UNT College of Visual Arts and Design featured prints from the Teel Sale collection. The exhibition, “An Irrational Fancy,” explored future existences, both real and imagined. Six prints from the Retroperspective series were displayed along with one large relief print titled “The Mote Hunter.”

Teel and Richard have spent the later year’s of their life spending time with their many friends and family members, and reading, writing, and creating art at their country home in Ennis, Texas.

Brian was nominated for this award in recognition of his extraordinary and visionary efforts to preserve the archive of the first television news station in Texas (NBC/5/KXAS- formerly, WBAP-TV), and to ensure that the archive is made widely and freely accessible to the public.

Brian Hocker, serving as Vice-President for Digital Media Production and Research at NBC5/KXAS, recognized the need to preserve the news station’s archive in 2013. As NBC5 was planning to move from their long-standing home on “Broadcast Hill” in Fort Worth to a new headquarters near DFW Airport, Brian recognized the urgent need to find a repository willing to accept the large archive of news footage which had accumulated in the basement for six decades. After identifying UNT Special Collections as a potential home for the archive, Brian took unprecedented action to negotiate a copyright agreement and significant financial contributions from the General Manager at NBC5 and executives at NBC Universal.

Brian retired from NBC5 in 2022, but he continues to support the archive and UNT Libraries. As a member of the UNT Libraries Advocacy Board Brian supports many initiatives within the UNT Libraries, and continues his support of the NBC5/KXAS archive through frequent outreach and community advocacy efforts.

The NBC5/KXAS archive today is a heavily used research collection and supports a variety of television and film projects through footage licensing.