The Franklin Furnace Archive has contributed more than 11,000 images to the Artstor Digital Library. The selection consists of the documentation of artists’ books, performance art, site-specific works, and other time-based ephemeral arts. The images and videos in the Artstor Digital Library cover Franklin Furnace’s first two decades, 1976-1995.

Since its founding as an alternative space by the artist Martha Wilson in 1976, Franklin Furnace has been building its mission to foster emerging and ephemeral art. From its origins in a loft on Franklin Street in New York City, it has transcended physical space and become a “virtual institution” with a defined mission – “ to present, preserve, interpret, proselytize and advocate on behalf of avant-garde art, especially forms that may be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, cultural bias, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content.” As such, the institutional archives offer a rare and valuable resource that captures the moment, the concept of the artist, and the historical context in which the work was created. Franklin Furnace has supported thousands of innovative projects involving countless artists including Guillaume Bijl, Willie Cole, Karen Finley, Teh-Ching Hsieh, Liza Lou, Robbie McCauley, Ana Mendieta, and Shirin Neshat.