The BAM Archives, formally established in 1995, documents the lives of leaders, thinkers, and artists whose careers exemplify the spirit of American innovation, as well as trace the evolution of public and cultural life in the United States. Particularly valuable materials in the collection include video and audio slides; photographs, contact sheets, and negatives of production images; promotional shots; rare artist portraits and headshots; playbills; and press clippings from a broad range of publications from around the world. In addition, BAM's institutional records document the evolution of the contemporary performing arts, both in this country but also around the world, through artist correspondence, production plans, promotional material, and other records. The richness of the collection is demonstrated by the variety of complementary resources--the diversity of which is held by no other institution in the world--that studied together can inform an understanding of both the institution as a home for the performing arts, as well as individual artistsproductions, and time periods. Due to the significance of these artists not only to BAM's institutional history, but also to the history of the contemporary performing arts, these materials are of utmost importance to scholars and the general public.