Mobius and Tufts University announce the consummation of an agreement to transfer Mobius' alternative arts archives of 37 years to the Digital Collections and Archives division of Tufts University. 

To celebrate the archives transfer, there will be a reception at Tufts' Tisch Library on Wednesday, December 11th from 7-9pm. The public is welcome and there is no admission. Contributions to Mobius at the event are welcome.

Mobius, founded by Marilyn Arsem, is one of the original, seminal, artist-run, alternative arts organizations that took root in the late-seventies and has been “Boston's artist-run center for experimental work in all media,” ever since. The Mobius Archives includes photographic images, posters, artists files, project records, newsletters, and video and audio recordings of its events and activities. At the center of the archive are over thirty-thousand 35 millimeter slides and digital photographs by the late Mobius Artists Group member Bob Raymond, who photographed nearly every Mobius-produced and Mobius-related event for almost thirty years. His unparalleled commitment is a testament to his artistic skill and grace and personifies Mobius, as well as its abiding attention to and respect for artists and their works.

Mobius has always promulgated an adventurous, challenging aesthetic and provided an intimate space as a compelling context “to generate, shape, and test,” experimental art in accord with its mission, showing Boston audiences and beyond the works and practices of thousands of Boston, national, and international artists, defining the outer limits and inner depths of art for the cultural scene here as well as representing Boston nationally and abroad. It has operated in various forms as a performance and exhibition space as well as an itinerant curator and programmer, surviving many peaks and valleys by staying true to its mission, defining and nurturing its arts and artists, and adapting to a wide range of shifts and circumstances in the cultural landscape. The Mobius Archives can be seen as an embodiment and reflection of its times as well as a window into the works and practices of contemporary artists. The archive may also be viewed as a record of how Mobius became one of the leading alternative arts organizations in the United States.

At the heart of Mobius is the Artists Group, a group of artists from all disciplines who program their work and the work of guest artists, and who have a collective management role in the organization. At the reception, the current, active members of the Mobius Artists Group will be in attendance along with Mobius' new Director, Daniel DeLuca and Anne Sauer, the Director and University Archivist of the Digital Collections and Archives at Tufts. There will be a talk and slide presentation by Marilyn Arsem as well as a tour of the archive space, preceded by remarks from Anne Sauer, Darin Murphy, Mobius Board of Director's President, and Jed Speare, Mobius Artists Group member and former Director. Come celebrate with Mobius and Tufts the migration and safe-keeping of Mobius's ongoing legacy and Tufts' commitment to preserving and providing access to the records of a significance presence in the alternative arts and culture of Boston and the United States.