The Michael Ned Holte Archive documents Holte’s engagement with contemporary art from the early 2000s through 2026. The archive consists largely of artist postcards, brochures, and press releases from Los Angeles exhibitions, galleries, nonprofit organizations, museum openings, benefits, and artist-run initiatives.

10 banker boxes and 1 newspaper box; artist books separated and integrated into the stacks.

Michael Ned Holte is a writer, curator, and educator. Since the early 2000s, he has been an active participant in the Los Angeles art community, contributing to its critical discourse through writing, teaching, and curating exhibitions.

Holte received an MA in Art Theory and Criticism from the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena (2002–2004). Following his graduate studies, he worked as Communications Manager at the USC Roski School of Fine Arts and began teaching there as an adjunct faculty member in 2004, a position he held for seven years. In 2009, Holte joined the faculty at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). He was appointed Associate Dean of the School of Art in 2021.

As a curator, Holte has organized and contributed to numerous exhibitions, including Routine Pleasures (2016) at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House, and co-curated the 2014 Made in L.A. biennial at the Hammer Museum with Connie Butler. His work often emphasizes artist-driven practices, sound, and experimental forms of exhibition-making.

Holte has also been involved in a range of arts organizations and initiatives, serving on advisory and governing boards including Outpost for Contemporary Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, PSSST, and the Society for the Activation of Social Space Through Art and Sound (SASSAS). He has participated in residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts and the American Academy in Rome, and has received support from organizations such as Creative Capital.

In addition to his curatorial and teaching work, Holte is a writer whose publications address contemporary art and music. His book Good Listener: Meditations on Music and Pauline Oliveros was published in 2024 by Sming Sming Books.

• 2024

  Holte’s publication Good Listener: Meditations on Music and Pauline Oliveros is published by Sming Sming Books.

• 2023

  Holte returned to Headlands Center for the Arts residency program. 

• 2022

  The exhibition how we are in time and space: Nancy Buchanan, Marcia Hafif, Barbara T. Smith opened at the Armory Center for the Arts, organized by Holte as guest curator.

• 2021

  Holte became Associate Dean of the School of Art at CalArts.

• 2020

  Holte attended the Headlands Center for the Arts residency.

• 2019

  Holte participated in a public forum with artist Charles Gaines during CalArts Weekend and in a conversation with Steve Roden at Vielmetter Los Angeles.

• 2018

  Holte concluded his tenure as co-director of the Program in Art at CalArts.

• 2017

  Traveled to Cali, Colombia, as visiting faculty through a CalArts exchange program.

• 2016

  Holte curated Routine Pleasures at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House. He joined the Board of Directors of SASSAS (Society for the Activation of Social Space Through Art and Sound), serving until 2025. During this time, Holte also traveled to Rome as a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome and received a Creative Capital / Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for his manuscript Too Small to Fail: Art and Microinstitutions in Los Angeles, which remains unpublished.

• 2015

  Holte joined PSSST’s Advisory Board, serving until 2017.

• 2014

  Holte co-curated Made in L.A. and an exhibition at ARTSPACE. He became co-director of the Program in Art at CalArts.

• 2013

  Conducted research and studio visits throughout Southern California in preparation for the Hammer Museum's Made in L.A. 2014 biennial.

• 2012

  Joined the Artist Advisory Council at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (formerly the Santa Monica Museum of Art). He was announced as co-curator, alongside Connie Butler, of the Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. 2014 biennial.

• 2011

  Holte became regular faculty at CalArts.

• 2010

  Holte curated the exhibition Support Group at Thomas Solomon Gallery and Cottage Home in Los Angeles and worked on a collaborative project with Steve Roden at the Pomona College Museum of Art. 

• 2009

  Holte joined CalArts as visiting faculty in the Program in Art. He also joined the Advisory Board for Outpost for Contemporary Art, serving until 2011.

• 2008

  Holte was hired as faculty at the Roski School of Fine Arts, USC.

• 2007

  Holte published the essay “Options, Not Solutions” in Afterall. He organized an exhibition at Wallspace Gallery in New York. 

• 2004–2008

  During this time, he also served as Communications Manager at the Roski School of Fine Arts between 2004-2008, USC, before he was hired to teach between 2006-2011. He organized exhibitions at Anna Helwing Gallery, Richard Telles Fine Art Wallspace and Artissima 15.

  
  

  
  

Several bags of materials were initially dropped off by Michael Ned Holte around the opening of LACA. On December 19, 2025, Holte donated additional boxes containing artist books, postcards, and collected press releases.

Box 6.1 Contains selections from the archive that are most frequently used by researchers and during classroom visits. These materials include correspondence between Michael Ned Holte and students, artists, and affiliated institutions. Folders further organize materials related to the curation of Made in L.A. 2014, as well as book mock-ups, floor plan drawings, and drafts associated with his exhibition Routine Pleasures at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House.

Also included are travel itineraries (including trips to Italy and New York); ephemera from serving on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Activation of Social Space Through Art and Sound (SASSAS); a yarmulke from the wedding of David Kordansky and Mindy Shapero; and materials from High Desert Test Sites (HDTS).

Box 6.2 contains press releases, gallery floor plans, and checklists collected by Holte. All materials are 8.5x11 inches. The majority relate to Los Angeles–based galleries.

Boxes 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5 contain single-sheet art postcards, primarily promoting gallery exhibitions. These materials are not yet fully organized beyond box-level separation.

Boxes 6.6 and 6.7 contain multi-page promotional materials. These materials are not yet fully organized beyond box-level separation. The bulk of these materials date from 2011 to 2013.

6.8 Box: contains artist books and pamphlets in newsprint format.

6.9 Box: houses catalogues from MFA and BFA programs at USC and CalArts, primarily from periods when Holte was teaching at these schools.

6.10 Box: contains published writing such as essays and articles.

6.11 Box: contains artists' editions and media. This includes CDs, DVDs, and several Martin Kersels slides.

Artist books have been separated, cataloged, and integrated into the stacks to maximize browsability.

The collection reflects geographic shifts in many Los Angeles galleries, including gallery activity from Chinatown to Culver City as well as Culver City to Downtown Los Angeles. Together, these materials reflect networks of contemporary art production and circulation in Los Angeles.

The collection is particularly helpful for documenting ephemeral exhibition histories and artist-run networks in Los Angeles during the 2000s and 2010s.

Open for use/partially processed

Additions are expected.