Jules Bates Artrouble Center
The Jules Bates Artrouble Center is a research space to explore the history of ArtCenter, rare art and design books, the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s, and other rich archival and primary source materials.
At the Jules Bates Artrouble Center, students, faculty, staff, and scholars can view historic photographs and records of ArtCenter, and research a variety of special collections of art and design, rare books, video, graduate theses, oral histories, and artist books. Within the space we anticipate hosting classes that incorporate using archival materials.
The space is made possible through a generous gift from ArtCenter Trustee Melissa Lora and Michael Lora in memory of Melissa’s brother, Jules Bates (BFA 78). Bates was a Los Angeles-based photographer who was the photo editor for L.A. Weekly and co-founded Artrouble with David Allen and Phyllis Cohen in 1978. Artrouble was an art collective that created artwork and album covers for punk and new wave bands. Tragically, Bates died in a motorcycle hit and run in 1982. In 2008 he received a posthumous honorary doctorate at ArtCenter.
Image (above): The Dickies backstage at the Whisky, circa 1978. Photography by Jules Bates.
Archives and Special Collections
South Campus
950 S. Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91105
Get Directions
Hours:
Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 4:00pm, by appointment
Campus access protocols must be followed to enter campus.
Contact
626 396-2208
archives@artcenter.edu
Sample Works in the Collection
Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections collects, preserves and makes accessible ArtCenter’s history and other rare and unique materials related to art and design.
Image: Artrouble promotional postcard. Photography by Jules Bates.
The Jules Bates photograph collection was deposited in Archives and Special Collections in 2019 and documents the work of Bates and Artrouble. Included are Artrouble promotional items, such as exhibit postcards, Artrouble prints, uncut album cover proofs and completed album covers from musician’s like DEVO, Oingo Boingo, Billy Idol, The Dickies, and The Motels.
The bulk of the collection is photographic materials shot by Bates including images of Los Angeles punk clubs in the late 1970s including The Masque, Whisky a Go Go, and the Plunger Pit as well as punk and new wave bands and musicians, such as The Deadbeats, Howard Devoto, The Dickies, DEVO, Brian Eno, The Go-Go’s, The Mumps, Oingo Boingo, The Plugz, The Screamers, The Weirdos, and X. Fashion shoots with models are also well-represented in the collection, showing the breadth of work that came out of Artrouble. Also included are celebrity portraits including Charles Bukowski, Buckminster Fuller, Pee-wee Herman, David Lynch, Marshall McLuhan, and Harry Dean Stanton. Finally, some of Bates’ early work is included, such as examples of his student work while he was a student at ArtCenter College of Design.