Tom Bergin papers
Collection area: Arizona and Southwest
Collection dates: 1997
This collection comprises of visual materials of historic motor courts and similar locations across Arizona. Visual Materials include digitized photographs of motor courts, motels, historic gas stations and full body portrait photographs of individuals in these locations, as well as scans of historic car culture memorabilia, typically postcards. The photographs include both photographs taken by the collections creators and earlier undated black and white photography. This collection comprises five CDs.
This collection is created by a collaboration between journalist David Devine and photographer Tom Bergin.
David Devine is a journalist and has been involved in local politics. He moved to Tucson in 1973 where he subsequently graduated from the University of Arizona. He wrote for the Tucson Weekly until his retirement in 2011. After that he continued to write opinion pieces for the Tucson Weekly and the Arizona Daily Star.
Tom Bergin is a photographer from Detroi, Michigan. In 1973, he received a commercial art degree from Cass Technical High School. In 1978, he recieved a BFA in Art/Industrial Design from Wayne State University. He worked for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. before leaving for Tucson where he worked as a graphic designer for the University of Arizona, which he eventually left to establish his own art studio. He has done photography, oil painting, historic cartography, construction and carpentry. In 1996, he helped revive the artist collective Tucson Art Group (TAG). With TAG, he has organized joint art shows in galleries including travelling and international shows. His work has been displayed in private collections and the Tucson Museum of Art.
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