The Mark Rogovin papers include materials published and unpublished that document activities of the modern mural movement in Chicago during the 1970s and the activities of the Public Art Workshop, an organization active at the time in integrating art into community development through the creation of public murals.

Includes Rogovin's publication, a classic public art guide: "Mural Manual: How to Paint Murals for the Classroom, Community Center, and Street Corner". Includes newspaper articles on mural art, list of mural locations in Chicago, as well as ads and flyers for Public Art Workshop programs. Interviews with Mark Rogovin offer a window into the artist's personal thoughts on the development of U.S. modern mural movement, the balance of aesthetics and politics in art, and commentary on his own creative process. Accompanying these is a lecture by Siqueieros on the relationship of art to the people, and the artist to his country. A Rhode Island School of Design alumni bulletin containing an article written by Rogovin, in addition to a manuscript by José Renau, further underlines Siqueiros' belief on art as a transformative, democratic force.

Collection also includes administrative documents, event flyers and catalogs from The Peace Museum (Chicago), which Rogovin co-founded and directed for several years. Some material in the collection relate to the work and circle of friends of Rogovin's father, American documentary photographer, Milton Rogovin. This includes postcards of Milton Rogovin's photographs, photocopies of newspaper articles that focus on his role as a social documentarist, and photocopies of personal letters from members of Mexico's Taller Grafica Popular including Sarah Jimenez and Pablo O'Higgins.

This collection provides a sense of the dominant social conditions in these years as well as the impetus and motivations for the individual artists involved, and they help weave together a narrative in which not only is Mark Rogovin's relationship to mural painting explored, but also the complex interplay between the power of public art, the community, and the social conscience.