The Bob Yares Records document the many evolving duties performed by him and other Cranbrook Academy of Art (CAA) staff members, from the 1970s into the 2000s. This collection also provides information about the Academy's role within the Cranbrook Educational Community, with the region's cultural institutions and in the art world.

Materials from the 1990s and 2000s become more general to the Academy with less evidence of Yares himself. The Art Museum is also represented less in the same time period as it gained a director, independent from the Academy once President Roy Slade retired from heading both at the end of 1994.

Series I: Administrative (1970-2003) The administrative series is the largest and most general in Yares' records. It has topical files created in the daily operation of the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Frequent topics include academic accreditation, advertising, creation of academic catalogs, academic studio departments, exhibits and gallery spaces, expenses, maintenance of buildings and grounds, and events hosted at Cranbrook. Series II: Correspondence (1977-1998) Twenty years of varied Academy of Art correspondence, minus a gap with few records from 1989-1993. This is a mix of personalized letters, announcements, and internal Cranbrook Educational Community (CEC) and CAA memos which demonstrate the variety of people, organizations, and tasks with whom Yares worked. Often Bob Yares was either the writer or recipient, but in other cases he was included via copies, often by Roy Slade, so there will be some duplication between these records and Slade's.

Between 1979-1981, Daily Typing, seemingly done for Academy faculty and other community members by office staff, was saved in files with that name.

Series III: Events (1978-2002) The events covered were all planned in cooperation with the Academy's Women's Committee of volunteers. Most events were of two types: auctions or balls and parties with a variety of festive names and themes. Auctions include a mix of the Art and Antiques auction, held with donated goods on alternating years, and other auctions featuring artwork by students and/or faculty members, which sometimes included custom works on themed materials, such as umbrellas or scarves for Brolly Day auctions.

Series IV: Students and Faculty (1974-2005) Alumni files contain biographical and professional data about former students; Faculty files have professional documents and corespondence including office memos; Student files contain lists of students and the records of Studio Council, the governmental body of current students for which Bob Yares was a liason and support staff. Student Council meeting minutes are included, as well as student scheduling and concerns.

Subseries A: Alumni (1974-2005) Solicited primarily in the 1990s for publications and development, files mostly contain materials sent in by graduates of the Academy of Art program. Dates indicate when the materials were submitted. The materials in each folder are often slight.

Subseries B: Faculty (1980-1996) Faculty files contain a mix of materials by or about faculty members as artists-in-residence. These files were only retained in Yares' records for certain academic years, mainly 1980-1981, 1984, and 1995-1996. Also included is an OS blueline print of a staff chart (1932-1968) created by Margueritte Kimball and John Lorence.

Subseries C: Students (1978-2001) Student lists, with a variety of basic information, were produced at the Academy and saved by Bob Yares. Access to these files may be limited, if they include private personal information. For Studio Council records, Bob Yares was a constant member and record-keeper, since student government representatives changed yearly. Studio Council meetings covered a variety of operational, curricular, and extracurricular topics. Council documents are relatively informal, discussions and decisions were documented and reported out to the student body in different ways over time.