Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Armitage, Merle, 1893-1975  Search this
Interviewer:
Loomis, Sylvia Glidden  Search this
Creator:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Names:
American Institute of Graphic Arts  Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Public Works of Art Project  Search this
Public Works of Art Project (Calif.)  Search this
Bruce, Edward, 1879-1943  Search this
Hatfield, Dalzell, 1893-1963  Search this
Zornes, James Milford, 1908-2008  Search this
Extent:
23 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 February 6
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Merle Armitage conducted 1964 February 6, by Sylvia Loomis, for the Archives of American Art.
Armitage speaks of his role as Public Works of Art Project regional chairman of Southern California, including his supervision of 126 artists involved in painting, drawing, sculpture, lithography and mural projects; experimental work in PWAP easel painting projects; censorship of subject matter in a mural for the Frank Wiggins Trade School; his opposition to government subsidized art programs; his impressions of Edward Bruce, Dalzell Hatfield, James Milford Zornes, and others associated with the PWAP. Armitage also speaks of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and contemporary book design.
Biographical / Historical:
Merle Armitage (1893-1975) was an art administrator and graphic artist of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 48 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Art and state  Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- California  Search this
Art -- Censorship  Search this
Arts administrators -- California -- Interviews  Search this
Graphic artists -- California -- Interviews  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.armita64
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96fd143cc-b88b-427d-9118-a03f5ffd6a84
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-armita64