An interview of Michelle Holzapfel conducted 2008 January 26-March 1, by Josephine Shea, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Holzapfel's home and studio, Applewoods Studio and Gallery, in Marlboro, Vermont.
Holzapfel speaks of her childhood in Rhode Island; her large extended family and their French-Canadian heritage; working with her father in his machine shop; early art education and exposure from elementary school through high school; the influence of high school art teacher Audrey Blake; trips to Rhode Island School of Design Museum and Boston Museum of Fine Arts; attending Marlboro College; meeting her husband, David, at Marlboro; traveling in Italy with friends and David; earning her B.A. from Norwich College; participating in craft shows; having two children in two years; teaching experiences at Worcester Center for Crafts and Wood Turning Center; the difference in relationships with galleries and museums; the woodturning field; and the struggles and success of women artists; and plans for the future. Holzapfel recalls Gilbert Taylor, Barry Friedman, Glenn Adamson, Nathan Ancell, Peter Joseph, Kenneth Trapp, Chris Tyler, Albert LeCoff, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Michelle Hozapfel (1951- ) is a self-taught woodworker in Marlboro, Vermont.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 10 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
