Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Transcripts
Interviews
Sketches
Drawings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Videotapes
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
13.6 Linear feet; 0.907 Gigabytes
Arrangement:
The Robert Sperry papers are arranged as thirteen series, according to type of material. Each series is arranged either in rough chronological or alphabetical order. Series 1: Biographical Files, 1954-circa 2000, undated (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet) Series 2: Correspondence Files, 1951-2000, undated (Boxes 1-2; 0.9 linear feet) Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1963-1999, undated (Boxes 2-3; 1.2 linear feet) Series 4: Gallery Files, 1960-2000, undated (Boxes 3-4; 0.8 linear feet) Series 5: Project and Workshop Files, 1967-1996, undated (Box 4; 0.4 linear feet) Series 6: Writings, 1966-1990, undated (Box 5; 0.5 linear feet) Series 7: Scrapbook, 1955-1964 (Box 5; 8 folders) Series 8: Financial Records, 1961-1995, undated (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear feet) Series 9: Miscellaneous Subject Files, 1975-1998, undated (Box 6; 0.2 linear feet) Series 10: Printed Material, 1955-2002, undated (Boxes 6-10; 3.4 linear feet) Series 11: Photographs, 1963, undated (Box 10; 0.2 linear feet) Series 12: Sketches and Drawings, 1984, undated (Box 10; 2 folders) Series 13: Moving Image Material, circa 1962-1998, undated (Boxes 10-12, FC 13-18; 3.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.907 GB)
Access Note / Rights:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
Summary:
The papers of ceramicist Robert Sperry measure 13.6 linear feet and 0.907 GB and date from 1951-2002. The collection documents Sperry's career as an artist, teacher, and filmmaker through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, gallery files, material on projects and workshops, writings, a scrapbook, financial files, printed and digital material, photographs, moving image materials, and artwork.
Citation:
Robert Sperry papers, 1951-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Use Note:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Patti Warashina papers, circa 1900-1991. An online finding aid is available.
Biography Note:
Robert Sperry was born in Bushnell, Illinois, in 1927. He grew up on his family's farm in Druid, Saskatchewan, Canada, and in 1945 was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he first developed an interest in art. After serving in the military, he returned home and completed his B.A. at the University of Saskatchewan in 1950 and a B.F.A. at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953. While working on his B.A. he met and married Edyth MacDonald and they had one child, Van, in 1950. Sperry spent one summer as Artist in Residence at the Archie Bray Foundation, in Helena, Montana, and then moved his family to Seattle so that he could complete his M.F.A. at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1955 he stayed at the University and became a professor, teaching ceramics until retiring in 1982. During this time, Sperry widely exhibited his clay vessels in both group and solo exhibitions and was active in the American Craft Council.
When not teaching, Robert Sperry pursued his interest in photography and filmmaking and, in 1963, traveled to Japan to make "Village Potters of Onda," a project that included a documentary film and a collection of black and white photographs. Sperry continued experimenting with film and, in 1967, created a fictional film entitled, "Profiles Cast Long Shadows," which was shown at film festivals throughout the United States. After abandoning another film project in 1970 while going through a divorce, he returned to ceramics as his focus. During the 1970s Sperry developed his techniques, modifying glazes and moving away from the vessel shape. In 1976 Sperry married Patti Warashina, fellow ceramicist and professor at the University of Washington. He began producing murals, which led to several public commissions such as a mural for the IBM Field Engineering Educational Center in Atlanta, created in 1983. Robert Sperry: A Retrospective , was exhibited in 1985-1986 at the Bellevue Art Museum, however, Sperry would continue producing and exhibiting new work, and giving lectures and workshops for thirteen more years, until his death in 1998.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The Robert Sperry papers were donated by Sperry's wife Patti Warashina in 2003 and 2004.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
