New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place of publication, production, or execution:
New Mexico
Physical Description:
31 Pages, Transcript
General Note:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 58 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
An interview of Will Shuster conducted July 30, 1964, by Sylvia Loomis in Santa Fe, N.M., for the Archives of American Art.
Shuster tells of contracting tuberculosis as a soldier in WWI and moving to New Mexico to recuperate. He describes the artistic activity of Santa Fe and his involvement in the federal art projects, including painting scenes of Carlsbad Caverns. He recounts his role in developing and continuing the Santa Fe tradition of Zozobra, an effigy figure of gloom burned at the beginning of winter celebrations and once featured as an award-winning float in the Rose Bowl parade.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Will Shuster, 1964 July 30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript available on line at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/shuste64.htm
Biography Note:
Will Shuster (1893-1969) was a mural painter from Santa Fe, N.M.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
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.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
