Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Additional Online Media

Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Earl, Jack Eugene, 1934-  Search this
Interviewer:
Milosch, Jane  Search this
Subject:
Arneson, Robert  Search this
Atherton, Carlton  Search this
Bacerra, Ralph  Search this
Bogatay, Paul  Search this
Fetzer, Margaret  Search this
Friley, Gene  Search this
Keland, Karen  Search this
Kerrigan, Tom  Search this
Kottler, Howard  Search this
LaDousa, Tom  Search this
Littlefield, Edgar  Search this
Lugenbuhl, Darvin  Search this
Schuman, Norm  Search this
Shaw, Richard  Search this
Smith, Paul J.  Search this
Voulkos, Peter  Search this
Bluffton College (Bluffton, Ohio)  Search this
John Michael Kohler Arts Center  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
The Ohio State University  Search this
Toledo School of Art and Design  Search this
Virginia Commonwealth University  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
Ohio -- Description and travel
Place of publication, production, or execution:
Ohio
Physical Description:
5 Items, Sound recording: 5 sound files (4 hr., 32 min.), digital, 2 5/8 in.
General Note:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 32 min.
Summary:
An interview of Jack Earl conducted 2007 June 19-20, by Jane Milosch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's home and studio, in Lakeview, Ohio.
Earl speaks of his childhood in Uniopolis, Ohio; using his father's tools in the garage to make toys; developing a long-lasting friendship with his high school art teacher; studying art at Bluffton College and learning to make pottery; learning to read in college and getting a minor in English; getting married while in college; graduating from Bluffton College and getting a job teaching at a local high school; teaching high school art for ten years in New Breman, Ohio; attending a graduate program at Ohio State University and earning a Master's in Ceramic Art; being influenced by professor Paul Bogatay while in graduate school; working at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center over one winter break; teaching at Toledo School of Art and Design following graduation from Ohio State University; learning to make European porcelain; beginning to apply oil paint to his ceramic pieces; copying imagery from European masterpieces; feeling uninspired by Virginia culture after moving there to teach at Virginia Commonwealth University; moving back to Ohio and enjoying the proximity of his children and grandchildren there; his belief that his artwork reflects his life; the greater market for ceramic artwork now compared to when he began working; continuing ceramic tradition by incorporating humor into his work; the importance of his family and Ohio culture to his work; writing a book with Karen Keland to promote crafts, especially ceramics; being much more interested in making things than in his teaching; the versatility of clay as a material; and his work habits. Earl recalls Darvin Lugenbuhl, Paul Bogatay, Carlton Atherton, Edgar Littlefield, Gene Friley, Margaret Fetzer, Howard Kottler, Robert Arneson, Tom LaDousa, Norm Schuman, Peter Voulkos, Paul Smith, Karen Keland, Tom Kerrigan, Ralph Bacerra, Richard Shaw, and others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jack Earl, 2007 June 19-20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
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.
Biography Note:
Jack Earl (1934- ) is a ceramic artist from Lakeview, Ohio. Jane Milosch is a curator from Silver Spring, Maryland.
Language Note:
English .
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.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Ceramicists -- Ohio -- Interviews  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13626
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)272042
AAA_collcode_earl07
Theme:
Craft
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_272042