The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records measure 28.9 linear feet and 12.48 GB and date from 1970 to 2012. The museum was established in 1982 in San Francisco, California and exhibited local and national craft and folk art collections until it closed in 2012. The collection includes administration records, extensive exhibition files, artists' files, museum publications, printed material, video recordings, born digital items, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records measure 28.9 linear feet and 12.48 GB and date from 1970 to 2012. The museum was established in 1982 in San Francisco, California and exhibited local and national craft and folk art collections until it closed in 2012. The collection includes administration records, extensive exhibition files, artists' files, museum publications, printed material, video recordings, born digital items, and photographic material.
Administration records include museum bylaws, lists of early exhibitions, education program evaluations, documents related to public programs, and printed materials.
Exhibition files comprise the largest group of materials in the collection. Notable exhibitions documented include Who'd A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking (1987-1988), MetalSpeaks: The Unexpected (1997), and Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of an American Potter (2009). There are also video recordings and born digital content scattered throughout the series. Though most of the material is related to the MOCFA exhibitions, there are a few files on exhibitions at other galleries and museums. The exhibition files contain a wide variety of correspondence, art inventories, price lists, printed and digital materials, guest registers, photographic materials, and video recordings, electronic discs, videodiscs, and floppy discs.
Artists' files are found for a handful of artists, including Bennett Bean, Ralph Fasanella, Bill Graham, Ron Kovatch, Mike Moran, and Salvador V. Ricalde. The files contain primarily video recordings of artist performances and interviews, but also include resumes and inquiries.
Museum of Craft and Folk Art publications consist of exhibition catalogs, newsletters, reports, and announcements. There are several video recordings of events, such as fashion shows, that were held at the museum.
Printed materials and commercial video recordings include an oversize scrapbook, binders of exhibition press clippings, and folders of clippings on various topics, as well as documentaries and news coverage of the museum.
Photographic materials consist of slides, negatives, photographs, transparencies, and a photo album. The images are of artwork, exhibition installations, events, artists, and museum offices and staff.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Administration Records, circa 1988-circa 2010 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, 0.004 GB; ER01-ER02)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1976-2012 (22.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-24, 12.14 GB; ER03-ER50)
Series 3: Artists' Files and Video Recordings, 1983-2007 (0.6 linear feet; Box 24)
Series 4: Museum of Craft and Folk Art Publications, 1977-2012 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 24-25, OV 31-32, 0.003 GB; ER51)
Series 5: Printed Materials and Commercial Video Recordings, 1983-2007 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 26-28, OV 33-35, 0.050 GB; ER52)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1970-2011 (2 linear feet; Boxes 28-30, 0.282 GB; ER53)
Biographical / Historical:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art was established in San Francisco, California by painter and sculptor Gertrud Parker in 1982. The museum was originally located in a house on Balboa Street and then moved to the Fort Mason Center where it operated for over twenty years before relocating to Yerba Buena Lane in 2006.
Notable exhibitions organized or held at the museum include Innerskins/Outerskins: Gut and Fishskin (1987), Who'd A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking (1987-1988) which was a traveling exhibition, Folk Art of the Soviet Union (1990), MetalSpeaks: The Unexpected (1997), Emblems of Passage: Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (2002), The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts From the Japanese Internment Camp 1942-1946 (2006), and Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of an American Potter (2009).
The museum also worked with artists on commission and regularly offered public programs, workshops, and educational outreach events for visitors of all ages. They also partnered with the website Etsy on a popular monthly "Craft Bar" series where people could gather, socialize, and create something handmade.
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art closed in December of 2012. The final exhibition was Fiber Futures: Japan's Textile Pioneers.
Provenance:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records were donated by Jennifer McCabe, former executive director of the museum, in 2014.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
An interview of Carolyn Mazloomi conducted 2002 September 17 and 30, by Joanne Cubbs, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in West Chester, Ohio. Mazloomi speaks of growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a family of self-taught artists; the positive influence of her aunt and teacher Dr. Carter; the generation of African American quilt-makers who followed a gap in quilt-making post-slavery; she describes her previous career as an aeronautical engineer and her transition to quilt-making; how she identifies herself as a craftsperson, not an artist; her experience with Baltimore album and Appalachian quilts; learning to quilt; the Women of Color Quilter's Network and its economic and social development programs; her book, "Spirits of the Cloth"; the positive and negative aspects of travel; the false generalizations of African American quilts in academic circles; the importance of gender, race, and ethnicity in her work; her connection to "praise songs"; she discusses functional vs. nonfunctional quilts; the market for "hand-crafted" quilts; agents and galleries; she describes her working environment; adopting the use of a sewing machine in her work; the importance of community; her technique; her accomplishment of placing African-American quilts in the Renwick Gallery; the influence of magazines, including "Raw Vision;" her aversion to commissions; expanding her use of materials and technology; her exhibitions; her role as an advocate and dealer; finding inspiration in black and white linocuts and her use of color in quilts; and making a connection with her audience. Mazloomi also recalls Marie Wilson, Cuesta Benberry, Edjohnetta Miller, Roland Freeman, Robert Cargo, Martha Connell, Penny Sisto, Minnie Adkins, Nkosi Johnson, and Lauryn Hill.
Biographical / Historical:
Carolyn Mazloomi (1948- ) is a quilt maker from West Chester, Ohio.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 16 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 33 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Museum of Craft and Folk Art records, 1970-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Museum of Craft and Folk Art records, 1970-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Maria Goodwin - member of the Daughters of Dorcas and Sons quilt guild - discusses her quilting experience, the evolution of quilt making, and the Washington, D.C. based quilting group - Daughters of Dorcas and Sons. Goodwin recalls her early memories of cutting out triangles and sewing them together with her mother, who was a seamstress; she states her mother taught her an appreciation for fabric. She explains she was not interested in clothes making, and decided to explore quilting because she found quilt making less confining. Goodwin explains how the members of Daughters of Dorcas and Sons interact with one another, and describes the various styles the members employ in their quilt making. She talks about how the quilt has evolved from a functional piece to a piece of artwork displayed on the wall; the development and evolution of art quilt; use of technology in quilting; the increase in pricing of quilting and sewing machines; the evolution of fabric house; special quilting fabric lines; the various types of quilting; and working with colors in quilting. Goodwin explains the debate and development of categories in quilt competition shows; use of other media, in addition to fabric, in quilting; the intersection between quilting, family history, and scrapbooking; the growth of quilting communities; the importance of a foundation for beginner quilters; and how quilters build their skills over time. Goodwin talks about her creative style, her creative process, how she designs her quilt, where she finds inspiration, and how her interest in quilting grew. She loves the challenge of designing and incorporating ancient history, including illuminated manuscripts, into her quilts. Goodwin talks about the future of quilting, including children learning to quilt; the importance of preserving old quilts because they document family and quilting heritage; and the importance of documenting the creation of the quilts through video and photographs so the creation process is preserved.
Interview. Dated 20110131.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
An exhibition on African American male quilt makers organized by Dr. Gladys-Marie Fry and exhibited at Anacostia Community Museum from January 1998 --March 1998. Quilters included: Elroy Atkins, Paul Buford, Charles Carter, Thomas Covington, Raymond Dobard, David Driskell, Benjamin Jackson, Dennis Jones, Thomas Mack, Jeff Martin, Herbert Munn, Charles Palmer, Joe Washington, and Warren Wise. These records document the planning, organizing, execution, and promotion of the exhibition. Materials include correspondence, research files, exhibit scripts, administrative records, brochures, press coverage, education packets, loan agreements, floor plans, and catalogues.
Scope and Contents note:
These records document the planning, organizing, execution, and promotion of the exhibition. Materials include correspondence, research files, exhibit scripts, administrative records, brochures, education packets, floor plans, and catalogues.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Curator Dr. Gladys-Marie Fry led a gallery walk of the exhibition 'Man Made: African-American Men and Quilting Traditions.'
Exhibition tour. Related to exhibition 'Man Made: African-American Men and Quilting Traditions.' Dated 19980117.
Biographical / Historical:
Man Made: African-American Men and Quilting Traditions featured quilts made by members of the least represented group among all American quilt makers, African American men. The quilts shown had their origins in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and included both utilitarian bed quilts to purely decorative ones. The quilt makers represented ranged from the 9-year-old Herbert Munn to the 105-year-old Benjamin Jackson. The quilts came from four different areas of the country: the Deep South, the Atlantic Seaboard, the Midwest, and the Far West. The exhibition was developed by guest curator Dr. Gladys-Marie Fry at the University of Maryland in 1996.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
National Museum of American Art. Office of Registration and Collections Management Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Summary:
Who'd A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking - Traveling Exhibition; 9/27/1991-1/4/1992 (531)
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 99-076, National Museum of American Art. Office of Registration and Collections Management, Exhibition Records
National Museum of American Art. Office of Design and Production Search this
Extent:
12 cu. ft. (12 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Architectural drawings
Floor plans
Drawings
Clippings
Brochures
Black-and-white photographs
Color transparencies
Date:
1967-1996
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of records which document planning for exhibitions at the National Museum of American Art (NMAA). Also included are records pertaining to departmental
issues in the museum. Materials consist of general correspondence, memoranda, and notes; correspondence of David B. Keeler, Chief of Design and Production, 1973-1985; exhibition
design concepts, schedules, labels, scripts, proposals, floor plans, special events, and installation photographs; accessibility study information; contracts; workshop and
acquisition information; records documenting restoration and repair work at NMAA; and meeting minutes.
The following exhibitions are documented in this accession: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking; American Crafts; Metropolitan Lives: The Ashcan Artists
and Their New York, 1896-1917; The Arts and Crafts Movement in California: Living the Good Life; Gilded Age Watercolors and Pastels from the Collection;
James Hampton; Jim Nutt; Between Home and Heaven: Contemporary American Landscape Photography; Capital View: A New Washington Panorama by Mark Klett; Mark
Lindquist: Revolutions in Wood; Marriage in Form: Kay Sekimachi and Bob Stocksdale; Navajo Weaving; Contemporary Crafts and the Saxe Collection; Thomas
Cole: Landscape Into History; Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy of African American Craft Art; The West as America: Reinterpreting Images of the
Frontier, 1820-1920; William Daley: Ceramic Works and Drawings; John McQueen: The Language of Containment; Jacob Kainen; Pueblo Indian Watercolors;
Earthly Constellation: Photographs by Linda Connor; Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden, 1940-1987; Figure and Fantasy: The Miniature World of
David Beck; Wayne Thiebaud; CNG Collection; American Wicker: Woven Furniture from 1850-1930; Cass Gilbert; Fred Brown; Frost; Gene Davis; George Caleb Bingham;
George Orr; Hemphill; Winslow Homer; Images of Innocence: The Child in American Art; New American Furniture; Free Within Ourselves: African American Art from
the National Museum of American Art; Photos of Aaron Siskind; William H. Johnson; Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy of African American Craft Art; Chicano
Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985; and Farm Worker's Altar.
Dr. Raymond Dobard, quilter and art historian, provided a historical overview of African American quilts and detailed explanations regarding the ways in which the quilts were constructed. After the lecture, Robert Hall led the docents on a tour through the exhibition 'Always There: The African American Presence in American Quilts.'
Lecture and exhibition tour. Related to exhibition 'Always There: The African American Presence in American Quilts.' Dated 19930717.
Biographical / Historical:
'Always There: The African American Presence in American Quilts' displayed 27 quilts with photographs and related objects, and surveyed 200 years of black quiltmaking. The quilts, images and artifacts in the exhibit were presented within a dual framework of black history and quilt history. Profiled quiltmakers included Mary Bell Berry, Jessie Telfair, Dorothy Nelle Sanders, parents of school children at P.S. 48 in New York City, Michael Cummings, Carolyn Mazloomi, Lillian Beattie, Jim Smoote, and Carole Harris. The exhibition was organized by the Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky, and on display at the Anacostia Museum from July 15 to October 17, 1993.
Local Numbers:
ACMA AV002165
Collection Restrictions:
Use of materials is restricted. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
During an interview for a news segment on FOX News 5, Anacostia Museum Director Steven Newsome talked about the exhibition 'Always There: The African American Presence in American Quilts' and African American quilt techniques; and a provided an explanation of story quilts. The news segment also included footage of the quilts which were on display throughout the exhibit.
News program. Related to exhibition 'Always There: The African American Presence in American Quilts.' Dated 1993.
Biographical / Historical:
'Always There: The African American Presence in American Quilts' displayed 27 quilts with photographs and related objects, and surveyed 200 years of black quiltmaking. The quilts, images and artifacts in the exhibit were presented within a dual framework of black history and quilt history. Profiled quiltmakers included Mary Bell Berry, Jessie Telfair, Dorothy Nelle Sanders, parents of school children at P.S. 48 in New York City, Michael Cummings, Carolyn Mazloomi, Lillian Beattie, Jim Smoote, and Carole Harris. The exhibition was organized by the Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky, and on display at the Anacostia Museum from July 15 to October 17, 1993.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of materials is restricted. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
National Museum of American Art, Office of Design and Production Search this
Extent:
13 oversize folders.
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Architectural drawings
Date:
1967-1994
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of exhibition design and installation drawings of Val Lewton (Chief) and Georgine Reed. Exhibition designs include Tiffany Exhibition, 1989;
West As America, 1990; William H. Johnson, 1991; Winslow Homer, 1990; Thomas Cole, 1993; African-American Quiltmaking, 1991; American Craft Collection, 1992; Paul Manship,
1983; Photography of Edward Weston, 1987; Contemporary American Furniture, 1990; Art from New Mexico, 1986; American Watercolors, 1987; Navajo Weaving; White House Crafts,
1994, and Frank Lloyd Wright, 1989.
Also included are drawings for the National Museum of American Art (NMAA) and Portrait Gallery Fire Alarm system and Public Address system, the Museum Shop, and Remodeling
Galleries 2D, E, and F at the NMAA.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Museum of Craft and Folk Art records, 1970-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
