The Paul J. Smith papers meaure 66.5 linear feet and date from circa 1940-2020. Included is biographical material, résumés, autobiographic "reflections" and awards; draft writings; correspondence; research material compiled in preparation for interviews with craft artists; audio recordings and interview transcripts; files concerning artists, organizations, projects, research, and exhibitions; photographs, negatives, contact sheets, and slides of events, artists, Paul J. Smith, and others; clippings and other printed materials; and miscellaneous.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul J. Smith (1931-2020) was an arts administrator and curator in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
A small portion of the papers were donated between 2004-2012 by Paul J. Smith, as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. The majority of the papers were donated by Kathleen Mangan, estate representative, in 2022.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
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.
Occupation:
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Marshall, 2001 April 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Raymond Charles Pierotti, 2005 September 4. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Flora Mace, 2005 August 17-18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Joey Kirkpatrick, 2005 August 17-18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick, 2005 August 17-18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Kiff Slemmons, 2007 November 1-2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Metal-workers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Search this
Jewelry makers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Search this
American Crafts Council. Museum of Contemporary Crafts Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Paul J. Smith, 2010 April 19-20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Alice Rooney, 2011 Aug. 5-12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Lloyd E. Herman, 2010 Sept. 21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Arts administrators -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Sandra Jean Blain, 2009 May 19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Harold Balazs, 2012 August 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculptors -- Washington (State) -- Interviews Search this
Smithsonian American Art Museum. Renwick Gallery Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Michael W. Monroe, 2018 January 22-March 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Arts administrators -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews Search this
An interview of John Marshall conducted 2001 April 5, by Lloyd Herman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Edmonds, Washington.
Marshall speaks of his childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; participating in an educational program with the Carnegie Museum; his exposure to art while in grade school and throughout his education; joining the army after high school; spending time in Germany with the army and experiencing the metalwork of that area; learning to work hard from his father; his family background; attending Grove City College, then working in construction during the day and going to classes at Carnegie Tech during the night; finally attending Cleveland Institute of Art; some of his teachers at the Institute, Kenneth Bates, Toshiko Takaezu, and John Clague; his first experiences with metal, Fred Miller, and learning how to design metal pieces; getting a job as head of the metals department at Syracuse and completing his MFA there; meeting Paul Smith and Lee Nordness, and participating in Objects: USA; his travels throughout Europe; the many commissions he has done for churches, everything from baptismal bowls, chalices, and crosses; Patrick Lannan, and how instrumental he was in Marshall's career, his collection of work that Lannan bought and where it all is now located; the different types of communities in the different areas he lived; commissions and how they were important to his career; how he challenges himself with new ideas and creations; the Handy and Harman Workshop; the difference between a university trained artist and one who has learned his/her craft outside academia; his students and how much satisfaction he has received from teaching; the decline in metal working programs at the university level; the influence of other faculty members on his work, such as Lee DuSell; the critics of metalwork, Bruce Metcalf and Gary Griffin; his involvement in the Society of North American Goldsmiths; and his two sons. Marshall also recalls John Paul Miller, Winifred Lutz, Ramona Solberg, Ruth Penington, Michael Scott, Don Bacorn, Annie Hauberg, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
John Marshall (1936- ) is a jeweler and metalsmith from Edmonds, Washington. Lloyd Herman (1936- ) is the former director of the Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery from Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 2 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.
Museum of Arts and Design (New York, N.Y.) Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Extent:
61 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2010 April 19-20
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Paul J. Smith conducted 2010 April 19 and 20, by Lloyd E. Herman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Smith's home, in New York, N.Y.
Smith recalls his childhood; attending the Art Institute of Buffalo; working in display at the Flint & Kent department store in Buffalo; his interest in "hobby crafts" and greater exploration of jewelry and wood; exhibiting; joining the staff of the American Craftsmen's Council; becoming director of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts; developing the museum's program and international focus; organizing the "Objects: USA" exhibition in 1969; developing the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (in 1979 renamed the American Craft Museum); the 30th anniversary exhibition, "Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical," in 1986; becoming director emeritus; the "Craft Today USA" tour, 1989-1993; developing a consulting service; serving as guest curator; special projects; interest in photography; the current DIY movement as a continuum of the past.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul J. Smith (1931- ) is Director Emeritus of the American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design) in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 6 secure digital memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 17 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.
Topic:
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Joey Kirkpatrick conducted 2005 August 17-18, by Lloyd E. Herman, 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, which she shares with Flora Mace, in Seattle, Washington.
Ms. Kirkpatrick discusses her childhood in Des Moines, Iowa, as the third daughter among four; her early interest in art and, beginning in fifth grade, working at the Des Moines Art Center; her mother's creativity and love for art and design; visiting her aunt Elaine in Chicago and attending adult classes at the Art Institute of Chicago; seeing an Egon Schiele show at the Des Moines Art Center and its influence on her; her sense, even at an early age, that she was going to be an artist; going to college at the University of Iowa and getting a BFA in drawing; working in ceramics at the University of Iowa and studying under her mentor, Howard Ragovin; beginning to make sculptures out of chicken wire and papier-mâché and becoming interested in three-dimensional forms and planes; her most profound artistic influences, including Arthur Dove, Georgia O'Keeffe, Alexander Calder, and Alberto Giacometti; meeting Steven Dale Edwards during her last year in college and learning how to blow glass from him; blowing glass at a facility geared towards ceramic engineers at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, after college; working at the Art Center throughout and continuing to paint while living with her grandmother; working at a daycare center where she functioned as an art therapist; seeing an advertisement in Craft Horizons magazine for Pilchuck Glass School; working as a tree topper in Des Moines to get the money to go to Pilchuck; showing up at Pilchuck with an armful of her drawings; meeting Flora Mace, her collaborator and life partner, at Pilchuck; how the two eventually came to collaborate and cosign their work; and how they work together. A more in-depth discussion of the pair's lifelong collaboration is discussed in a joint interview of Kirkpatrick and Mace. Kirkpatrick also recalls Byron Burford, Peggy Patrick, Reba Cohen, Mark Doty, Jim Demetrion, Dale Chihuly, Chuck Hinds, Italo Scanga, Bill Morris, Ben Moore, Sylvia Vigeletti, Audrey Handler, and Lino Tagliapetra, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Joey Kirkpatrick (1952- ) is a glass artist from Seattle, Washington. Lloyd E. Herman (1936- ) is a curator and former director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery of Art and is currently from Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 2 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.
