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Oral history interview with June Schwarcz

Interviewee:
Schwarcz, June, 1918-2015  Search this
Interviewer:
Fisch, Arline M.  Search this
Creator:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Names:
Bellas Artes (Santa Fe, N.M.)  Search this
De Vera Gallery  Search this
Japonesque Gallery  Search this
Mobilia Gallery  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Pratt Institute  Search this
Susan Cummins Gallery  Search this
Sybaris Gallery  Search this
Brancusi, Constantin, 1876-1957  Search this
Letchzin, Stanley  Search this
Louis, Morris, 1912-1962  Search this
Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988  Search this
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this
Extent:
75 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2001 January 21
Scope and Contents:
An interview of June Schwarcz conducted 2001 January 21, by Arline M. Fisch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Schwarcz's home and studio, Sausalito, California.
Schwarcz speaks of her family background; early interest in color and form; studies at Pratt Institute; working in as a package designer and free-lance designer for department stores such as Macy's in New York and Hochschild-Kohn in Baltimore; living in Chicago, Brazil, and Denver; learning about enamels from a group of "housewives" in Denver; reading Kenneth Bates's book [Enameling: Principles and Practice] "as if it were the Bible"; visiting America House and meeting Dominick Maillard; settling in Sausalito, California, in 1954; the comparison of natural erosion in streams and rocks to etched surfaces; sources of inspiration including fog, folk art, African art, ancient Chinese ceramics, the Japanese aesthetic, ethnic clothing and fabrics, pleats and folds, and works by Isamu Noguchi, Constantin Brancusi, Morris Louis, and Mark Rothko; the practice of working on several pieces at one time; the influence of two books, Santayana's "The Sense of Beauty" and Junichiro Tanizaki's "In Praise of Shadows;" her desire to "making things that are beautiful"; her husband's support and assistance with tools, materials, and techniques; the significance of various tools and equipment; developing forms through paper patterns; the body as vessel; color as "personality"; technical pitfalls of the enameling process; technical problems of electroplating; the 1974 World Craft Conference in which Stanley Letchzin presented his findings on electroforming; meeting Letchzin and comparing processes; the difficulties in selling work; the lack of an audience; teaching workshops at Arrowmont and Vail; aversion to teaching and commissions; relationships with Susan Cummins Gallery, Bellas Artes Gallery, Japonesque Gallery, De Vera Gallery, Sybaris Gallery, and Mobilia Gallery; travel to Europe and Japan; honors and awards; and interest in transparent enamels. Schwarcz also describes her use of basse taille, plique-à-jour, electroplating, electroforming, brush plating, raku, scotchbrite, and Mi-Tique (patina solutions). She also recalls development of each piece in her retrospective catalog, "June Schwarcz : forty years, forty pieces" (San Francisco Craft & Folk Art Museum, 1998) and concludes the interview by discussing five current pieces in progress.
Biographical / Historical:
June Schwarcz (1918-2015) was an enamaler from Sausalito, California. Arline M. Fisch (1931-) is a metalsmith from San Diego, California.
General:
Originally recorded as 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 36 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.
Occupation:
Enamelers -- California  Search this
Topic:
Enamel and enameling  Search this
Metal-workers -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.schwar01
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9dd77b4e4-7c5b-46f4-ae5d-12d55f1b6dfb
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-schwar01
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Joel Philip Myers

Topic:
Craft Horizons
Interviewee:
Myers, Joel Philip, 1934-  Search this
Interviewer:
Klein, Daniel, 1938-2009  Search this
Creator:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Names:
Alfred University -- Students  Search this
Blenko Glass Company  Search this
Donald Deskey Associates  Search this
Mint Museum of Art  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Parsons School of Design -- Students  Search this
Pilchuck Glass Center (Stanwood, Wash.) -- Faculty  Search this
Toledo Art Museum  Search this
University of California, Berkeley -- Students  Search this
University of Illinois. -- Faculty  Search this
World Crafts Council  Search this
Blenko, William H., 1921-2016  Search this
Dreisbach, Fritz  Search this
Huchthausen, David R. (David Richard), 1951-  Search this
Lewis, John, 1942-  Search this
Lipofsky, Marvin, 1938-2016  Search this
Littleton, Harvey K.  Search this
Marquis, Richard, 1945-  Search this
Ness, Bob  Search this
Popelka, John  Search this
Randall, Theodore, 1914-1985  Search this
Smith, Paul J., 1931-  Search this
Vallien, Bertil, 1938-  Search this
Extent:
6 Items (Sound recording: 6 sound files (4 hr., 15 min.), digital, wav)
63 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
Japan -- Description and Travel
Date:
2007 May 1
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Joel Philip Myers conducted 2007 May 1, by Daniel Klein, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in the artist's home, in Marietta, Pennsylvania.
Myers speaks of his childhood in Patterson, New Jersey; making charcoal drawings as a child and taking private courses in oil painting; choosing to pursue a career in advertising design; attending Parsons School of Design in New York City; working as a package designer for Donald Deskey Associates; being influenced by Scandinavian design he saw in New York City to study abroad in Denmark; studying ceramic design at Kunsthaandvaerkerskolen in Copenhagen; meeting and marrying his wife, Birthe, while in Copenhagen; returning to the United States and going back to work for Donald Deskey; attending Alfred University and receiving his B.F.A. and M.F.A. in ceramics; accepting the position director of design for Blenko Glass Company in Milton, West Virginia with no previous experience in glass; teaching himself how to blow glass in the factory alongside the workers; the intense heat and extreme noise of a glass factory; learning of Harvey Littleton's glass workshop in 1962 in Toledo, Ohio, but being unable to attend; having limited exposure to the glass movement and developing his glass art without knowledge of the work of Littleton and his students; designing 50 to 60 different vases, bowls, decanters, and decorative objects a year from 1963 - 1970 at Blenko Glass Company; creating sculptural glass forms in his penetration pieces for his masters thesis; learning of what was happening in the studio glass world by attending the World Craft Council in 1964 in New York City; Paul Smith discovering his work and thereby gaining some publicity in Craft Horizons; being invited by Littleton to give a workshop at the University of California, Berkeley in 1968; the initial shock of seeing glass sculpture made with no real technique; his early attraction to cold-work in order to work intimately with the surface of the glass; acquisition of his work by the Toledo Art Museum and the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina; establishing a glass program at Illinois University in Bloomington-Normal; his attempts to recruit international students; taking a semester sabbatical in Baden, Austria; being heavily influenced by the natural world; the series Garden, Perfume Bottle, Contiguous Fragment, Dr. Zharkov, The Dialogues, and others; teaching at Pilchuck School of Glass; studying the First World War and consequently creating Musée des Beaux Arts [1996]; travels to Japan; his teaching philosophies; the prevalence of independent glass studios in the world today; and plans for the future. Myers recalls Ted Randall, William H. Blenko, Sr., William H. Blenko, Jr., Marvin Lipofsky, Fritz Dreisbach, Richard Marquis, John Lewis, Bob Ness, Bertil Vallien, David Huchthausen, John Popelka, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Joel Philip Myers (1934- ) is a glass artist from Milton, West Virginia. Daniel Klein (1938- ) is an art consultant from London, England.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 15 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.
Occupation:
Glass artists -- Pennsylvania  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching -- Philosophy  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Ceramics  Search this
Glass art  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.myers07
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw99b1c7b6b-664e-416c-909a-ec509a02efd8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-myers07
Online Media:

Interviewee, Marilyn Crowell; Interviewer, David Shayt, National Museum of American History

Collection Interviewer:
Shayt, David H.  Search this
Collection Creator:
Wedge Innovations  Search this
Extent:
1 Sound recording (Duration 1 hour)
Container:
Box 26, Item 534.2
Box 25, Item 534.2
Box 24, Item 534.2
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Sound recordings
Date:
1995 June 20
Scope and Contents:
Location: Palo Alto, California

Marilyn Crowell was the executive secretary and office manager at Wedge Innovations for the entire life of the company. She was the first person hired by Andy Butler when he founded Wedge in the basement of his home (218 Cowper St., Palo Alto, CA) in 1985. Crowell experienced the growth of the company as it moved to Scott Road, and later 501 Mercury Road, in Sunnyvale, and lastly to San Jose. She left Wedge on January 31, 1993, having witnessed its sale to Macklanburg-Duncan in November 1992.

On this tape, Crowell discusses how she met Andy Butler when they both worked for Bechtel in San Francisco in 1983, how she came to work at Andy's new company, Wedge Innovations, and what it was like to work there as the company grew. She also describes Butler's efforts to secure venture capital and to finance the company with his own money. She relates many details about corporate culture, such as Butler's personality and management style at length and how he motivated employees. She also discusses SmartLevel packaging design, which was done by Cindy Rogers (Wedge's graphic designer) and Kevin Reeder (an engineering design consultant).

At the end of her interview, Crowell discusses the end of Wedge Innovations. Andy Butler first offered Wedge to Matsushita, who offered only $50,000 for the company. Crowell describes how Macklanburg-Duncan came on the scene and Butler's decision to sell Wedge outright rather than see it broken up and all the employees unemployed. She also speculates on Butler's feelings about the sale of Wedge.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Records of Wedge Innovations, 1985-1996, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Records of Wedge Innovations
Records of Wedge Innovations / Series 7: Corporate Culture
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep88c642e90-c939-4127-be8a-a4444b088f45
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0534-ref231

Oral history interview with June Schwarcz, 2001 January 21

Interviewee:
Schwarcz, June Therese, 1918-2015  Search this
Interviewer:
Fisch, Arline M  Search this
Subject:
Noguchi, Isamu  Search this
Brancusi, Constantin  Search this
Louis, Morris  Search this
Rothko, Mark  Search this
Letchzin, Stanley  Search this
Bellas Artes (Santa Fe, N.M.)  Search this
De Vera Gallery  Search this
Japonesque Gallery  Search this
Mobilia Gallery  Search this
Pratt Institute  Search this
Susan Cummins Gallery  Search this
Sybaris Gallery  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 June Schwarcz, 2001 January 21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Enamel and enameling  Search this
Metal-workers -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12744
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)227013
AAA_collcode_schwar01
Theme:
Craft
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_227013
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Joel Philip Myers, 2007 May 1

Interviewee:
Myers, Joel Philip, 1934-  Search this
Interviewer:
Klein, Daniel, 1938-2009  Search this
Subject:
Blenko, William H.  Search this
Dreisbach, Fritz  Search this
Huchthausen, David R. (David Richard)  Search this
Lewis, John  Search this
Lipofsky, Marvin  Search this
Littleton, Harvey K.  Search this
Marquis, Richard  Search this
Ness, Bob  Search this
Popelka, John  Search this
Randall, Theodore  Search this
Smith, Paul J.  Search this
Vallien, Bertil  Search this
Alfred University  Search this
Blenko Glass Company  Search this
Donald Deskey Associates  Search this
Mint Museum of Art  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Parsons School of Design  Search this
Pilchuck Glass Center (Stanwood, Wash.)  Search this
Toledo Art Museum  Search this
University of California, Berkeley  Search this
University of Illinois.  Search this
World Crafts Council  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
Japan -- Description and Travel
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Joel Philip Myers, 2007 May 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Craft Horizons  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- Philosophy  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Ceramics  Search this
Glass art  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13605
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)270854
AAA_collcode_myers07
Theme:
Craft
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_270854
Online Media:

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