Netherlands -- Amsterdam -- Description and Travel
New York (N.Y.) -- Description and Travel
Tanzania -- Description and Travel
Date:
2017 March 27-29
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Lyle Ashton Harris, conducted 2017 March 27 and 29, by Alex Fialho, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Harris's studio and home in New York, New York.
Harris speaks of his childhood in the Bronx; his family's influence on his race-consciousness; living in Tanzania for two years as a child and the effects on his understanding of race and sexuality; his grandfather's extensive photographic archive; contact with the South African diaspora through his step-father; attending Wesleyan University; formative experiences in London, Amsterdam, and New York in the mid-1980s; his education and development as a photographer; attending CalArts and encountering West Coast AIDS activism; encountering systemic racism in Los Angeles; close friendships with Marlon Riggs and Essex Hemphill; exhibitions of his work in New York in the early 1990s; the production of his Ektachrome Archive and his impulse to photograph daily life; his work on the Black Community AIDS Research and Education (Black C.A.R.E.) project in Los Angeles; participating in the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program; being diagnosed with HIV and remaining asymptomatic; attending the Dia Black Popular Culture Conference in 1992; photographing and mounting "The Good Life" in 1994 and "The Watering Hole" in 1996; issues of blackness and queerness in his photographic work; his residency at the American Academy in Rome in 2000; moving to Accra, Ghana for seven years in 2005; his pedagogy as an art professor; his thoughts on the lack of voices of color in the Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic Oral History Project and in the larger power structures of the art world; and his hope that his artistic legacy will be evaluated in its proper context. Harris also recalls Jackie and Robert O'Meally, Jay Seeley, Ellen O'Dench, Francesca Woodman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jim Collier, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allan Sekula, Hazel Carby, Isaac Julien, Catherine Lord, Millie Wilson, Todd Gray, John Grayson, Tommy Gear, Marlon Riggs, Essex Hemphill, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Nancy Barton, Vickie Mays, Connie Butler, Greg Tate, Henry Louis Gates, Houston Baker, Nan Goldin, Jack Tilton, Simon Watson, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Lyle Ashton Harris (1965- ) is an artist who works in video, photography, and performance in New York, New York. Alex Fialho (1989- ) is a curator and arts writer and works as Programs Director for Visual AIDS in New York, New York.
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:
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Video artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item
Container:
Box 3, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Banquet camera photographs
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- 1930-1950 -- Photographs
Date:
1932 June
Scope and Contents:
Scan Number: 618ns0177456pg.tif
Ink on negative: "Garrison School Teacher's Luncheon. June 1932 -- Scurlock Photo". No manufacturer's mark on film edge.
General:
No labeled temporary storage box.
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Series 8: Business Records, Subseries 8.1: Studio Session Registers are restricted. Digital copies available for research. See repository for details.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Schools -- 1930-1940 -- Washington (D.C.). Search this
African American education -- 1930-1940 Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Banquet camera photographs -- 1930-1940
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Anna Evans Murray (1857- 1955), the paternal aunt of opera singer Lillian Evanti was an African American educator and civic leader in Washington, D.C. She was born in 1857 in Oberlin, Ohio to Henrietta Leary (1827-1908) and Henry Evans (1817-1886). Anna graduated from Oberlin College in 1876 and married Daniel Murray (1852-1925), assistant to the Librarian of Congress in 1879. Murray taught music at the Mott School and Howard University. She was an advocate for kindergarten education and the training of teachers for that purpose within the District of Columbia public school system. Mrs. Murray also served as chair of the Education Committee of the National League of Colored Women (NLCW) and the State Federation of Colored Women's Club.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at 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.
Group portrait with Robert Russa Moton and Wilson Bruce Evans, seated in the front row.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at 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.
Mary P. Evans Wilson (circa 1867- 1928) was an African American educator and clubwoman active in fighting discrimination in the Boston education school system. She was born in Oberlin, Ohio to Henrietta Leary (1827-1908) and Henry Evans (1817-1886). Mary taught a short time in the District of Columbia school system, like her sister, Anna Evans Murray (1857-1955). She married Bostonian attorney Butler Roland Wilson in 1894. She was the paternal aunt of opera singer Lillian Evanti.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at 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.
Anna Evans Murray (1857- 1955) the paternal aunt of opera singer Lillian Evanti, was an African American educator and civic leader in Washington, D.C. She was born in 1857 in Oberlin, Ohio to Henrietta Leary (1827-1908) and Henry Evans (1817-1886). Anna graduated from Oberlin College in 1876 and married Daniel Murray (1852-1925), assistant to the Librarian of Congress in 1879. Murray taught music at the Mott School and Howard University. She was an advocate for kindergarten education and the training of teachers for that purpose within the District of Columbia public school system. Mrs. Murray also served as chair of the Education Committee of the National League of Colored Women (NLCW) and the State Federation of Colored Women's Club.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at 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.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
27 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 March 9
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Charles Wilbert White conducted 1965 March 9, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art. White speaks of his youth in Chicago and early interest in art; early encounters with racism; his early training in art; working on the Federal Art Project; his U.S. Army service; going to Mexico; his ventures in graphic arts; subject matter which inspires him; coming to California; the politics of government subsidy of the arts; and mural projects he worked on. He recalls Harry Sternberg.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles W. (Wilbert) White (1918-1979) was a painter and educator from Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 17 min.
Provenance:
This interview 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Interview of Howardena Pindell conducted 1972 July 10, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Pindell speaks of her childhood, Boston art scene in the 1960's, printmaking, teaching, the Museum of Modern Art, her painting methods, interest in photography, involvement with Women's Movement and her travels.
Biographical / Historical:
Howardena Pindell (1943- ) is a painter and educator from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
ACCESS RESTRICTED; written permission required.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview with Nanette Carter conducted 2021 November 22 and December 7, by Cheryl R. Riley for the Archives of American Art, at Carter's home and studio in Harlem, NY.
Biographical / Historical:
Nanette Carter (1954- ) is an African American artist and educator in New York, New York known for abstract collages that often incorporate Mylar. Carter's work often engages contemporary social issues including racial justice. She has taught at the Pratt Institute since 2001.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Nanette Carter papers, 1972-2009.
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:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its Oral History Program interviews available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. Quotation, reproduction and publication of the recording is governed by restrictions. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers must quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers must quote from the recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Collagists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Mixed-media artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture Search this
Extent:
22.6 Linear feet
6.36 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Sketchbooks
Scrapbooks
Date:
circa 1940-2019
Summary:
The papers of African American abstract expressionist painter, arts administrator and educator Arthur Monroe measure 22.6 linear feet and 6.3 gigabytes and date from circa 1940 to 2019. Monroe was the registrar at the Oakland Museum and American Studies professor at University of California, Berkeley and San Jose State University. This collection documents his career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, FESTAC records, professional files, research files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American abstract expressionist painter, arts administrator and educator Arthur Monroe measure 22.6 linear feet and 6.3 gigabytes and date from circa 1949 to 2019. Monroe was the registrar at the Oakland Museum and American Studies professor at University of California, Berkeley and San Jose State University. This collection documents his career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, FESTAC records, professional files, research files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic material.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1970-circa 2013 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1971-cira 2015 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 3: Writings, 1974-circa 2019 (3.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-6)
Series 4: FESTAC Records, 1973-1993, bulk 1974-1978 (4.5 linear feet; Boxes 6-11, 23)
Series 5: Professional Files, 1957-2019 (4 linear feet; Boxes 11-15)
Series 6: Research Files, 1951-2010 (4.5 linear feet; Boxes 15-19, 23)
Series 7: Teaching Files, 1970-circa 2010 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 19-20)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1955-2014 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 20-21, 24)
Series 9: Photographic Material, circa 1940-circa 2019 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 21-22)
Biographical / Historical:
Arthur Monroe (1935-2019) was an African American abstract expressionist painter, arts administrator, and educator in Oakland, California. Monroe was the Chief Registrar at the Oakland Museum for over 30 years and also taught African American Studies as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and San Jose State University. Arthur Monroe was the Chair of the Far West Region North Committee for FESTAC (1977), also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, as well as an organizer for the First Statewide Conference of Black Artists held in 1978.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2019 by Arthur Monroe as part of the Archives' African American Collecting Initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
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.
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.
The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
Biographical material includes appointment and address books; education and personal identification certificates and documents; awards, certificates, curriculum vitae, and chronologies; biographical material related to other individuals, including identification documents and memorial programs; and transcripts of interviews with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
The correspondence series includes extensive personal and professional correspondence with family, friends, artists, admirers (including students in a number of elementary and middle schools), university students, government agencies, art schools, galleries, museums, publishing houses, and others. Included in this series are condolence letters received by Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death in 2000.
Writings include published and unpublished writings by and about Jacob Lawrence, as well as writings by others. These writings include speeches, notes, essays, articles, lists, and short stories. Also included is a visitor comment book from the Los Angeles County Museum exhibition of Jacob Lawrence's Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass series.
Printed material includes books; brochures; business cards; clippings; exhibition and event announcements, invitations, catalogs, and programs; magazines; newsletters; posters; post cards; and press releases. Books in this collection may include illustrations by Jacob Lawrence or have personal inscriptions from the author to Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
Photographs include photographs of Jacob Lawrence artwork, photographs and reproductions of Gwendolyn Knight artwork, and photographs of Jacob Lawrence, Gwendolyn Knight, and other individuals. Also included in this series are photographs and reproductions of work by others.
Personal business records include a ledger; consignment, financial, and shipping records related to the Terry Dintenfass Gallery; contracts and agreements; and estate documents.
Artwork includes sketches by Jacob Lawrence, a blank sketchbook inscribed by Jacob Lawrence to Gwendolyn Knight, and artwork by other artists.
Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project Records include materials generated by the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project, a non-profit created with the goal of producing a catalogue raisonné (and later, a digital archive) of Jacob Lawrence's work. These records include address books and phone logs; copies of Jacob Lawrence's CV; founding documents, bylaws, and meeting minutes; correspondence; writings, including draft pages of the catalogue raisonné; business records, including employment files, contracts, invoices, insurance, and tax information; printed and digital material; and photographs and artwork.
The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material series includes founding documents and foundation bylaws, correspondence, financial documents, reports, and proposals. Found within this series are materials related to the Lawrence Center for the Visual Arts, a subsidiary foundation of the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation.
Professional files include material related to projects and exhibitions, teaching files and inclusion in curricula, files regarding possible fake Jacob Lawrence works, and gallery files.
The honors series is divided into two subseries: awards and certificates, and government honors. Awards and certificates includes honorary degrees, arts prizes, and any other honors awarded to Jacob Lawrence or Gwendolyn Knight. Government honors include resolutions, proclamations, and keys to cities. Also included in this series are correspondence related to awards and honorary degrees, commencement programs, plaques, and medals.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 11 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-2005 (Boxes 1, 11, 26, OV 10; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1943, 1952-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 12-14, 26; 7.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1954-1959, 1973-2005, undated (Boxes 5-6, 14-15; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1816, 1926, 1937, 1945-2008 (Boxes 6-9, 15-17, 26, OV 30, OV 31; 6.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1970-1997, undated (Boxes 9, 17, OV 10; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1962-2005 (Boxes 9, 17; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, 1984, 1990-1994, undated (Boxes 9, 18, 26; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonne Project Records, 1982-2002 (Boxes 18-23, Box 26; 5.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)
Series 9: Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material, 1997-2005 (Box 23; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 10: Professional Files, 1964-2004 (Boxes 23-24; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 11: Honors, 1948, 1966-2005 (Boxes 24-25, 27-29, OV 30; 2.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Modernist painter and educator Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was born in 1917 as Jacob Armstead Lawrence in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He began his art studies at the Utopia Children's Center in New York City's Harlem district where he studied under the painter Charles Alston. Lawrence dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to continue his art instruction with Alston, this time at the Harlem Art Workshop, where he met several artists associated with the Harlem Renaissance including the sculptor Augusta Savage.
Gwendolyn Knight (1913-2005) was born in Barbados and moved to New York City with her adoptive parents when she was seven. She attended New York's Wadleigh High School and later Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she studied fine arts with Lois Mailou Jones and James Porter. Forced to leave her studies at Howard because of the Depression, Knight returned to Harlem and continued her artistic pursuits in Augusta Savage's workshop. In 1935, Knight joined the Harlem Mural Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) working under Selma Day and Charles Alston. Lawrence and Knight met in Savage's workshop and married in the summer of 1941.
During the Depression, Lawrence also joined the WPA Federal Arts Project in Harlem. Finding WPA murals overwhelming, Lawrence concentrated on traditional painting instead. He produced his first major works in the late 1930s, most notably the Toussaint L'Ouverture series, images that document the life of the revolutionary hero and Haiti's struggle for independence. Other significant works include visual narratives of the lives of abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. In 1940, Lawrence received the prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, which made it possible for him to purchase his first art studio on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem. He soon portrayed Harlem street life in paintings that became commentaries on the role of African Americans in United States society with highly developed themes of resistance and social opposition. That same year, Lawrence began his most celebrated series, The Migration of the American Negro, multiple tempera panels depicting the exodus of African American sharecroppers in the south to northern industrial cities in search of better employment and social opportunities. Edith Halpert exhibited the works in their entirety at her Downtown Gallery in 1941, establishing Lawrence as the first African American artist to exhibit in a top New York gallery. The following year, New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC each bought half of the sixty panels in the series, helping to further Lawrence's career within the larger world of American art.
In the summer of 1946, the artist Joseph Albers invited Lawrence to teach at North Carolina's Black Mountain College. It was the first in a series of teaching positions in prestigious art schools including Pratt Institute (1956-1971), Brandeis University (1965), The New School (1966), the Art Students League (1967), and others. During the 1950s and 1960s, Lawrence's work continued to focus on racism and political activism but in the late 1960s shifted to themes of racial harmony.
Both Lawrence and Knight continued independent careers in art. Knight pursued her art studies at the New School in New York and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In the mid-1960s, she collaborated with other female artists to form the Studio Gallery in New York City. Knight's main body of work consists of portraits and still-lifes that incorporate expressions of African sculpture, Impressionism, dance, and theater. Focusing on gesture, her art is described as light and airy with a minimum of lines allowing empty space to define the work. In 1970, Lawrence traveled to Seattle to teach as a visiting artist at the University of Washington. He was hired on a permanent basis the following year and remained on staff until his retirement in 1986.
Jacob Lawrence died June 9, 2000, in Seattle, Washington at the age of 83. Gwendolyn Knight continued to paint and exhibit her work around the country until her death on February 18, 2005 in Seattle, Washington at the age of 92.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence conducted by Carroll Greene (1968 October 26), interviews conducted by Avis Berman (1982 July 20-August 4), and an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight conducted by Paul Karlstrom (1998 November 18). The Archives of American Art also holds a collection of Jacob Lawrence papers, available on microfilm only, reels D286 and 4571-4573. Originals reside at Syracuse University Library, Special Collections.
Provenance:
The Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in five accretions between 1979 and 1997. Additional papers were donated in 2012 by the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation via Barbara Earl Thomas, representative.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers, 1816, 1914-2008, bulk 1973-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the 2007 processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the 2018 processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Silberman, Robert B. (Robert Bruce), 1950- Search this
Creator:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Names:
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:
2009 July 22
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Joyce J. Scott conducted 2009 July 22, by Robert Silberman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Scott's home and studio, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Scott talks about her childhood in Baltimore; childhood visits to the Baltimore Museum of Art and Walters Art Gallery; her parents' lives growing up in the segregated South; her artist mother, who was her first bead-teacher; craft traditions in her family, including pottery and quilting; quilting as storytelling, "diaries" for preliterate people; improvisational craft; Three Generation Quilt; Fifty .; undergraduate studies at Maryland Institute College of Art; travels after graduation in Mexico, Central , and South America; graduate studies in craft in Mexico; decision at age 23 to become a studio artist, and partnership with her mother; theater work with Robert Sherman and in New York and in Baltimore; theater work with Kay Lawal in Thunder Thigh Revue; studies at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME, where she learned traditional Navajo weaving, and learned the peyote stitch for beadwork, a seminal technique for her career; her book Fearless Beadwork: Improvisational Peyote Stitch: handwriting & drawings from hell. Rochester, NY: Visual Studies Workshop, 1994; working in different mediums; What You Mean Jungle Music? [1988]; working for recognition of beadwork as a sculptural medium; politics, social commentary, and humor in her work; series Day after Rape; her working processes; Rodney King's Head Was Squashed Like a Watermelon; working in monoprints; working in glass (flameworking, lampworking), including at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA, Tacoma [WA] Museum of Glass, UrbanGlass, New York, NY, Haystack Mountain; retrospective exhibition, "Joyce Scott Kickin' It With the Old Masters" at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 2000; series Africa in Unexpected Places; installation work, including in "Images Concealed," San Francisco, 1995, and Believe I've Been Sanctified, Charleston, SC, 1991; small-scale work; influence of her upbringing in the Pentecostal church; Buddha Gives Basketball to the Ghetto [1991] and the importance of spirituality in her work; travels in South America, Africa, and Europe; the complementarity of performance/theater work and visual art; performance pieces: Generic Interference, Genetic Engineering, Virtual Reality, and Walk a Mile in My Drawers; Lips mosaic at Reagan National Airport, Washington, D.C.; teaching workshops at Haystack, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC, the Oregon School of Arts and Craft, Portland; artist-in-residency at Pilchuck; gallery affiliations, and usefulness of the gallery system, which allows her to work as a studio artist; the importance of galleries as a free venue open to ordinary people; luxuriating in beauty. She recalls Betty Woodman, Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, Lowery Sims, Fritz Dreisbach, Anthony Corradetti, Antony Gormley, Ann Hamilton, David Hammons, Mary Jane Jacob, Cesar Pelli, Susan Cummins, and Helen Drutt English.
Biographical / Historical:
Joyce J. Scott (1948- ) is a visual and performance artist and educator who lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 11 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:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
This microfilm collection of the papers of African American painter, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker, and educator John Woodrow Wilson contains biographical material such as autobiographical notes, school records, personal documents, and a bibliography; personal and business correspondence, undated and 1938-1993; files on the New York City Board of Education, 1959-1965, regarding his teaching; and project files, including Wilson's submission for the competition for a Frederick Douglass statue, Eternal Presence, Father and Child Reading, and Wilson's monuments and bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. Correspondents represented include the Albany Institute of History and Art, Atlanta University, Carnegie Institute, Ebony, David Porter of the G Place Gallery, the Institute of Modern Art, Alain Locke, Gloria May, the Museum of Modern Art, Frederick G. Rice, and Hale Woodruff.
Also included in the collection are files on exhibitions; notebooks, 1958-1960; lesson plans, 1959, 1963; notes, writings, and lectures, circa 1945-1993; transcripts of interviews of Wilson and related correspondence, 1978-1987; legal material, 1978; financial records 1944-1991, including a notebook of sales and expenses 1945-1950; photographs, 1940-1990, of Wilson, his work, sculpture, and exhibition installations; a scrapbook, 1939-1967; artwork, including sketchbooks, 1970-1992, life studies completed as a student, 1939-1947, and miscellaneous art work, 1939-1992; and printed material, 1939-1993, including exhibition catalogs, illustrated books and book jackets, and ephemera. The collection also includes a copy of a sound recording of an interview of Wilson conducted by Alan Trachtenberg, circa 1979 (untranscribed).
Biographical / Historical:
John Woodrow Wilson (1922-2015) was an African American painter, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker, and educator in Boston, Massachusetts. Wilson studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston under Ture Bengtz and Karl Zerbe, graduating in 1945. He lived in Paris through the MFA fellowship and studied with modern artist Fernand Leger. He then attended Tufts University, graduating in 1947. Wilson received a John Hay Whitney fellowship and lived in Mexico for five years with his wife, Julie Kowtich. After his return from Mexico in 1956, Wilson made artwork for Chicago labor unions and taught in New York City before returning to teach at Boston University in 1964. During his career, Wilson won competitions to execute statues of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the city of Buffalo, New York and for the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1993 by John W. Wilson, except for the 1979 sound recording which he lent for copying.
Restrictions:
Microfilm portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of untranscribed interview requires an appointment.
The papers of African American abstract artist and educator Nanette Carter measure 4.9 linear feet and date from 1972 to 2009. The collection documents Carter's education and career through biographical materials, correspondence with artists and others, writings including notebooks documenting Carter's studies, exhibition files for Carter's solo and group exhibitions, files documenting teaching and other professional activities, research material including sound recordings for a book project on Carter's mentors, personal business records, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American abstract artist and educator Nanette Carter document Carter's education and career through 4.9 linear feet of papers dating from 1972 to 2009.
The collection includes biographical materials consisting of an address book, 11 appointment books, resumes, Carter's student records, and a sound recording of an interview with Carter and Vincent Smith for the radio program "Dialogues with Contemporary Artists." Correspondence is with Joan Digby, Bettye Freeman, Miriam Perlman, and various organizations regarding exhibitions, workshops, and employment. Carter's writings and notes include 13 notebooks documenting her studies and career activities, speech notes, and her student papers from Pratt Institute of Art.
Also found in the collection are exhibition files documenting Carter's solo and group exhibitions, and professional activity files consisting of Carter's teaching files, files regarding fellowships and grants, workshop records, and research material for a book project on female mentors that includes 5 sound recordings of Howardena Pindell and Marcia Lloyd. Carter's personal business records include consignment and sales records, contracts and agreements, and price lists; and printed materials consist of announcements and catalogs for Carter's exhibitions, event programs, posters, press releases, and other material relating to Carter's career as an artist.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1972-1998 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1976-2009 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 7)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1975-2002 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1976-2008 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Series 5: Professional Activity Files, 1977-2008 (0.7 linear feet; Box 4, OV 7)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1979-2008 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
Series 7: Printed Materials, 1979-2009 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 5-6, OV 7)
Biographical / Historical:
Nanette Carter (1954- ) is an African American abstract artist and educator in New York, New York.
Carter was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Frances Hill and Matthew G. Carter. In 1960, Carter and her family, including her sister Bettye Carter Freeman, moved from Ohio to Montclair, New Jersey where her father became the city's first African American mayor. After graduating from Montclair High School, Carter attended Oberlin College studying studio art and art history. She spent her junior year abroad studying in Perugia, Italy and traveling through Europe and North Africa. Carter graduated from Oberlin in 1976 and continued her education at the Pratt Institute of Art receiving a Master of Fine Arts in 1978.
In the 1970s, Carter spent time in Sag Harbor where her parents had a house. She became involved with the local art scene through her college job at the Guild Hall Museum where she met artist Al Loving. Loving became a mentor to Carter and later curated one of her earliest group exhibitions, Eastville Artists (1979), featuring African American artists working in eastern Long Island, New York. Carter has continued to exhibit her artwork frequently throughout the United States, as well as overseas. She has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and grants including Bob Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, and the New York State Council on the Arts residency at Cinque Gallery.
In addition to her career as an artist, Carter has held teaching positions at various institutions including Dwight-Englewood School, Guild Hall Museum, City College of New York, Rhode Island School of Design, and the Pratt Institute of Art where she is a tenured professor.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2019 by Nanette Carter as part of the Archives' African American Collecting Initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
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 audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference 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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of African American art historian, educator, and painter, Floyd Coleman, measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1954 to 2017 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1980s to the 2000s. The collection contains biographical material; correspondence; writings, including drafts of essays and lectures; material related to his professional activities, including teaching files, files related to the National Conference of Artists, project files, and other files related to his professional life; artist and subject files; printed material; and a small amount of photographic material. The collection also contains audiovisual material and born-digital records.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American art historian and painter, Floyd Coleman, measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1954 to 2017 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1980s to the 2000s. The collection contains biographical material, including contact lists, certificates, interviews, and resumes; correspondence with artists and other art historians, including Reginald Gammon, Jeff Donaldson, Bing Davis, and Tritobia Hayes Benjamin; and writings, including drafts of essays and lectures. Also included are materials related to Coleman's professional activities, including teaching files, files related to the National Conference of Artists (NCA), project files, and other files related to his professional life; artist and subject files, including files related to the Spiral artist group; printed material, including clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, conference materials, and other publications; and a small amount of photographic material. The collection also contains audiovisual material and born-digital records.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged as 7 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1969-2012 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1975-2017 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1970s-circa 2015 (Boxes 1-3; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Professional Activities, circa 1960s-2015 (Boxes 3-5; 2.7 linear feet)
Series 5: Artist and Subject Files, 1954-2016 (Boxes 5-7; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1968-2016 (Boxes 7-8, OV 9; 1 linear foot)
Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1980s-2000s (Box 8, 2 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
Floyd Coleman (1939-2018) was an African American art historian, painter, and educator in Washington, D.C. He was the chair of the art department at Howard University and organized the James A. Porter Colloquium on African American Art.
Born in Sawyerville, Alabama, Coleman attended Alabama State College (now Alabama State University), where he studied under Hayward Oubre. He later earned a doctorate from the University of Georgia. Coleman taught at Clark College, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Jackson State University, and Howard University. His work has been exhibited at institutions such as the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, San Francisco Museum of Art, Mount Holyoke College, High Museum, Smithsonian Institution Art & Industries Building, Yale University Art Gallery, and Parish Gallery.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2019 by Floyd Coleman, Jr., Floyd Coleman's son.
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 Reference 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.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Names:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Extent:
64 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2007 August 11
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Willis "Bing" Davis conducted 2007 August 11, by Josephine Shea, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's studio, in Dayton, Ohio.
Biographical / Historical:
Willis "Bing" Davis (1937- ) is a metal artist and educator from Dayton, Ohio. Josephine Shea is a curator Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.
General:
Originally recorded 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 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.
Restrictions:
This interview is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.
