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 James Bassler, 2002 February 11-June 6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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
University of California, Los Angeles -- Faculty Search this
University of California, Los Angeles -- Students Search this
Extent:
125 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2002 February 11-June 6
Scope and Contents:
An interview of James Bassler conducted 2002 February 11-June 6, by Sharon K. Emanuelli, for the Archives of American Art, as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Bassler speaks of his early childhood; traveling with his father, a major league baseball catcher; his early interest in fiber through his father's hooked rugs, which he worked on during the off season; his early education; his sister Sally and a course she took from Laura Andreson where they dug for clay at UCLA; working at Douglas Aircraft; drafted into the Army; his travels through Europe while in the Army; his wife Veralee Osborn Bassler; his education at UCLA with professors such as Bernard Kester, Laura Andreson, Cornelia Breitenbach, and fellow student Neda Al Hilali; teaching at Emerson Junior High School; the Egg and Eye Gallery; his siblings, Barbara Bassler Johnson, Sally Bassler Chest, and John Bassler. Bassler also discusses living in Oaxaca from 1970-1975; returning to the U.S. and then moving to Tennessee to teach at Appalachian Center for Crafts; the camaraderie at the Craft Center; his experience with commissions; the impact of the music of John Cage; his teaching techniques; artistic process; political issues that influenced his artwork, such as the Exxon Valdez Oil spill [Shroud] or the Persian Gulf War [Soiled]; his relationships with dealers and galleries, Barbara Okun, Christa Thurman, and currently the Gail Martin Gallery in New York; the spontaneity of Willem de Kooning's artwork and a recent exhibit "Willem de Kooning: Tracing the Figure" at the Museum of Contemporary Art [MOCA], Los Angeles, February 10-April 28, 2002; the Peruvian influence upon his work and experiments with dyeing and batik; a piece he was working on for Jack Lenor Larsen's 75th birthday; exhibitions to which he loaned pieces of his collection; significant books he has read and uses in his classes, such as James Burkes' "Connections," and Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel"; the "Art in Embassy" Program and his exhibit in Poland; the benefits of a university education; the Ann Blinks Research Group; his enjoyment of the weaving process; lack of signatures on his artwork; new technology; visiting the "Andy Warhol Retrospective," MOCA, May 25 - August 18, 2002 and solving his artistic block there; the difficulty in being a perfectionist; important artist friendships with Olga de Amaral, Ruth Asawa, Trude Guermonprez, Dominic Di Mare, and Lenore Tawney; and finally his reactions to Craft in America, a symposium which Emanuelli coordinated the agenda for. Bassler also recalls Ina Conradi-Chavez, Edward Durell Stone, Carol Shaw-Sutton, Roger Herman; Larry Pittman; Judy Mitoma; Victoria Vesna; Robert Brady, Phil Fike, Susan Petersen, Eudora Moore, Edith Wyle, Patricia Anawalt, Ed Rossbach, Mildred Constantine, Mary Kahlenberg, Martin Puryear, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Mary Dusenbury, Robert Rauschenberg, Wayne Thiebaud, Adrian Saxe, Kaye Spilker, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
James Bassler (1933- ) is a fiber artist of San Pedro, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 6 sound cassettes and 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 23 digital wav files. Duration is 10 hr., 7 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.
This collection consists of ten linen drawings and two microfilm drawings of the Adlershof R-Planes. Six of the drawings depict a twin fuselage configuration. The drawings originated at Adlershof, Germany, but there is no other information on these drawings.
Biographical / Historical:
The R-planes of World War I were German giant bombers - the largest aircraft of World War I. The 'R' was an abbreviation for 'Riesenflugzeug,' which meant 'giant aircraft.' The R-plane was conceived as a long-range strategic weapon for attacking objectives deep within enemy territory. The aircraft were only produced in small numbers.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of 7.31 cubic feet of material created by Edward Baldwin during his tenure as a engineer for Kelly Johnson at Lockheed Skunk Works, 1944-1982. The collection consists of original pencil on vellum Skunk Works drawings, blueprints, design studies, logs, engineering notebooks, photographs, technical manuals, correspondence, newspaper articles and newsletters relating to his work on Lockheed aircraft, including the development of the P-80, SR-71, F-94, F-104, F-117 and the U-2.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Baldwin received his degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1940 from West Virginia University. After graduation he moved to California and began working at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. He was first assigned to the Special Airplane Projects group, where he worked on the Model 10 Electra, Model 12 Electra Jr, Model B-14, Hudson Bomber and the Model 18 Lodestar. Baldwin was then placed on loan to the P-38 and R6-O Constitution projects. In March of 1944, Baldwin was asked by Dick Boehme to join the Fuselage Design Group of the Advanced Development Projects (ADP) "Skunk Works." Baldwin worked on the P-80, before working on the F-94C and the XF-104. In November of 1954, Baldwin was placed on the U-2 project, where he developed the configuration of the aircraft and completed the design. Baldwin also worked on the ADP's Archangel Program to develop a Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft, which became known as the SR-71. Baldwin was then assigned to the "Have Blue" program, which was the Skunk Work's entry into the Stealth Prototype competition. Baldwin was responsible for all structural design of the two test vehicles and when Lockheed won the contract, became the Deputy Program Manager for Structures of the F-117. He retired in September 1982, after the first four production F-117 aircraft were delivered to the Air Force.
Provenance:
Barbara Sulier and Robert Baldwin, Gift, 2016
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of two photographs and approximately fifty drawings of the Bushby MM-1 Midget Mustang.
Biographical / Historical:
The Bushby MM-1 Midget Mustang was designed by Piper chief engineer David Long as a Goodyear Midget Racer. It was intended to be a post World War II sport plane. While that market never developed as planned, the Midget Mustang became very popular with homebuilders and is still much in demand today. There have been four Midget Mustang Oshkosh EAA Grand Champions.
Provenance:
Thomas S. Momiyama, Gift, 2005
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
