A Garden For All Seasons (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Philadelphia
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, a features plan, planting list and an interview with the garden owner.
General:
Starting with a one-acre property that had a large 1890's Victorian House, carriage house, swimming pool, and garden designed by landscape architect Frederick W. Peck, the owners divided the property about 30 years ago and built a passive solar house for themselves at the rear. Their portion included the swimming pool and an allée of eight kousa dogwood trees, now about 50 years old. The Peck design incorporated evergreen, deciduous, and broad leaved shrubs including rhododendrons, skimmia, hydrangeas, and iteas as understory in the dogwood allée for a lush effect. The owners have added screening around the swimming pool using junipers and evergreens on the side seen from their house and taller evergreens and hollies on the far side. Their plant selections emphasize texture and year-round interest. Following Peck, they chose species that thrive in the Delaware Valley. Many of the plants were also grown from cuttings from garden club workshops, are divisions from friends' gardens or are divided plants from the Garden Club of America Plant Exchange (1980-2004). A pebbled terrace with a fountain was added as another feature of this garden.
Persons associated with the garden include: Horace and Helen Jones (former owners); Frederick W. Peck (landscape architect, 1960-1970).
Related Materials:
A Garden For All Seasons related holdings consist of 1 folder (22 35mm slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
The papers of sculptor and environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2019, with the bulk of the material from 1960-2010. The collection documents Kasuba's career through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, lectures and writings, extensive project files, printed material, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2019, with the bulk of the material from 1960-2010. The collection documents Kasuba's career through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, lectures and writings, extensive project files, printed material, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographs.
Biographical material includes artist's statements and letters of recommendation. Biographical data consists of curriculum vitae, bibliographies, checklists of commissioned work and biographical entries; also found are drafts of biographical accounts used for press releases. Included is a citation to Kasuba from the Women's Architectural Auxiliary, New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in honor of her participation in a West Side urban renewal project. Digital biographical materials include a CV and preserved copies of Kasuba's various websites.
General correspondence mostly consists of invitations to lecture at academic institutions and professional associations. There are letters between Kasuba and interior design firms, publishers, museums, and academic institutions. Included are letters from Columbia University, Museum of Modern Art, and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. Correpondence relates to commissioned projects, proposed exhibitions, and the scheduling of workshops and speaking engagements. Also found is correspondence with Thomas Whitridge about the publication of a monograph by Kasuba, extenisve family correspondence in Lithuanian, and correspondence with Algirdas Julien Greimas later organized for a publication.
Writings include various manuscripts and complementary visual schematics that Kasuba worked on throughout her career. Also included are Aleksandra Kasuba's lectures on the effects of alternative living environments on human behavior presented at academic forums and corporations. Writings include an essay by Kasuba and a typescript of an article on Kasuba that was published in Woman's Art Journal (Fall 1988/Winter 1984). Also included is a subseries of journals kept by Kasuba since the 1940s, before her successful emigration to the United States. Many of the earlier journals throughout the 1960s are of mixed Language content, much of them being written in Lithuanian.
Project Files document Kasuba's installations, exhibitions, tensile-fabric dwellings, shell dwellings, and live-in environments. Included are correspondence, artist's statements, project notes, plans, sketches and diagrams, business-related materials including agreements and cost estimates, printed material, clippings, and exhibition installation photographs and slides of artwork. There are files on Aleksandra Kasuba's professional activities, including teaching positions, speaking engagements, and publishing projects. Digital Project Records related to many of Kasuba's projects including digital video recordings are found in this series, as well as one super 8 mm film reel and two 8 mm motion picture film reels.
Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, and brochures; news and magazine clippings document various projects, including Kasuba's wall mosaics, shell dwellings, and alternative living environments. Many of the later tiles in this series are self-published. A scrapbook consists mainly of news clippings and reviews on Kasuba's work.
Artwork consists of sketches and drawings used as preliminary designs for Kasuba's projects. Also included are prints and elements used in the creation of the Jetty print series. Photographs are of Kasuba's wall mosaics, reliefs, space shelters, and live-in environments. Also found are slides and three slide binders of wall installations, shell dwellings, and environments made of tensile fabrics; included are slides used for lectures. Also included are photographs of Kasuba's New York City and New Mexico homes and studios, many in digital format.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 9 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1900-2017 (Boxes 1, 11: 0.5 linear ft.; 0.037 Gigabytes: ER001-ER005)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1941-2015 (Boxes 1, 11: 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 3: Interviews, 1976-1983 (Box 1: 0.2 linear ft.)
Series 4: Lectures and Writings, circa 1938-2019 (Boxes 1, 11-14, 16 3.8 linear ft.; 5.81 Gigabytes: ER006-ER0024)
Series 5: Project Files, 1960-2018 (Boxes 1-4, 15, Film cans FC 8-10: 4.6 linear ft.; 33.44 Gigabytes: ER025-ER057)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1950-2016 (0.5 Linear feet: Boxes 5, 15)
Series 7: Scrapbook, 1971-2010 (Box 6; 1 folder)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1938-2017 (0.8 Linear feet: Boxes 5-6, 15, 17)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1920-2017 (0.9 Linear feet: Boxes 5,7, 16-17; 3.35 Gigabytes: ER058-ER072)
Biographical / Historical:
Aleksandra Kasuba (1923-2019) was a Lithuanian-born sculptor, best known for her innovative architectural environments, who lived in New York and New Mexico. She attended the Kaunas Art Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania from 1941-1943. She studied with the sculptor, Vytautus Kasuba, whom she married in 1944. In response to the Soviet Army's occupation of their country, Aleksandra Kasuba and her husband emigrated to the United States in 1947. By 1963, Aleksandra Kasuba, her husband, and two children had moved to the Upper West Side in New York City. At the start of her career, Kasuba received commissions to make ceramic tiles for use in furniture. About the same time, she was also collaborating with architects in designing mosaic wall installations for public works. Aleksandra Kasuba's commissioned projects have included a plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., and wall mosaics for the Container Corporation in Chicago, and 560 Lexington Avenue in New York City. Some of Kasuba's mosaic compositions were made as individual pieces to be included in museum and gallery exhibitions.
Aleksandra Kasuba has also devoted her career to designing alternative living environments. In the late 1960s, Kasuba built dwellings that she referred to as Space Shelters, which were made from a fabric of her own design. In 1970, the American Craft Museum featured Kasuba's tensile-fabric structure in an exhibition "Contemplative Environments." She has also used nylon fabric to build her alternative or live-in environments. In addition, Kasuba has held several faculty positions. She taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City from 1971-1972 and was an artist-in-residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1976 and the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science in 1977. Kasuba has received awards from the American Institute of Architects in 1971 and 1972; in 1983, she was granted a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Aleksandra Kasuba has written several books, including a memoir published in 2001. Kasuba's husband, Vytautus died in 1997. From 2001 on, Aleksandra Kasuba had been living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she purchased a tract of land in the desert to continue her work on experimental housing. She died in 2019.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2013 by Aleksandra Kasuba. Additions were donated in 2018 by Aleksandra Kasuba and in 2019 by Guoda M. Burr, Kasuba's daughter.
Restrictions:
Subseries 4.2 (Journals) is access restricted; written permission is required.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Thomas Adrian Fransioli, 1981 April 21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Architects -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mansfield Bascom and Ruth Esherick Bascom about Wharton Esherick, 1990 July 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Robert Venturi, 1991 June 1-July 20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Denise Scott Brown, 1990 October 25-1991 November 9. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of painter, photographer, lithographer and industrial designer Charles Sheeler measure 4.9 linear feet and date from circa 1840s to 1966, with the bulk of the material dating from 1923-1965. The collection documents Sheeler's family, personal life and career through financial and medical records, awards, correspondence, writings, an autobiography, journal and notebooks, scrapbooks, exhibition catalogs and announcements, printed materials, photographs, funeral records and artwork by Sheeler and others. The collection is particularly rich in Sheeler's writings, and also includes Sheeler's industrial designs and manufactured artwork. Notable photographs include Sheeler with Edward Weston, Edward Steichen, and John Marin.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, photographer, lithographer and industrial designer Charles Sheeler measure 4.9 linear feet and date from circa 1840s to 1966, with the bulk of the material dating from 1923-1965. The collection documents Sheeler's family, personal life and career through financial and medical records, awards, correspondence, writings, an autobiography, journal and notebooks, scrapbooks, exhibition catalogs and announcements, printed materials, photographs, funeral records and artwork by Sheeler and others. The collection is particularly rich in Sheeler's writings, and also includes Sheeler's industrial designs and manufactured artwork. There are photographs of Sheeler with Edward Weston, Edward Steichen, and John Marin.
Biographical materials date from 1875, and 1928-1965, and include funeral records, medical records, insurance, tax, and scattered financial records. There is one folder of records relating to artwork and exhibitions, as well as Sheeler's numerous certificates, prizes and awards, and the condolence book used at his funeral.
Correspondence consists of Sheeler's personal and professional correspondence dating from 1937-1966 with friends, artists, dealers, collectors, photographers, and curators. Notable correspondents include Ansel Adams, Walter and Louise Arensberg, William Lane, Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, George Waters, William Carlos Williams, and Edward Weston. The series also includes correspondence with the Archives of American Art, Sheeler's biographer Constance Rourke, and with publishers, editors, children, and the general public. Lastly, there are condolence letters written to Musya Sheeler following Sheeler's death in May 1965.
Writings include Sheeler's journal dating from the 1950s-1963 and two notebooks containing notes, addresses, recipes, etc. Also found are Sheeler's writings on artists, drafts for articles, and a manuscript and notes for an autobiography that Sheeler wrote for Harcourt Brace. The autobiography became the basis for Constance Rourke's biography Charles Sheeler: Artist in the American Tradition published in 1938. The writing series also includes a short story by Musya Sheeler, and an illustrated short story by friend Dorothy Eidlitz.
The scrapbook series contains two oversize scrapbooks dating from 1930s-1960s that include newspaper and magazine clippings about Sheeler and his artwork, exhibition announcements and brochures, a poem, and a thank you letter from Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.
Additional printed materials date from 1923-1966 and document Sheeler's numerous exhibitions, notably his partnership with Edith Halpert and the Downtown Gallery. Found here are clippings, copies of magazines, exhibition announcements and catalogs, museum bulletings, books, and miscellaneous items.
Photographs date from circa 1840s-1963 and include photographs of Sheeler's family, of Sheeler, and of Sheeler with friends and colleagues. There is one daguerreotype, two ambrotypes, and two tintypes of Sheeler's family and of Sheeler as a child. There are copyprints of these originals. Additional photographs are of Sheeler's mother and father (or possibly Sheeler's grandparent), of Sheeler, of Sheeler with his wife Musya, Sheeler with William Lane, Sheeler with Edward Weston, and Sheeler with Edward Steichen and John Marin. The series also includes photographs of Sheeler's collection of Shaker furniture, and photographs of exhibitions.
Artwork by Sheeler dates from circa 1930s-1960s and includes artifacts of manufactured pieces based on his industrial designs. Found are a glass tumbler, salt and pepper shakers, a tea spoon, fabrics designed by Sheeler, and sketches. The series also includes a drawing by Peggy Bacon and a photograph by Minor White.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into seven series. Materials are arranged by material type and chronologically or alphabetically thereafter:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1875, 1928-1965 (Boxes 1, 5, OV10; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1937-1966 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1930s-1965 (Boxes 1-2 ; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1930s-1960s (Boxes 2, 6; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1923-1966 (Boxes 2-4, 7; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1840s-1963 (Box 4, OV11; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1930s-1960s (Boxes 4-5, 8-9, OV12-OV14; 1.1 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Painter, photographer, lithographer and designer, Charles Rettew Sheeler Jr. was born on July 16, 1883 to Mary Cunningham Sheeler and Charles Rettew Sheeler in Philadelphia. He attended the School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia from 1900-1903 and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied under William Merritt Chase. He found early success as a painter and exhibited at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908.
Around 1910 Sheeler took up photography, and by 1912 financially supported himself photographing buildings for local Philadelphia architects. The following year, Sheeler exhibited six paintings at the 1913 Armory Show in New York. In the mid 1910s, Sheeler began to collect American antiques, and by the 1920s was actively acquiring Shaker crafts and furniture.
In 1916, Sheeler was hired by Marius de Zayas of the Modern Gallery in New York to photograph objects and artwork. From 1917-1924, he worked as the staff photographer for the Modern Gallery and moved to New York in 1918. In 1920, Sheeler was hired as a still photographer for The Arts Magazine.
In 1926, Sheeler was hired by Edward Steichen to work as a fashion and celebrity photographer for Conde Nast Publications. His photographs were regularly featured in Vogue and Vanity Fair, but Sheeler also worked as a still life photographer for numerous advertising agencies. The following year, he was commissioned by the advertising firm N.W. Ayer and Son to photograph Ford Motor Company's new plant at River Rouge.
While working as a photographer, Sheeler continued to paint and used the subjects and composition of his photographs as a basis for his painting. His paintings Skyscrapers, 1922; Upper Deck, 1929; and American Landscape, 1930 are examples of Sheeler's technique of merging photographic imagery with painting and his overall precisionist style.
In 1931, upon the advice and guidance of Edith Halpert of the Downtown Gallery, Sheeler began to paint more often and to photograph less. Halpert became Sheeler's primarily dealer, and from 1931-1966 regularly exhibited his paintings and drawings. With Halpert's support, Sheeler produced Classic Landscape, 1931; American Interior, 1934; Silo, 1938; Amoskeag Canal, 1948; and Convolutions, 1952. In addition to Sheeler's partnership with Halpert, his work was exhibited by other galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad.
In 1939, Sheeler married his second wife, Musya Metas Sokolova (1908-1981) and, in 1942, the couple moved to Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. Sheeler continued to paint and photograph until he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1959. After 1959, Sheeler remained active exhibiting his artwork until his death on May 7, 1965 in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art holds several collections that are related to Charles Sheeler.
There are two oral history interviews with Sheeler conducted by Mary Bartlett Cowdrey in December 1958, and by Martin Friedman in June 1959. The Archives also has the records of the Macbeth Gallery, which include a substantial amount of correspondence with Sheeler from 1907-1921, and the Downtown Gallery records, which also include correspondence with Sheeler, photographs of Sheeler and his artwork, exhibition publications, clippings, press releases, and audio visual materials dating from 1904-1972.
Also found in the the Archives is a loan of Charles Sheeler letters filmed on reel NY/59-5 containing letters written by Sheeler to his psychologist and art collector, Dr. Helen Boigon, art student George Craven, and friend William Carlos Williams, all dating from 1939-1958. There is a collection of six letters of Sheeler letters addressed to Doris Royce, possibly an art critic, dating from 1949-1957. Miscellaneous manuscript collections include one letter written by Sheeler to E.P. Richardson in 1958, and another letter written to Frank Crowninshield in September, 1939.
Separated Material:
Portions of Sheeler's papers that were originally loaned for microfilming were not included in the later gifts and are available only on microfilm reel NSH-1. A watercolor study microfilmed on reel 1811 was later transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. These materials are not described in the container list of this finding aid.
Provenance:
Charles Sheeler's wife Musya initially loaned the papers to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1958, 1965, and 1966. In June, 1966, she donated most of the earlier loaned materials. In 1964, Sheeler's friend Howard Lipman donated three photographs of Sheeler with Edward Steichen and John Marin. The third accrual was transferred to the Archives by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery Library in June 1979.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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 feminist and new media artist, Nina Yankowitz measure 5.6 linear feet and 0.698 GB, and date from circa 1950-2017. Included in the collection is a small amount of biographical material; letters and postcards from artist colleagues and friends; writings by Yankowitz and others; project files pertaining to artwork, proposals, and Yankowitz's involvement in the Heresies Collective; a few exhibition files; printed material including booklets, catalogs, poetry chapbooks, and announcements, generated mostly by Yankowitz and her circle of Feminist, Minimalist, and New Media artists; as well as photographs of Yankowitz and documentation of her artwork through thousands of photographs and slides. The collection also contains a small amount of born-digital material including video and sound recordings pertaining to projects, and spreadsheets relating to an exhibition. Notable correspondents include Ross Bleckner, Joyce Kozloff, Frances Lewis, Sol LeWitt, Ree Morton, Miriam Shapiro, Peter Schjeldahl, Blythe Sonfist, Marjorie Strider, Robin Tewes, and Susan Yankowitz.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of feminist and new media artist, Nina Yankowitz measure 5.6 linear feet and 0.698 GB, and date from circa 1950-2017. Included in the collection is a small amount of biographical material; letters and postcards from artist colleagues and friends; writings by Yankowitz and others; project files pertaining to artwork, proposals, and Yankowitz's involvement in the Heresies Collective; a few exhibition files; printed material including booklets, catalogs, poetry chapbooks, and announcements, generated mostly by Yankowitz and her circle of Feminist, Minimalist, and New Media artists; as well as photographs of Yankowitz and documentation of her artwork through thousands of photographs and slides. The collection also contains a small amount of born-digital material including video and sound recordings pertaining to projects, and spreadsheets relating to an exhibition. Notable correspondents include Ross Bleckner, Joyce Kozloff, Frances Lewis, Sol LeWitt, Ree Morton, Miriam Shapiro, Peter Schjeldahl, Blythe Sonfist, Marjorie Strider, Robin Tewes, and Susan Yankowitz.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as eight series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1957-2017 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1970-2012 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1968-2012 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 4: Reproductions of Illustrated Notebooks, circa 1967-2000 (Box 2; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Project Files, 1970-2014 (Box 2, OV 7, 0.7 linear feet; ER01-ER03, 0.688 GB)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1972-circa 2009 (Box 3, 0.2 linear feet; ER04, 0.001 GB)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1969-2016 (Boxes 3-5; 2 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographic Material, circa 1950-2010 (Boxes 5-6, OV 8; 1.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Nina Yankowitz (1946- ) is a feminist and new media artist in New York, New York. Born in New Jersey, Yankowitz attended Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1964-1967, and completed her graduate studies at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1969. She began exhibiting her work in galleries in New York in the late 1960s, first at Kornblee Gallery and later at Deson-Zaks Gallery, Rosa Esman Gallery, and Stefanotti Gallery. In 1972 she was a resident at the MacDowell Colony. Yankowitz has worked in a variety of media over the decades including painting, sculpture, mosaic, installation, sound, and new media. She has completed numerous public and private commissions, including a sculpture for Central Park in 1969 and a tile mosaic for New York's Arts in Transit program in 1989. Yankowitz was a member of the Heresies Collective, a group of feminist political artists founded in 1976. She has held teaching positions at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her alma mater, the School of Visual Arts. Her husband, architect Barry Holden, is a frequent collaborator, especially for public works projects.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Nina Yankowitz conducted by Christopher Lyon in 2018.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives of American Art in 2018 by Nina Yankowitz.
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 and born-digital records with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that he or she may own.
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:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Neil Welliver, 1996 November 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Papers, 1959-1987, of Elizabeth Gordon, editor of the periodical, House Beautiful from 1941-1964, mostly related to her research for the August and September 1960 issues of House Beautiful regarding the Japanese aesthetic concept of "shibui", and the subsequent travelling "shibui exhibition" from 1961-1964. Included are correspondence, some photocopies, 1959-1963; notes; drafts for articles and lectures; printed material including magazine and newspaper clippings, 1959-1987; 2 books, and exhibition announcements; drawings of paper and foil art; a photo album containing photos of exhibition installations; and photographs, slides, color transparencies, and lantern slides depicting people, sites, and objects reflecting the "shibui" aesthetic.
Scope and Contents:
The Elizabeth Gordon Papers measure 4.5 linear feet and span the years 1959-1987. The collection mainly documents Ms. Gordon's research for the August and September 1960 issues of House Beautiful regarding the Japanese aesthetic concept of "shibui", and the subsequent travelling "shibui exhibition" from 1961-1964. Included are correspondence, some photocopies, 1959-1963; research notes and materials; articles; lectures; printed material including magazine and newspaper clippings, 1959-1987; 2 books, and exhibition announcements; article materials; a photo album containing photos of exhibition installations; and photographs, slides, color transparencies, and lantern slides depicting people, sites, and objects reflecting the "shibui" aesthetic.
Arrangement note:
This collection is organized into eight series. 1. Biographical data, 2. Shibui research, 3. Shibui issues of, House Beautiful, 4. Correspondence, 5. Shibui promotion, 6. Exhibition files, 7. Printed materials, and 8. Photographs.
Biographical Information:
Born in Logansport, Indiana in 1906, Elizabeth Gordon served as editor of House Beautiful magazine 1941 to 1964. Ms. Gordon first became interested in Japanese aesthetics during the mid-1950s. As a result she began to read and study Japanese art, history and culture. In 1959, Gordon travelled to Japan with three staff people from, House Beautiful. In Kyoto she met Eiko Yuasa, a young woman then employed by the City of Kyoto to handle foreign V.I.P.s, who was assigned to assist Gordon during her stay there. It was Ms. Yuasa who, in the course of discussions of Japanese aesthetics, introduced the term "shibui." Around that term and its related concepts ("iki", "jimi", "hade") the theme for the issue began to crystallize. In August and September, 1960, House Beautiful, under the editorial control of Ms. Gordon, published two extremely popular issues devoted to the subject of "shibui". Due to the popularity of the issues, museum exhibits devoted to the concept of "shibui" travelled around the United States. Ms. Gordon died in Adamstown, Maryland in 2000.
Biographical Overview
1906 -- Born in Logansport, Indiana
1920s -- Attended the University of Chicago
1930s -- Moved to New York to work as a promotional copywriter for several newspapers
1930s -- Syndicated columnist on home maintenance for The New York Herald Tribune
1930s -- Editor at Good Housekeeping (here for 8 years)
1937 -- More House for your Money by Elizabeth Gordon and Dorothy Ducas published by W. Morrow and Company: New York.
1937 -- Married Carl Hafey Norcross
1939 -- Appointed editor of House Beautiful
1964 -- Left the magazine world
1972 -- Published a special issue on Scandinavian design and awarded the insignia of a knight, first class, in the Finnish Order of the Lion
1987 -- American Institute of Architects made her an honorary member
1988 -- Carl Hafey Norcross died
September 3, 2000 -- Died in Adamstown, MD
(The following biography of Elizabeth Gordon comes courtesy of curator Louise Cort. Written in consultation with Elizabeth Gordon, October 23, 1987)
The research papers, memoranda, magazines, books, photographs and color transparencies and other materials in this archives are related to the publication by Elizabeth Gordon (Mrs. Carl Norcross), editor of House Beautiful from 1941 to 1964 and creator of the August, 1960 issue of the magazine on the special theme of the Japanese aesthetic concept of "shibui". The "shibui issue" was followed by the September, 1960, issue of the same publication on the theme, "How to be shibui with American things." As a by-product of the issues, a "Shibui Exhibition" travelled to eleven museums in the United States during 1961-1964. Each exhibition was opened with a slide lecture by Elizabeth Gordon.
Miss Gordon first became curious about Japanese aesthetics in the mid-1950s when she began to see Japanese objects being displayed and used in the homes of Americans who had spent time in Japan during the Occupation and Japanese influence began to appear in wholesale showrooms of home furnishings manufacturers. It was clear that the time had come: she HAD to go to Japan!
She read for five years before going to Japan - history, social mores, art history. (Many of the books on Japan that she collected during this time have been presented to the library at the University of Maryland, College Park.)
An important bit of advice came from Alice Spaulding Bowen, owner of Pacifica, the highest quality shop of Asian antiquities in Honolulu, who told her, "Be sure to read, The Tale of Genji - then you'll understand everything."
She made her first trip to Japan in April, 1959, accompanied by three staff people from, House Beautiful. In Kyoto she met Eiko Yuasa, a young woman then employed by the City of Kyoto to handle foreign V.I.P.s, who was assigned to assist Miss Gordon during her stay there. It was Ms. Yuasa who, in the course of discussions of Japanese aesthetics, introduced the term "shibui." Around that term and its related concepts ("iki", "jimi", "hade") the theme for the issue began to crystallize.
Miss Gordon came home, planning to spend the summer researching "shibui" with the aid of the Japan Society. But she found virtually nothing written in English on the concept. So she returned to Japan in December, 1959 together with staff member Marion Gough, to dig deeper and to work out details and get better educated with Eiko Yuasa. One of their devices was to walk through department stores and discuss with sales personnel whether objects for sale were "shibui", or were "jimi" or "hade", and why. Between themselves, they did the same for the costumes of women they saw on the streets.
Lacking printed sources for information on "shibui", Miss Gordon sought out and interviewed experts, including Douglas Overton, head of the Japan Society in New York. In Japan in December, 1959, she met Yanagi Soetsu, founder of Japan's Folk Craft Movement and head of the Craft Museum in Tokyo (with an introduction from Tonomura Kichinosuke, head of the Craft Museum in Kurashiki). She met the chef Tsuji Kaichi, who was commissioned to write an article on "kaiseki" (that could not be used because of an inadequate English translation) and Frances Blakemore. She met several times with Bernard Leach and attended his lecture at Bonnier's while he was in New York in March, 1960. (He would later write a "fan letter" for the issue)
As the concept of "the shibui issue" began to take shape, a third trip in the spring of 1960 focused on photography - to produce the shooting script decided on the preceding December. This was executed by the noted photographer Ezra Stoller of Rye, New York, and John DeKoven Hill, House Beautiful's Editorial Director. (Mr. Hill worked with Frank Lloyd Wright except for the ten years that he was a member of the House Beautiful editorial staff)
Miss Gordon was back in Japan in Mid-August 1960 as the "shibui issue" was causing a sensation. Altogether she spent sixteen months in Japan.
As one of the experiences that influenced her strong interest in Japanese costumes and textiles, Miss Gordon remembers a spectacularly thorough exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno on, 1200 Years of Japanese Costume. She saw it on the last day of its exhibition (possibly 1964).
The August 1960 issue sold out quickly. Copies of the magazine, which sold for fifty cents, were sold on the "black market" for ten dollars.
The publication of the August 1960 issue was followed by an unprecedented avalanche of "fan mail". Many department heads in colleges and universities, including the Harvard-Yenching Institute and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (where Miss Gordon had worked as an undergraduate) wrote to comment on the issue. Many people in other fields of endeavor wrote: heads of firms concerned with interior design, landscape architecture, and related areas expressed their interest in the concept of "shibui" Other writers include Bernard Leach, Gertrude Natzler, Laura Gilpin, Mainbocher, the architect Yoshimura Junzo, the textile artist Marianne Strengell, Walter Kerr, Craig Claiborne, and Oliver Statler.
The "shibui issue" was followed immediately by the September issue dealing with the use of non-Japanese objects to express the concept of "shibui." (Miss Gordon convinced her advertisers, who had been skeptical about the potential success of the August issue, by promising the September issue dealing with American products.) Four American firms were involved in the production of an integrated line of paints, wallpaper, furniture and carpets expressive of the concept. Products were designed by the firms' designers following the clues offered by objects and fabrics purchased by Miss Gordon in Japan in December 1959 and spring 1960. Miss Gordon has expressed her dissatisfaction with the September issue, although public opinion was positive. She feels that some of the firms failed in the "shibui" project, though some "caught" the message: namely the paint company and the fabric/wallpaper company.
In response to strong public interest, the House Beautiful staff prepared a travelling exhibition to introduce the concept of "shibui" through a series of vignettes, mixing fabrics and objects, colors and textures. The museum installation was designed by John Hill of House Beautiful. Japan Air Lines underwrote shipping costs.
The exhibition began in Philadelphia in late 1961. Ezra Stoller was sent to photograph the installation in considerable detail at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts in January, 1962, so that his photographs cold serve as guidelines for installations at the other museums, which included the San Francisco Museum of Art (April 1962), the Newark Pubic Library, and the Honolulu Academy of Art. Miss Gordon presented a lecture on "shibui" at each of the museum installations.
In appreciation of her work to introduce Americans to the concept of "shibui", the city of Kyoto presented a bolt of especially "shibui" kimono fabric executed by a Living National Treasure textile artist. Miss Gordon eventually tailored the fabric into a dress and jacket. She received the 1961 Trail Blazer Award from the New York Chapter of the National Home Fashions League, Inc. In June, 1987, Miss Gordon was named an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, with her introduction of the concept of "shibui" and her promotion of an understanding of other culture cited as her major contributions to American architecture.
Provenance:
Elizabeth Gordon donated her papers to the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives in 1988.
Elizabeth Gordon donated her papers to the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives in 1988.
The Elizabeth Gordon Papers, FSA.A1988.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Elizabeth Gordon, 1988
The papers of sculptor Jacques Lipchitz measure 9.5 linear feet and are dated circa 1910-1999, with the bulk of the material from the period 1941-1999. Personal and professional correspondence comprises nearly half of the collection. It, along with biographical material, writings by and about Lipchitz, printed material, and photographs document Lipchitz's commissions, exhibitions, friendships, and interests. Also found are records relating to the compilation and production of The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz: A Catalogue Raisonné by Alan G. Wilkinson.
Biographical material includes an address book, biographical notes, membership cards, rent receipts and a lease, and a survey of Lipchitz's property in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.
Correspondence is both professional and personal in nature. Approximately 20 percent is in foreign languages. French predominates, followed by Russian; German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Latvian, Hebrew, and Yiddish are also represented.
Professional correspondence documents business transactions with architects, potential clients, museum officials, art dealers, and others concerning commissions, exhibition plans, loans of artwork, jury service, etc. Art groups, Jewish organizations and charities wrote to solicit donations of artwork for fundraising events and issued invitations to speak or be a guest of honor. Scholars contacted Lipchitz about their research and requested information about specific works by him, items in his collection, and his opinions on a variety of subjects. Also found are fan letters from aspiring artists seeking advice, and from the general public asking for the opportunity to meet Lipchitz and visit his studio. After the 1952 studio fire, many friends and strangers sent letters of condolence and encouragement.
Among those with whom Lipchtz corresponded regarding commissions are: The Brazilian Embassy ( Prometheus Strangling the Vulture, Ministry of Health and Education, Rio de Janeiro), Vicomte Charles de Noailles ( The Joy of Life) [photocopies of letters from Lipchitz], Jean Devémy (Nôtre Dame de Liesse, Nôtre Dame de Toute Grace at Assy, France), Jane Blaffer Owen (ornamental gates and a cast of Nôtre Dame de Liesse for Philip Johnson's Roofless Church in New Harmony, IN), and the University of Minnesota, Duluth ( Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Luth). There are numerous letters from Fairmount Park Art Association, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and R. Sturgis Ingersoll regarding multiple projects in Philadelphia; from the Emory Memorial and Robert Taft, Jr. about a memorial to Senator Taft; and from Eloise Spaeth concerning a bust of John F. Kennedy. Also documenting commissions are letters from architects, among them: Eero Saarinen and Associates, Kenneth Franzheim, Philip L. Goodwin, I. M. Pei and Associates, Philip L. Goodwin, and Vincent G. Kling and Associates.
Art dealers, galleries, and museums were frequent correspondents. They include: The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Bezalel Museum, Brussels Universal and International Exposition, Buchholz Gallery, Cincinnati Art Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Curt Valentin Gallery, Fine Arts Associates (later Otto Gerson Gallery, Inc.), Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Inc., Museé Bourdelle, Museé National d'Arte Moderne (Paris), Museum of Modern Art (New York), The Museum of Primitive Art, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum (Oregon), Rijksmuseum Kröller Muller Otterlo, Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Walker Art Center, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Worcester Art Museum.
Max N. Benoff, Bernard and Becky Reis, and Alan and Janet Wurtzburger were among the collectors who corresponded with Lipchitz. French artist Pierre Dubaut wrote over an extended period about his collection of Géricault paintings and plans for its eventual disposition. Other individuals who wrote frequently include: critic and writer, Waldemar George; Irene Patai, author of Encounters: The Life of Jacques Lipchitz; and Bert Van Bork, documentary filmmaker and author of Jacques Lipchitz, The Artist at Work; and art historian, Henry R. Hope, a professor active in the College Art Association. The America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Inc. and the International Rescue Committee were also frequent correspondents.
Of particular note is a lengthy letter (with drafts) to Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler in which Lipchitz explained in detail how the art dealer's writings about Cubist sculpture failed to adequately recognize his contributions to the genre. Extensive correspondence with Rabbi Schneerson includes thoughts about "graven images" in sculpture and contains lengthy religious discussions. Letters from Juan Gris and Josette Gris consist mainly of general news and pleasantries; they do, however, mention Juan Gris's health, and in one letter Gris states he is afraid of working too much and tiring himself out. While basically illegible, Gertrude Stein's letters seem to be short, quick notes about meetings.
Correspondence with wife Yulla, nephew Gyorgy Hay, and close friends recounts personal and family news, activities, and sometimes touches on future plans. Among these correspondents are: Jenny Courtois, Varian and Annette Fry, Leo Gaspard, R. Sturgis Ingersoll, Gregorio Landau, Juan and Marianne Larrea, Camille Soula, and Joel and Celeste Starrels.
Eleven small pocket diaries, 1940-1965, contain brief, often sporadic entries noting appointments, events, addresses and phone numbers, notes of expenses, and include some sketches. Among the other writings by Lipchitz are: a notebook containing random notes on sculpture; a list of sculpture destroyed in the 1952 studio fire; short pieces and fragments of writings about sculptors Mary Frank, Natan Rapoport, Auguste Rodin, and William Zorach; a memoir of Amedeo Modigliani; and articles and reflections on contemporary art and the church.
Catalogue raisonné records concern the compilation and production of The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz: A Catalogue Raisonné by Alan G. Wilkinson, sponsored by Marlborough Gallery, Inc.
Among the financial records are statements of the sculptor's accounts with Buchholz Gallery and Curt Valentin Gallery, and receipts for Lipchitz Collection purchases. Also found are insurance and tax records, as well as receipts for routine professional expenses and miscellaneous personal expenses.
Artwork consists of a few rough sketches by Lipchitz and several geometric designs by an unidentified artist. Two scrapbooks, 1945-1946, consist of newspaper clippings and a few items from other periodicals that mention Lipchitz or contain reproductions of his work. Volume 2 includes typescripts of an interview and remarks delivered by Lipchitz, both very brief.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs and announcements, articles, press releases, books, programs, and reproductions concerning Lipchitz's exhibitions, sculpture, commissions, and events honoring him. Of particular interest are architectural prints showing sites and project details of several commissions. Also found are a variety of printed items about general art topics.
Photographs document people, artwork, project sites and models, exhibition installations, events, and places. People include Jacques Lipchitz, family members, and other individuals. Artwork represented is by Lipchitz and other artists. Views of Lipchitz exhibition installations mainly document solo shows. Photographs of events record a variety of occasions, among them: the opening of Lipchitz's studio at Hastings-on-Hudson, NY; a dedication ceremony for Philip Johnson's Roofless Church in New Harmony, IN, with ornamental gates and a sculpture by Lipchitz; and Lipchitz addressing an anatomy class at Albert Einstein Medical College. Among the pictures of places are Lipchitz's studios in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, and Pietrasanta, Italy, and a view of Picasso's Paris studio.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual materials with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection 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.
Jacques Lipchitz papers and Bruce Bassett papers concerning Jacques Lipchitz, circa 1910-2001, bulk 1941-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Jacques and Yulla Lipchitz Foundation, Inc.
An interview of Denise Scott Brown conducted 1990 October 25-1991 November 9, by Peter Reed, for the Archives of American Art.
Scott Brown discusses her family background and growing up in South Africa; her education at the University of Witwatersrand, the Architectural Association, London, a summer school in Venice, sponsored by Congres Internationale d'Architecture Moderne, and the University of Pennsylvania, recalling some of her teachers (including Arthur Korn and Louis Kahn); her first husband, Robert Scott Brown, and their travels throughout Europe and experiences in Pennsylvania; her teaching philosophy and experiences at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Harvard, UCLA, and Berkeley; the architecture program at Penn from her perspective as a student and as a member of the faculty; meeting Robert Venturi, their work together, the firm and the difficulties encountered in the 1970s and 1980s, some of their projects such as the National Gallery, London, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and planning work; publications such as "Complexity and Contradiction," "Urban concepts," "Worm's Eye View," and "Learning from Las Vegas;" postmodern architecture; critics; and her experiences as a woman in the field.
Biographical / Historical:
Denise Scott Brown (1931- ) is an architect of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
Originally recorded on 10 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 19 digital wav files. Duration is 13 hr., 45 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.
An interview with Hanford Yang conducted 2016 October 28 and December 14, by Judith Stein, for the Archives of American Art and the Center for the History of Collecting in America at the Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection, New York, New York.
Biographical / Historical:
Hanford Yang (1929- ) is an architect and art collector in Edison, New Jersey. Judith Stein (1943- ) is an independent curator and writer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
The first session of interview was conducted in a restaurant resulting in background noise to the recording. The second interview session was conducted over the phone.
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.
Topic:
Architects -- New Jersey -- Interviews Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New Jersey Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for this interview was provided by Barbara Fleischman.
United States of America -- North Carolina -- Durham County -- Durham
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Suffolk County -- Boston
United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia
United States of America -- New York -- New York
Date:
bulk 1939-2017
Scope and Contents:
The Philip G. Freelon Architectural Archival Collection documents the life and career of architect, educator, cultural heritage preservation advocate and artist Philip G. Freelon. The collection highlights his distinguished career from its inception to his role as the "architect of record" for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Freelon was one of the leading African American architects of his generation and he created a focus designing and constructing buildings that paid reverence to African Americans and other underrepresented communities. This collection is comprised of business records, photographic materials, ephemera, correspondence, architectural drawings, and clippings.
Arrangement:
The materials in this collection have been separated into seven series. The materials have been ordered and organized based on the content and chronology. Within each series and sub-series, the folders are organized as close to the collection's original order as when it was acquired.
Biographical / Historical:
Philip Goodwin Freelon was born March 26, 1953, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Allan Freelon, Jr. and Elizabeth Neal Freelon. Freelon was greatly influenced by his grandfather, Allan Freelon Sr., a notable Harlem Renaissance visual artist, educator, and civil rights activist. His grandfather's values and artistry inspired him to create a career that focused on creating historical and cultural spaces in African American communities. Freelon attended high school at the former predominantly white elite all-boys school, Central High School located in upper North Philadelphia from 1967 to 1971. His attendance at this school during of the Civil Rights Movement afforded him the unique experience that inspired him to attend a historically Black college (HBCU). Freelon selected Hampton Institute (Hampton University) to develop his veneration of the composition and design of the buildings that held cultural and artistic treasures. Located in the Tidewater area of Virginia, Hampton was renowned among HBCUs for its architecture program. His professor and mentor at Hampton, John Spencer, pushed Freelon academically as he moved easily through the school's curriculum. After two years at Hampton, Spencer helped Freelon transition to a more challenging program at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Freelon graduated in 1975 with a bachelor's in environmental design in architecture.
Later in the fall of 1975, Freelon enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to pursue a master's in architecture. During the summers, Freelon worked with one of former his NC State professors at the architectural firm of John D. Latimer and Associates. After graduating from MIT in 1977, Freelon returned to North Carolina to take his Architecture Registration Examination (ARE), becoming the firm's youngest person to receive licensure. He also began teaching classes at his alma mater, NC State. It was there that Freelon met his future wife, Nnenna Pierce. Pierce, a Massachusetts native was attending Simmons College in Boston at the time. The connection was immediate, and the pair was married in 1979 and welcomed their first son, Deen in 1980. After a brief employment for a large Texas firm 3/D International, Freelon returned to Durham to join O'Brien Atkins Associates. He was the firm's youngest partner, eventually serving as principal and vice president of architecture. Freelon worked on a wide variety of projects throughout the state including learning centers, university buildings, churches, and parking garages. Along with Freelon's budding career, his family was expanding as well. Phil and Nnenna welcomed their daughter Maya in 1982 and their son, Pierce in 1983. During this time, Freelon was being highly recognized for his work. The American of Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded him the Honor Award for his design of Terminal 2 of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which has since been rebuilt.
By the end of the decade, Freelon and his wife Nnenna needed a change of pace. Nnenna pursued a professional career in music while Phil took a break from his career to expand his skillset and reinforce his intellectual approach to design. In 1989, Freelon was granted the Loeb Fellowship for one year of independent study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He also pursued a longtime hobby of furniture design, calling the practice "small architecture". He received industry awards like first prize in the PPG Industries, Inc. Furniture Design Competition as well as AIA Honor Award for conference table designs. With a year away from the field to clarify his vision, Freelon opened his own firm, simply titled, the Freelon Group in 1990. Beginning as a one-man operation, the Freelon Group grew to become one of the largest African American owned architectural firms in the country with over 50 employees, forty percent of which were women, and thirty percent were people of color. With freedom within his own firm, Freelon focused on designing learning centers, libraries and museums and vowed to never build anything that did not bring cultural and intellectual value to a community.
Over the next twenty years, Freelon would assert himself as a force in designing notable cultural institutions and community-driven projects in and around the country including the Sonja Haynes Stone Center at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC), Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture (Baltimore, MD), Museum of African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA), Harvey B. Gantt for African American Arts and Culture (Charlotte, NC), the Anacostia and Tenley-Friendship branches of the District of Columbia Public Library , National Center for Civil Rights and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA), Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (Jackson, MS) and Emancipation Park (Houston, TX).
Alongside his architectural career, Freelon served as a lecturer and adjunct professor at several colleges and universities including North Carolina State University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Maryland College Park, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, and the Florence, Italy program at Kent State University. Freelon was awarded a full-time appointment as professor of Professional Practice at MIT in 2008. The Professional Practice (4.222) course was a requirement for the master's in architecture and he used examples from his extensive career and personal experience to illustrate legal, ethical, and management concepts. Nnenna's music career was also thriving. She would go on to record twelve albums and be nominated for six Grammys. This fusion of education, the arts, and music inspired another generation of Freelons: their son, Pierce Freelon is a hip-hop artist, educator, and political activist; daughter Maya Freelon is a visual artist; and son Deen Freelon is a professor.
In 2001, George W. Bush established a commission to create a new museum on the National Mall. Freelon wanted to enter his firm to participate in the international design competition. Freelon would partner with famed African American New York City architect, J. Max Bond, Jr. and by 2006 the two officially formed the Freelon Bond Architects.The Freelon Bond group submitted their proposal and soon after were elected to create programming and pre-design work for the museum. When the official design competition for the museum was announced in 2008, UK-based architect David Adjaye joined the team as the lead designer, and along with the partnering firm SmithGroup, the new architectural team became Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup. The three black architects combined a variety of distinctive elements from Africa and the Americas to create the building's unique, historically significant design. The Freelon Group served as the "architect of record" and were responsible for ensuring that key design ideas were upheld. Freelon and key firm members such as Zena Howard were active as on-site project managers during the museum's construction process to certify that the building would be developed according to plan.
Freelon, Adjaye, and Bond were tasked with taking the collective history of the African American experience-- generations of pain, triumph, and perseverance-- and forming it into a structure. The team looked to African sources, such as Yoruban architecture, for inspiration. They sought to connect the building's design to the geographic and cultural roots of African Americans. Their design choices also reference the contributions of enslaved and free black metalworkers made to the landscape of the American South. Their goal was to make the museum an extension of its contents, and an expression of the stories told inside.
By the groundbreaking for NMAAHC in 2012, Freelon had been appointed to the U.S. Commission of the Fine Arts by President Barack Obama. In an effort to broaden his resources and expand his firm, The Freelon Group merged with Perkins & Will, a firm originating in Chicago that grew to have offices across the United States. Freelon was appointed the managing director and later lead design director at the firm's North Carolina offices in Charlotte and Durham in 2014. By the next year, Freelon understood that his work in architecture and education was a necessary voice to preserve, which he did through donation of the bulk of his personal papers to his alma mater, NC State University. The year 2016 proved to be a year of triumph for Freelon as NMAAHC opened its doors on September 24th to much jubilation and celebration. That same year, Freelon's legacy was further cemented as the Phil Freelon Fellowship Fund was established at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a fellowship designed to broaden opportunities for African Americans and other underrepresented communities in architecture and design.
Unfortunately, this triumphant year was met with difficulty as Freelon was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive disease that affects the nervous system. He would continue to work and lecture for the next two years until it became too challenging. One of those projects was the renovation and opening of The NorthStar Church of the Arts in early 2019. A passion project with his wife and son, Pierce, a former church was renovated and repurposed as an arts and cultural space for all. This space was created in an effort to support the Durham cultural community as it began to feel the effects of gentrification. When Freelon lost his battle with ALS on July 9, 2019, in his home in Durham, North Carolina, the family requested that in lieu of flowers that donations be sent to the NorthStar Church to continue the center's mission and Phil's dream to give back to the Durham community.
Historical Timeline
1953 -- Philip Goodwin Freelon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Allan Freelon Jr. and Elizabeth Neal Freelon.
1971 -- Freelon graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and entered School of Architecture, Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia as a design student.
1973 -- Freelon transferred to College of Design at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
1975 -- Graduated with a Bachelor's in Environmental Design in Architecture from NC State University. He received the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Book Award for Outstanding Work in Architectural Design. In the fall, he began his master's program in architecture at MIT.
1976 -- Began working as aide for architectural firm, John D. Latimer and Associates.
1977 -- Graduated with a Master's in Architecture and Design from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT.)
1978 -- Freelon became youngest architect to pass the North Carolina Architecture Registration Exam. Freelon started teaching at North Carolina State University.
1979 -- Married Chinyere "Nnenna" Pierce. Freelon began working for, 3/D International in Houston, Texas.
1980 -- Son Deen Freelon was born.
1981 -- Freelon returned to Durham, NC to join O'Brien Atkins Associates as the firm's youngest partner.
1982 -- Daughter Maya Freelon was born.
1983 -- Son Pierce Freelon was born.
1989-1990 -- Received Loeb Fellowship for independent study at Harvard University. Freelon received AIA Honor Award for American Airlines Terminal 2 at Raleigh-Durham Airport, NC (RDU).
1990 -- Freelon left O'Brien Atkins Associates to open his own firm The Freelon Group.
1991 -- Won first prize in the PPG Furniture Design Competition.
1992 -- Won the AIA Honor Award for Conference Table Designs.
2001 -- Won the AIA Firm Award for The Freelon Group and the AIA Design Award for Parking Structure, RDU Airport. Began attending meetings of President George W. Bush's commission on new National Mall museum dedicated to African American history and culture.
2003 -- Freelon merged his firm with New York architect Max Bond to create Freelon Bond Architects.
2004 -- Sonja Haynes Stone Center at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC) was completed.
2005 -- Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture (Baltimore, MD) and Museum of African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA) were both completed.
2008 -- UK-based architect David Adjaye and Washington, DC based architecture firm, Smithgroup joined the team, creating the Freelon Adjaye Bond Group/SmithGroup Freelon began teaching at MIT's school of Architecture and Design.
2009 -- Freelon Adjaye Bond/Smithgroup won the official design for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Harvey B. Gantt for African American Arts and Culture (Charlotte, NC) was completed.
2010 -- Anacostia branch of the District of Columbia Public Library (Washington, DC) was completed.
2011 -- Tenley-Friendship branch of the District of Columbia Public Library (Washington, DC) was completed.
2012 -- Construction began on NMAAHC.
2014 -- The Freelon Group merged with Perkins & Will, a much larger architectural firm. Freelon became managing director and lead design director of the North Carolina branches in Durham and Charlotte. National Center for Civil Rights and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA) was completed.
2016 -- Freelon was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
2017 -- Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (Jackson, MS) and Emancipation Park (Houston, TX) were completed.
2019 -- Freelon died in his home in Durham, North Carolina at age 66 on July 9.
Related Materials:
Phil Freelon Papers, 1975-2019 at North Carolina State University Libraries.
Provenance:
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Philip G. Freelon.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access to collection materials requires an appointment.
Rights:
The NMAAHC Archives can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use. Copyright and right to publicity restrictions apply and limit reproduction for other purposes.
An interview of Robert Venturi conducted 1991 June 1-1991 July 20, by Peter Reed, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Venturi discusses his childhood, education and early career; travelling to Rome; his relationships with Louis Kahn and Vincent Scully; writing "Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture"; teaching at Yale University; his partnership with Denise Scott Brown; projects such as the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London, the house he built for his mother, the Guild House and the Seattle Art Museum; and architect/client, architect/contractor relationships in contemporary practice.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Venturi (1925- ) is an architect from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 50 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.
Interview of Thomas Adrian Fransioli, conducted April 21, 1981, by Robert F. Brown for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Wenham, Massachusetts.
Fransioli speaks of his upbringing in Seattle, Washington; training and friendships at architectural school at the University of Pennsylvania; working in North Carolina, Virginia, Philadelphia, and Cleveland as an architect, interior designer, and draftsman; his commission for a grand country house in Virginia, 1932-1934; his work for John Russell Pope on the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; work in photographic reconnaissance for the U.S. Army during World War II; visiting Hiroshima after the atomic bomb; his training at the Art Students League; his paintings of cityscapes and houses; the promotion of his career by Margaret Brown of Boston; and influences upon him. Fransioli also recalls Charles Klauder, Margaret Brown, Carl Feiss, Otto Eggers, John Walker, David Finley; and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Adrian Fransioli (1906- 1997) was an architect and painter from Massachusetts. He was born in Seattle, Washington.
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 others.
Topic:
Architects -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Andrade, C. Preston (Clarence Preston), 1912-1977 Search this
Extent:
5.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Video recordings
Date:
1917-circa 1986
Summary:
The papers of painter and educator Edna Andrade measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1917 to circa 1986. The collection documents Andrade's career through biographical materials including a video recording, personal and professional correspondence, printed material, and photographs including five photo albums. Of note are examples of propaganda Andrade created for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and educator Edna Andrade measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1917 to circa 1986. The collection documents Andrade's career through biographical materials including a video recording, personal and professional correspondence, printed material, and photographs including five photo albums. Of note are examples of propaganda Andrade created for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.
Personal correspondence includes letters exchanged between Andrade with her parents, husband C. Preston Andrade, and sister, Mary. Professional correspondence concerns the exhibition of her works of art and teaching career.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 4 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1917-circa 1986 (0.9 linear feet; Box 1, 6)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1925-1981 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1930s-1970s (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 3-6, OV 7)
Series 4: Photographs, 1917-1980 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 5-6)
Biographical / Historical:
Edna Andrade (1917-2008) was a painter and educator active in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was known for her optical illusion paintings.
Born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1917, Edna Davis Wright began her study of art at the Barnes Foundation in Marion, Pennsylvania. Later, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and earned her degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1937. She won Cresson Scholarships to travel to Europe in 1936 and 1937. In 1941, she married architect C. Preston Andrade.
During WWII, Andrade worked under Eero Saarinen in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) where she designed propaganda. After the war, Andrade returned to Philadelphia, where she began a long teaching career at the Philadelphia College of Art from 1958 until her retirement in 1982. Andrade was part of the Op Art movement in the 1960s and also painted abstract landscapes.
Edna Andrade died in 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview with Edna Andrade conducted 1987 April 1-29.
Provenance:
Edna Andrade donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in 1987 and 2004.
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 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:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Educators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Edna Andrade Papers, 1917-circa 1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received federal support from the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program
An interview of Neil Welliver conducted 1996 November 14, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art, in Welliver's home in Lincolnville, Maine.
Welliver talks about his childhood in Pennsylvania; his self-education; his marriage to a fashion illustrator; attending the Philadelphia Museum College of Art (now University of the Arts), receiving a BFA in 1953; teaching art in a public school; attending the Yale School of Art (MFA 1955) and teachers there; going to Maine; teaching at Yale (1955-1965); teaching at the University of Pennsylvania (1966-1989) at the graduate level. He recalls architect Louis Kahn at Yale and then at Pennsylvania; his various New York dealers from the 1960s, including Eleanor Ward at Stable Gallery, Aladar Marburger at Fischbach Gallery, and Pierre Lefraie at Marlborough Gallery; various art world friends, including Hilton Kramer, Clement Greenberg, and Fairfield Porter; and receiving an honorary doctorate of fine arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1996.
Biographical / Historical:
Neil Welliver (1929-2005) was a painter and teacher in Lincolnville, Maine.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 8 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.
Art Collectors: A Project in Partnership with the Center for the History of Collecting in America at The Frick Collection Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Hanford Yang, 2016 October 28-December 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Architects -- New Jersey -- Interviews Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New Jersey Search this
