An interview of Sandra Jean Blain conducted 2009 May 19, by Lloyd Herman, for the Archives of American Art, at Blain's home, in Tempe, Arizona.
Biographical / Historical:
Sandra Jean Blain (1941-) is an artist and educator in Tempe, Arizona.
General:
Originally recorded as 3 sound files. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 22 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 of Cindy Kolodziejski conducted 2007 May 5-16, by Frank Lloyd, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the Frank Lloyd Gallery, in Santa Monica, California.
Kolodziejski speaks of moving in her early childhood from Germany to Arizona and finally to California; the divorce of her parents at a young age and her feelings of abandonment; her desire as a young child to be an artist; the early influence of her grandmother, an art teacher; teaching herself how to draw by copying images and creating still-lifes; an influential art teacher in high school who encouraged her to pursue college-level art classes and attend art school after graduation; her decision to enroll at Otis College of Art and Design; her foundation art classes at Otis and increasing interest in ceramics; choosing ceramics as a medium because of its flexibility and of form and potential for imagery; the value of her art education to her career; earning a Master of Fine Arts degree while teaching at California State University, Long Beach; the union of form, function, and imagery in her work, especially seen in a recent exhibition at the Frank Lloyd Gallery titled "Reversal of Fountain"; using the University of California, Los Angeles, libraries to find images at first, and later searching the internet for inspiration; creating pieces which play with and explore gender issues and sexuality; being reviewed and featured in articles which are especially concerned with issues of the body and femininity; the documentation of her art in various periodicals and texts, including a piece she wrote for Ceramics Monthly concerning her own work; gaining exposure through these articles, which helped to advance her career; the painstaking and technical process required to fashion her works of art; showing at the Garth Clark Gallery very quickly after graduation; traveling to Greece, China, Nepal, New York, and Italy, and being influenced by the exposure to the different art and cultures; recent travels with her daughter to Italy and feeling excited and humbled by the beauty of certain works; giving a talk at the Getty Museum about a show entitled "The Royal Menagerie" featuring the Meissen large-scale porcelain animals; participating in group shows in museums, particularly the "Color and Fire" exhibit which showcased important ceramicists from 1950 to 2000; being awarded various grants and feeling that applying for those awards is a very worthwhile experience for many artists; teaching first at the high school level and then in college; her teaching methods; forming friendships with fellow artists and art teachers; integrating the use of technology into her art-making process by finding and manipulating images on the computer; feeling motivated to produce in a positive way for exhibition deadlines; the support and friendships that developed through exhibiting with the Clark Garth and Frank Lloyd galleries; the encouragement and support she has been shown by her family throughout her career; and categorizing herself first and foremost as an artist rather than a craft artist or ceramicist. Kolodziejski recalls, Lita Albuquerque, Jill Giegerich, Peter Lodato, Barbara Thomason, Roy Dowell, Eugene Sturman, Carol Caroompas, Tony Marsh, Ralph Baccera, Adrian Saxe, Ron Nagle, Roseline Delisle, John Mason, Jo Lauria, David Pagel, Garth Clark, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Cindy Kolodziejski (1962- ) is a sculptor and painter from Venice, California. Frank Lloyd (1951- ) is a gallery owner from Santa Monica, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 10 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.
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:
63 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2004 March 1
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Susan Peterson conducted 2004 March 1, by Paul J. Smith, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Carefree, Arizona.
Peterson speaks of her parents; being raised in McPherson, Kansas; spending summers in California and taking art classes there; attending Monticello College in Godfrey, Illinois; studying art and education at Mills College in Oakland, California; teaching art at the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii and at the Wichita Art Association; studying ceramics at Alfred University in New York; moving to Southern California with her husband, Jack Peterson; working at the Chouinard Art Institute and building the kilns there; teaching at the University of Southern California and meeting Peter Voulkos; and teaching summers at the Idyllwild School of Music and Arts. Peterson also speaks of moving to New York City to teach at Hunter College; opening the Clayworks Studio Workshop; creating the craft program at the Joe L. Evins Appalachian Center for Crafts in Smithville, Tennessee; doing the television series "All You Ever Wanted to Know About Ceramics;" traveling around the world, including Shoji Hamada's studio in Mashiko, Japan; attending the first American Crafts Council conference and the First World Congress of Craftsmen; publishing her first book, "Shoji Hamada: A Potter's Way and Work" and how that led to writing several other books; maintaining her own studio outside of teaching; receiving various awards; changes she sees in the craft movement and education since the 1940s; studying Native American ceramic traditions; traveling cross-country with Joan Mondale; donating her archives and ceramic collection to the Arizona State University Ceramic Research Center; and her plans for the future. Peterson also recalls Roi Partridge, Carlton Ball, Marguerite Wildenhain, Aileen Osborn Webb, Maria Martinez, Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew, Armi Ratia, John Mason, Ken Price, Françoise Gilot, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Susan Peterson (1925-2009) was a ceramicist and author from Carefree, Arizona. Interviewer Paul J. Smith is a curator and art historian from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 59 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.
The papers of artist and educator Don Reitz measure 11.6 linear feet and date from circa 1935 to 2015. The collection documents Reitz's work as a professional artist and educator through biographical material, correspondence; writings, interviews and lectures; documentation on workshops and performances; studio records; gallery and exhibition files; printed material, photographic material, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist and educator Don Reitz measure 11.6 linear feet and date from circa 1935 to 2015. The collection documents Reitz's work as a professional artist and educator through biographical material, correspondence; writings, interviews and lectures; documentation on workshops and performances; studio records; gallery and exhibition files; printed material, photographic material, and artwork.
Correspondence reflects relationships with professional organizations, museums and galleries, friends and family, as well as letters of recommendation from his years as an instructor. Notable correspondence is with fellow artists Rudy Autio and Yukio Yamamoto. Writings include essays and artist statements written by Reitz, as well as articles and essays written about Reitz by others. Lectures and interviews are featured in written form, as well as audio and video, including some digital video recordings. Reitz's notes include sound recordings captured in his car.
Workshop and performance files contain recordings, planning materials, contracts, and other documentation on instructional events led by Reitz. Studio records include technical files on kiln operation, supplies, project plans, and equipment.
Also found are detailed records of gallery and museum exhibitions, as well as commissions including public works and murals, in addition to various studio artwork inventories. Photographic material documents Reitz's participation in workshops and other presentations, and includes photographs of artwork, the Reitz Farm in Wisconsin, the Reitz Ranch in Arizona, as well as his early family life and military career. Photograph formats include snapshots, slides and digital images. Also included are various sketches by the artist as well as some by his niece Sara.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1935-2014 (0.9 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1951-2014 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 3: Writings and Lectures, circa 1970-2012 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 3-5, 2.85 gigabytes; ER01-ER03)
Series 4: Workshops and Performances, circa 1972-2008 (0.7 linear feet; Box 5-6, 8.21 gigabytes; ER04-ER05)
Series 5: Studio Records, circa 1965-2010 (0.3 linear feet; Box 6)
Series 6: Galleries and Exhibitions, circa 1966-2014 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 0.065 gigabytes; ER06)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1950-2014 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 8-9, 12)
Series 8: Photographic Material, circa 1940-2015 (2.8 linear feet; Boxes 9-13, 0.065 gigabytes; ER07)
Series 9: Artwork, circa 1980-2012 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 11, 12)
Biographical / Historical:
Don Reitz (1929-2014) was a ceramic artist in Clarkdale, Arizona.
Reitz was born in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and was raised in Belvidere New Jersey, before serving for four years in the U.S. Navy as a diver. After years working as a butcher and a house painter, Reitz attended Kutztown State Teachers College, where he studied Abstract Expressionism and discovered ceramics in his last year of study. Reitz quickly developed a passion for ceramics, built a kiln in his back yard, and enrolled in graduate school at Alfred University's New York State College of Ceramics. From 1962 to 1988 Reitz led the ceramics department at University of Wisconsin at Madison, while he raised his two children Brent and Donna on a nearby farm, where he also kept livestock and experimented in ceramic firing techniques.
Don Reitz is known for bringing the salt-firing ceramics technique to the United States, in which colorful metallic surfaces are applied to ceramics by throwing salt in the kiln, as opposed to applying paint-like slips on the clay before firing. Reitz is also widely recognized for expanding the traditional medium of ceramics to incorporate abstract and nonfunctional forms like his contemporaries Peter Voulkos and Rudy Autio, as well as incorporating elements of performance art into his demonstrations and workshops. In 1982 Reitz suffered injuries from a serious automobile accident and required years of rehabilitation. During this time Reitz's niece, Sara, was undergoing treatment for cancer. The two were instrumental in each other's recovery and elements of Sara's drawings for Don were incorporated into his work, imbuing a graphic sensibility and a bold use of color, while his ability to physically manipulate clay was impaired.
In 1988 Reitz moved to a ranch in Clarksdale, Arizona, where he continued to work after his retirement from teaching, building kilns of various types including wood-fire and Anagama kilns, traveling to conduct workshops, and accepting commissions for large-scale commissions and public works. While in Arizona, Reitz developed a strong friendship with Japanese ceramicist Yukio Yamamoto, who had been teaching in Flagstaff, Arizona. Throughout his career Reitz received numerous accolades including being named Trustee Emeritus of the American Craft Council, and making the Ceramic Monthly Reader's Poll as One of Twelve Greatest Living Ceramic Artists Worldwide in 1988 and 2001. Reitz's works are featured in numerous private and museum collections including the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the High Museum of Art. Don Reitz passed in 2014 after suffering from a series of heart attacks and related surgeries.
Don Reitz (1929-2014) was a ceramic artist in Clarkdale, Arizona. Reitz was born in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and was raised in Belvidere New Jersey, before serving for four
years in the U.S. Navy as a diver. After years working as a butcher and a house painter, Reitz attended
Kutztown State Teachers College, where he studied Abstract Expressionism and discovered ceramics in his
last year of study. Reitz quickly developed a passion for ceramics, built a kiln in his back yard, and enrolled in
graduate school at Alfred University's New York State College of Ceramics. From 1962 to 1988 Reitz led the
ceramics department at University of Wisconsin at Madison, while he raised his two children Brent and Donna
on a nearby farm, where he also kept livestock and experimented in ceramic firing techniques.
Don Reitz is known for bringing the salt-firing ceramics technique to the United States, in which colorful
metallic surfaces are applied to ceramics by throwing salt in the kiln, as opposed to applying paint-like slips
on the clay before firing. Reitz is also widely recognized for expanding the traditional medium of ceramics to
incorporate abstract and nonfunctional forms like his contemporaries Peter Voulkos and Rudy Autio, as well
as incorporating elements of performance art into his demonstrations and workshops. In 1982 Reitz suffered
injuries from a serious automobile accident and required years of rehabilitation. During this time Reitz's niece,
Sara, was undergoing treatment for cancer. The two were instrumental in each other's recovery and elements of
Sara's drawings for Don were incorporated into his work, imbuing a graphic sensibility and a bold use of color,
while his ability to physically manipulate clay was impaired.
In 1988 Reitz moved to a ranch in Clarksdale, Arizona, where he continued to work after his retirement
from teaching, building kilns of various types including wood-fire and Anagama kilns, traveling to conduct
workshops, and accepting commissions for large-scale commissions and public works. While in Arizona, Reitz
developed a strong friendship with Japanese ceramicist Yukio Yamamoto, who had been teaching in Flagstaff,
Arizona. Throughout his career Reitz received numerous accolades including being named Trustee Emeritus of
the American Craft Council, and making the Ceramic Monthly Reader's Poll as One of Twelve Greatest Living
Ceramic Artists Worldwide in 1988 and 2001. Reitz's works are featured in numerous private and museum
collections including the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the High Museum of
Art. Don Reitz passed in 2014 after suffering from a series of heart attacks and related surgeries.
Related Materials:
Also found at the Archives of American art is an oral history interview with Don Reitz, 2006 June 6-7, conducted by Mija Riedel.
Provenance:
Donated in 2017 by Brent Reitz, Don Reitz's son.
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 copy requires advance notice.
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.
Audiovisual materials relating to the documentary Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada measure 11 linear feet and date from 1990 to 1993. Records include sound recordings, motion picture film outtakes, transcripts, production notes, lab records of the film production, and video recordings of the completed documentary.
Scope and Contents:
Audiovisual materials relating to the documentary Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada measure 11 linear feet and date from 1990 to 1993. Records include sound recordings, motion picture film outtakes, transcripts, production notes, lab records, and video recordings of the completed documentary.
Original sound recordings and transcripts include two recorded public appearances by Wood, as well as multiple interviews with Beatrice Wood and with others about Wood; interviewed are Francis Nauman, John Perrault, Garth Clark, Mark Del Vecchio, Anne D'Harnoncourt, Steve Watson, Rupert Pole, R.P. Singh, Henry Huglin, and Lee Waisler. Partial transcripts are found for most recordings. Records created by the sound recordist, referred to in this finding aid as sound roll logs, are found with several of the sound reels and document general content and the camera roll numbers of corresponding film footage.
Production notes and lab records include script notes, shot lists, editing notes, detailed editing logs, camera reports, and lab records including work orders for dailies, effects such as titles and superimpositions, and documentation of the final print. Many of the sound recordings were shot synchronously with the motion picture film found in the collection, and while the documentation does not always make the link between picture and soundtrack explicit, the link can be investigated via sound roll logs, camera reports, negative logs, and shot lists.
Moving images include three video copies of the finished documentary and 153 rolls of 16mm motion picture film negative, which are outtakes from 166 original camera negative rolls. The content of outtakes consists of three general types: film shot during several of the interviews and one of Wood's public appearances found in Series 1; silent footage of locations and Wood working in her studio; and footage of historical photographs and artworks. All of the film found in the collection consists of outtakes; footage that was used in the documentary was not donated, although complete sound recordings exist in series 1.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as three series:
Series 1: Original Sound Recordings and Transcripts, 1990-1991 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 2: Production Notes and Lab Reports, 1990-1992 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 3: Moving Images, 1990-1993 (12.1 linear feet; Box 2, FC 3-122)
Biographical / Historical:
Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada was written and directed by Tom Neff and released by Wild Wolf Productions in 1993 to correspond with Wood's 100th birthday. Tom Neff is a filmmaker, producer, and television executive who was born in 1953 in Chicago, Illinois and received his MFA from the University of Southern California in 1981. Neff founded the production company Wild Wolf Productions with Diandra Douglas in the early 1990s, and Mama of Dada was the company's first production and was written and directed by Neff, and produced by Neff, Diandra Douglas, and Amie Knox.
Neff has produced, written, and directed over a dozen documentaries on historical and cultural subjects since the mid-1980s. In addition to his work on Wood, Neff's filmography includes several documentaries about American artists, including Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Frederic Remington, and Red Grooms. His short documentary Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hot House earned him an Oscar with Madeline Bell in 1987. He currently teaches at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds multiple oral histories and collections of archival material related to Beatrice Wood, including the Beatrice Wood papers, the Beatrice Wood letters to Elizabeth Stein, and the Belle M. Deitch papers concerning Beatrice Wood.
Oral histories include two interviews with Wood conducted by Paul Karlstrom, one on August 26, 1976, and another on March 2, 1992.
The Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona holds a collection of material collected and created by Tom Neff for his 1999 documentary "Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Painting with Light."
Provenance:
Donated 1992 by Wild Wolf Productions via writer, director, and producer Tom Neff.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings records with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
Rights:
Outtakes, reels and transcripts: Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from WILD WOLF PRODUCTIONS via Tom Neff, producer. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
New York (N.Y.) -- Description and views
Arizona -- Description and travel
California -- description and travel
China -- description and travel
Greece -- description and travel
Italy -- description and travel
Nepal -- description and travel
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Cindy Kolodziejski, 2007 May 5-16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Susan Peterson, 2004 March 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Sandra Jean Blain, 2009 May 19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
