The papers of Los Angeles ceramic artist and educator Ralph Bacerra measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1957 to 2015. The collection documents Bacerra's career through correspondence, professional activity files including teaching files from Chouinard Art Institute and Otis Art Institute, exhibition files, writings and notes including the artist's ceramic formulas and a diary, artwork including sketchbooks and drawings, photographs including images of Bacerra and his work, and printed material relating to Bacerra's career.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Los Angeles ceramic artist and educator Ralph Bacerra measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1957 to 2015. The collection comprises correspondence with the Decorative Arts Council, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Theo Portnoy Gallery, and others; professional activity files including teaching files from Chouinard Art School and Otis College of Art, exhibition files, and a file for his National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts award. Also found are writings and notes containing ceramic formulas, Bacerra's student notes, and a diary record of his road trip with Vivika Heino in 1959; artwork consisting of sketchbooks and drawings from Chouinard, the Shoji Hamada workshop at the University of Southern California, and other sketches of ceramic designs; photographic materials of Bacerra and his work, personal photographs, Asian art, sculptures, and travel; and printed materials relating to Bacerra's career.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1959-2002 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Professional Activity Files, 1959-2013 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 1, 4, OV 5)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1957-circa 1990s (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Artwork, circa 1959-circa 1970s (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 1, 4)
Series 5: Photographic Material, 1958-2001 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 2-4)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1958-2015 (0.4 linear feet; Box 4, OV 5)
Biographical / Historical:
Ralph Bacerra (1938-2008) was a ceramic artist and educator in Los Angeles, California.
Born to a Filipino father and mother from Montana, Bacerra grew up on a farm in Garden Grove, California where his parents settled before he was born. Bacerra began studying art in high school and later went onto study commercial art and ceramics with Bill Payne at Orange Coast Junior College. Bacerra planned on continuing his commercial art studies when he enrolled in Chouinard Art Institute, now the California Institute of the Arts, but changed his major to ceramics after taking a class with Vivika Heino, who became his mentor. Heino and her husband Otto were respected figures in the ceramics field. In 1959, on a road trip from Los Angeles to New Hampshire, Heino introduced Bacerra to prominent artists across the country.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bacerra joined the Army and served for two years. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he began teaching at Chouinard. Heino, who headed the ceramics department at the time, left the school to teach at the Rhode Island School of Design, leaving the department in the hands of Bacerra and John Fassbinder. A few years later, Bacerra became the department head. In 1971, when Chouinard became the California Institute of Art, the ceramics department was discontinued. Over the next decade, Bacerra focused on studio work and travel to Asia, and the influence of Japanese Imari and celadon can be seen in Bacerra's work. Bacerra also did commercial work for the Induction Stove Corporation and developed an advanced ceramics technique using electromagnetic induction. From 1983 to 1997, Bacerra taught at the Otis Art Institute. After retiring, he devoted his time to studio work.
Bacerra's work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. In 1998, he was awarded honorary membership by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.
Bacerra died in Eagle Rock, California in 2008.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of Ralph Bacerra conducted on April 7-19, 2004 by Frank Lloyd, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
The Ralph Bacerra papers were donated in 2003 by Ralph Bacerra, in 2016 by Cindy Bass, Bacerra's niece and executor, and in 2017 by Jo Lauria Fargo on behalf of Bass as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
The papers of ceramicist Robert Sperry measure 13.6 linear feet and 0.907 GB and date from 1951-2002. The collection documents Sperry's career as an artist, teacher, and filmmaker through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, gallery files, material on projects and workshops, writings, a scrapbook, financial files, printed and digital material, photographs, moving image materials, and artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of ceramicist Robert Sperry measure 13.6 linear feet and 0.907 GB and date from 1951-2002. The collection documents Sperry's career as an artist and teacher through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, gallery files, material on projects and workshops, writings, a scrapbook, financial files, printed and digital material, photographs, video recordings, films, and artwork.
Biographical files contain items outlining Sperry's career including resumes, teaching evaluations, awards, and interviews. Correspondence includes general correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, schools, galleries, art organizations, and publications as well as named files for those with whom Sperry exchanged a significant amount of correspondence over a long period of time. The Exhibition Files contain materials on group and solo exhibitions Robert Sperry participated in, while Gallery Files hold material, such as correspondence and contracts, related to the galleries which exhibited Sperry's work primarily after 1979. The Project and Workshop Files in Series 5 contain material related to public commissions he completed and workshops he gave during the 1980s and 1990s.
Writings encompass writings by Sperry and others. Sperry's writings vary greatly and include drafts of articles, a family history, poetry, notes and a screenplay, while writings by others are primarily essays on art. Within this series Sperry's event calendars are also found. Sperry compiled a scrapbook which spans 1955 to 1964 and includes correspondence and printed material about exhibitions and newspaper clippings which feature his artwork. He and his wife, Patti Warashina, also compiled Financial Records primarily of their business and living expenses from 1976 to 1984 and earnings as artists and professors at the University of Washington.
The largest series in this collection, Printed Material, provides information largely on Sperry's career through press clippings, exhibition announcements, catalogs, and publications, and also includes other materials on ceramics in general. The Photographs series contains both photos and negatives from Sperry's trip to Japan to film "Village Potters of Onda" as well as photographs of his artwork and his family. Also found in this collection are a few sketches and drawings by Sperry and one drawing by Patti Warashina. Moving image material includes video recordings and motion picture film with a wide range of content, including documentaries about Sperry, studio footage, and experimental and narrative films created by Sperry in a range of styles and genres, including animation such as the animated film "Henry," hand colored film, live action footage, abstract design, and narrative short films by Sperry. There are digital research copies of some of the films.
Arrangement:
The Robert Sperry papers are arranged as thirteen series, according to type of material. Each series is arranged either in rough chronological or alphabetical order.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Files, 1954-circa 2000, undated (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence Files, 1951-2000, undated (Boxes 1-2; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1963-1999, undated (Boxes 2-3; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Gallery Files, 1960-2000, undated (Boxes 3-4; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Project and Workshop Files, 1967-1996, undated (Box 4; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Writings, 1966-1990, undated (Box 5; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Scrapbook, 1955-1964 (Box 5; 8 folders)
Series 8: Financial Records, 1961-1995, undated (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 9: Miscellaneous Subject Files, 1975-1998, undated (Box 6; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1955-2002, undated (Boxes 6-10; 3.4 linear feet)
Series 11: Photographs, 1963, undated (Box 10; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 12: Sketches and Drawings, 1984, undated (Box 10; 2 folders)
Series 13: Moving Image Material, circa 1962-1998, undated (Boxes 10-12, FC 13-18; 3.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.907 GB)
Biographical Note:
Robert Sperry was born in Bushnell, Illinois, in 1927. He grew up on his family's farm in Druid, Saskatchewan, Canada, and in 1945 was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he first developed an interest in art. After serving in the military, he returned home and completed his B.A. at the University of Saskatchewan in 1950 and a B.F.A. at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953. While working on his B.A. he met and married Edyth MacDonald and they had one child, Van, in 1950. Sperry spent one summer as Artist in Residence at the Archie Bray Foundation, in Helena, Montana, and then moved his family to Seattle so that he could complete his M.F.A. at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1955 he stayed at the University and became a professor, teaching ceramics until retiring in 1982. During this time, Sperry widely exhibited his clay vessels in both group and solo exhibitions and was active in the American Craft Council.
When not teaching, Robert Sperry pursued his interest in photography and filmmaking and, in 1963, traveled to Japan to make "Village Potters of Onda," a project that included a documentary film and a collection of black and white photographs. Sperry continued experimenting with film and, in 1967, created a fictional film entitled, "Profiles Cast Long Shadows," which was shown at film festivals throughout the United States. After abandoning another film project in 1970 while going through a divorce, he returned to ceramics as his focus. During the 1970s Sperry developed his techniques, modifying glazes and moving away from the vessel shape. In 1976 Sperry married Patti Warashina, fellow ceramicist and professor at the University of Washington. He began producing murals, which led to several public commissions such as a mural for the IBM Field Engineering Educational Center in Atlanta, created in 1983. Robert Sperry: A Retrospective, was exhibited in 1985-1986 at the Bellevue Art Museum, however, Sperry would continue producing and exhibiting new work, and giving lectures and workshops for thirteen more years, until his death in 1998.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Patti Warashina papers, circa 1900-1991. An online finding aid is available.
Provenance:
The Robert Sperry papers were donated by Sperry's wife Patti Warashina in 2003 and 2004.
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.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Video recordings
Citation:
Evolving Forms with Frances Senska/ Montana State University; writer and director, Tim Schwab, 1978. 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 Frances Senska, 2001 April 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Extent:
28 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2001 April 16
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Frances Senska conducted 2001 April 16, by Donna Forbes, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
The interview took place in Senska's home and studio Bozeman, Montana. Senska speaks of her childhood in Africa and her exposure to African culture, specifically the pottery; immigrating to the United States, attending high school in Iowa City, Iowa, and completing both her BA and MA at the University of Iowa; joining the Navy; her interests in art and specifically how they developed into ceramics; her instructors; her teaching experience; the establishment of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana; the community of artists in Montana; how function is the most important aspect of her pottery; clay-digging expeditions; the design of her house and studio; how she listens to African music when she throws clay; the influence of craft magazines; the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts [NCECA]; honorary awards and degrees she has received; and changes in the ceramics world over the past fifty years. Senska recalls Peter Voulkos, Rudy Autio, Trude Guermonprez, Henry Meloy, Jun Kaneko, Maija Grotell, Branson Stevenson and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Frances Senska (1914-2009) was a ceramicist and educator in Bozeman, Montana. Donna Forbes (1929- ) is the director of the Yellowstone Art Center, in Billings, Montana.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 46 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.
Video of Frances Senska shot primarily in Senska's studio in Bozeman, Mont. Senska refers to Peter Voulkos and expresses her preference for digging clay locally. She demonstrates preparing a clay body, throwing on the potter's wheel, making a pitcher and birds, pulling a handle, loading and unloading a bisque kiln, glazing, unloading a glaze kiln, and keeping a kiln log.
Biographical / Historical:
Ceramicist, educator; Bozeman, Mont.; b. 1914.
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
Bozeman, Montana Montana State University 1978
Provenance:
Donated 2004 by Frances Senska. Additions are expected.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Rudy Autio, 1983 October 10-1984 January 28. 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 Nan McKinnell, 2005 June 12-13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of ceramicist David Shaner measure 2.8 linear feet and date from 1937-2007, with the bulk of the material from 1968-1998. Shaner's career as a ceramicist in Big Fork, Montana, is documented through scattered correspondence, subject files, studio working files, writings and notes by Shaner and others, exhibition catalogs and other printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of ceramicist David Shaner measure 2.8 linear feet and date from 1937-2007, with the bulk of the material from 1968-1998. Shaner's career as a ceramicist in Big Fork, Montana, is documented through scattered correspondence, subject files, studio working files, writings and notes by Shaner and others, exhibition catalogs and other printed material, and photographs.
Scattered correspondence includes letters, cards, and postcards. Correspondence is primarily with friends and colleagues, but also includes a few letters from galleries and art organizations. Subject files document Shaner's activities as a professional ceramicist. The majority of the files are for art galleries, but also found are files are for studio equipment, supply companies, and professional organizations. Files may include correspondence, agreements, invoices, price lists, receipts, and press releases.
Shaner's studio working files consist of glaze formulas, his kiln log notebook, plans, and kiln documentation. Also found are his studio notes, lists, formulas, manuals and guides for various ceramic processes and tools. A series of writings and notes consist of notes by Shaner, including notes for his artist's statement, as well as draft manuscripts, lectures, and essays by others on the topic of ceramics.
Printed material includes articles documenting David Shaner's career, exhibition announcements and catalogs for exhibits of Shaner's work, and various publications about ceramics. A small number of photographs found within this collection depict kilns and kiln building events, unidentified artists and studio spaces, and artwork. Included is one photograph of David Shaner.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1978-1999 (Box 1; 3 folders)
Series 2: Subject Files, 1961-1998 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Studio Working Files, circa 1951-1990s (Boxes 1-2; 8 folders)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1954-circa 1993 (Box 2; 6 folders)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1937-2007 (Boxes 2-4; 1.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1968-1990s (Box 4; 4 folders)
Biographical Note:
David Shaner (1934-2002) was a ceramist in Bigfork, Montana.
Shaner was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania in 1934. He attended Kutztown State Teachers College and in 1957 entered the Master of Fine Arts program at Alfred University. After earning his MFA, he taught ceramics at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. In 1962 he and his wife Ann permanently relocated to Montana. Shaner served as director of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana from 1964-1970. He remained a prolific potter and respected teacher throughout his life. Shaner was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 1995 and died in 2002.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with David Shaner, conducted by Gerald Williams on June 17, 2001.
Provenance:
The David Shaner papers were donated in 2010 by Ann Shaner, David Shaner's widow.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers 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.
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:
80 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2005 June 12-13
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Nan McKinnell conducted 2005 June 12-13, by Kathy Holt, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Fort Collins, Colorado.
McKinnell speaks of her childhood in Stanton, Nebraska, and summers spent on her grandfather's farm in Grand Forks, N.D.; her late husband James McKinnell's childhood in Nitro, W.V., and later in Seattle, Washington; her musical education at Wayne State Teacher's College, Nebraska; her first teaching job in Meadow Grove, Nebraska; her husband's tenure in the Navy in the early 1940s, when he was stationed in Hawaii during the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; her move out West to stay with relatives in Seattle, Washington, and Hollywood, California; obtaining her Master's degree in art at the University of Washington while teaching music at Bryn Mawr College; her early experiences with ceramics under Paul Bonifas at Bryn Mawr; meeting her husband Jim and marrying him in July 1948; their move to Baltimore where Jim McKinnell was working for Locke Insulators; the couple's trip to Paris, France, on the G.I. bill, where Jim studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Arts et Metiers; bicycling around the French countryside on a tandem bicycle, visiting potters and pottery studios; their short stay in Vallauris, France, where Pablo Picasso was living at the time; travels to Italy, the Netherlands, and finally ending up at Penzance, in Cornwall, to study pottery with Michael Leach at the Penzance School of Art; returning to the U.S., when Jim worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, and traveling the Midwest in a trailer as part of that job; their education at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, Montana, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine; living in Deerfield, Massachusetts, at the historic Bloody Brook Tavern, where they made pottery and gave tours; their first pottery shows, at Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Massachusetts, and at America House, which became the American Craft Museum, and is now called the Museum of Art & Design, New York, N.Y.; their teaching positions at the University of Iowa, the University of New Hampshire, Colorado University, Loretto Heights College, Denver, Colorado, and the Glasgow School of Art, among others; and their time in Japan on the Hill Family Foundation Grant. McKinnell also recalls Margaret Hancock, Frances Senska, Jack Lenor Larsen, Paul Bonifas, Bernard Leach, Michael Leach, Peter Voulkos, Marguerite Wildenhain, Rudy Autio, Ruth Pennington, Clayton James, Kathleen Horsman, Edward and Mary Scheier, Nils Lou, Edward Osier, Aline Vanderbilt Webb, Ron Brown, Marilyn Scaff Humple, Paul Soldner, Karl Christiansen, Thomas Potter, Kenji Kato, Alec Lecky, Ruth Duckworth, Wayne Higby, Otto and Vivika Heino, Warren MacKenzie, David Shaner, and Gerry Williams, among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Nan McKinnell (1913-2012) was a ceramist from Fort Collins, Colorado. Kathy Holt is a ceramist and educator from Littleton, Colorado.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 56 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- Colorado -- Fort Collins Search this
An interview of Rudy Autio conducted 1983 October 10-1984 January 28, by LaMar Harrington, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project. Autio speaks of growing up in Butte, Montana; his first art experiences; his education at Montana State College; his Navy service; working for Archie Bray, a brickmaker; working in carved brick and chimney pots; his interest in Indian customs; working with Peter Voulkos, and Voulkos' style; abstract expressionism; the importance of universities, organizations, and publications to ceramic art; going to Helsinki and learning about Finnish crafts; his thoughts on architectural art; his work methods; and his work in porcelain.
Biographical / Historical:
Rudy Autio (1926-2007) was a sculptor and ceramicist from Missoula, Montana.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 27 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Northwest Oral History Project, begun in 1982 to document the Northwest artistic community through interviews with painters, sculptors, craftsmen, educators, curators, and others, in Oregon, Washington and Montana.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Robert Sperry, 1983 August 11. 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 David Shaner, 2001 June 17. 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 Akio Takamori, 2009 March 20-21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Extent:
34 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2001 June 17
Scope and Contents:
An interview of David Shaner conducted 2001 June 17, by Gerald Williams, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Shaner's home in Bigfork, Montana.
Shaner speaks of his childhood in Pennsylvania and his parents background as pre-Revolutionary German-Swiss immigrants; his love of gardening; travels to the southwest United States, as well as Mexico and Peru; the appeal of the teapot; the spiritual aspect of making a bowl; how American craft has changed during his lifetime; his work at the Archie Bray Foundation; his education and his own teaching experiences; his "Saturday job" with Robert Turner; periodicals and their impact on the American craft movement; the calming effect of classical music while he worked; the construction of his studio space and equipment; the enthusiasm his family has for pottery and the arts in general; his involvement in the environmental movement and membership to the Sierra Club; his political views; the simplicity of his work; his opinion of writing in the field of pottery; his views on technology, especially within the field of pottery; his first one-man show; his opinion of other artists, especially those who are not "ordinary"; being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and its impact upon him; and the last few pieces he did before closing his studio. Shaner also recalls Kenneth Ferguson, Daniel Rhodes, John Wood, Peter Voulkos, Val Cushing, Ted Randall, Charles Harder and others.
Biographical / Historical:
David Shaner (1934-2002) was a ceramist from Bigfork, Montana. Gerry Williams (1926-) is a ceramist and editor of Studio Potter from Goffstown, N.H.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 5 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:
For more information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services.
An interview of Robert Sperry conducted 1983 August 11, by LaMar Harrington, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project.
Sperry speaks of his family background; his army service; his education; his early career in ceramics; the Oriental influence in his work; folk art; his contemporaries in ceramics; and his current plans. He recalls Peter Voulkos.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Sperry (1927-1998) was a ceramist from Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 4 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Northwest Oral History Project, begun in 1982 to document the Northwest artistic community through interviews with painters, sculptors, craftsmen, educators, curators, and others, in Oregon, Washington and Montana.
