An interview of Andrew Chinn conducted 1965 May 24, by Dorothy Bestor, for the Archives of American Art. Chinn speaks of his memories of the Federal Art Project in Washington state; how the program affected Seattle as an art center; and he recalls other artists involved in the project: Fay Chong, William Cumming, Jacob Elshin, and Morris Graves.
Biographical / Historical:
Andrew Chinn (1915-1996) was a Chinese American painter based in Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of Jacob Elshin conducted by Dorothy Bestor on 1965 April 21-22 for the Archives of American Art.
Elshin speaks of his background in Russia and China; moving to Seattle in 1923; his work as a free-lance commercial artist and working as a greeting card artist; painting for the Public Works of Art Project; working on murals for the WPA Federal Art Project; political problems with the WPA; the destruction of some of the work that was produced by the project; some of the injustices he suffered during his years with the WPA. He recalls Robert Bruce Inverarity, Edward Rowan and Mark Tobey.
Biographical / Historical:
Jacob Alexander Elshin (1892-1976) was a painter in Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 10 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of William Cumming conducted by Dorothy Bestor on 1965 April 3 for the Archives of American Art.
Cumming speaks of getting on the Federal Art Project; meeting Morris Graves; problems with the way the project was administered and supervised; destruction of some of the art work produced by the project; his feelings about federal support for the arts; his existential philosophy on life; and his views on current trends in painting. He recalls Jacob Elshin, Robert Bruce Inverarity, Mark Tobey, Denise Farwell, Guy Anderson.
Biographical / Historical:
William Cumming is a painter from Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 29 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jacob Alexander Elshin, 1965 April 21-22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
