The papers of painter, collage artist, and printmaker Nancy Spero measure 26.4 linear feet and 19.12 GB and are dated 1940s-2009. Biographical material, correspondence and other files documenting Spero's personal and professional relationships, interviews and writings, records of Spero's many exhibitions and projects, files highlighting the major subjects that galvanized her, business records, printed and photographic material, and digital and video recordings, offer detailed insight into the career of one of the earliest feminist artists.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, collage artist, and printmaker Nancy Spero measure 26.4 linear feet and 19.12 GB and are dated 1940s-2009. Biographical material, correspondence and other files documenting Spero's personal and professional relationships, interviews and writings, records of Spero's many exhibitions and projects, files highlighting the major subjects that galvanized her, business records, printed and photographic material, and digital and video recordings, offer detailed insight into the career of one of the earliest feminist artists.
Biographical material includes biographical notes and curricula vitae, as well as several video recordings of documentaries about Spero by Patsy Scala and Irene Sosa which feature original footage of Spero at work. Correspondence is personal and professional, and includes letters from artists including Judy Chicago and Ana Mendieta, writers and curators such as Deborah Frizzell and Susanne Altmann, regarding Spero exhibition catalogs, monographs, and articles, and personal news from family members such as Spero's sons, and correspondence related to other aspects of Spero's career.
Interviews of Spero include transcripts, published interviews, and video recordings. Writings include many of Spero's statements about her work, as well as notes, published versions of articles written by Spero, and video recordings of talks and panel discussions she participated in.
Exhibition files for over 75 shows document the extent to which Spero's work has been widely exhibited in her lifetime with numerous solo exhibitions, including major retrospectives in London, Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid, and dozens of group exhibitions in which she participated over the course of her career.
Gallery and museum files supplement the exhibition files by further documenting Spero's dealings with numerous galleries and museums, including Galerie Lelong, which represents Spero's estate, Barbara Gross Galerie, the first gallery in Germany to represent Spero, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Gallery of Canada, and many others. The series also documents Spero's involvement with A.I.R. Gallery, the first independent women's art venue in the United States.
Professional files document other aspects of Spero's career including, but not limited to, awards she received, organizations she participated in or contributed to, publishing projects related to her work, and individual projects she executed such as an installation at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago and the Artemis, Acrobats, Divas & Dancers mosaic tiles she created for the Metropolitan Transit Authority for the 66th Street/Lincoln Center subway station. Also included here are files related to works of art such as Codex Artaud, and Notes in Time.
Subject files, contents of which were presumably used as source material for Spero, document subjects of interest to her, many of which were incorporated into her work and consists primarily of printed material. Broad subject categories include animal rights and conservation, feminism, war, and women. One set of folders documents "museum and political actions" undertaken by Spero and other activists during the 1960s-1970s to fight for equal representation of women in the arts and challenge the male-dominated hierarchy of the art world. Subject files include multiple news articles on torture, rape, and other atrocities committed particularly against women during wartime and by repressive and autocratic political regimes, and also include source material on the archetypal images of women that were fundamental to her interpretation of the female experience.
Printed material documents Spero's entire career from the late 1950s on. Announcements, exhibition catalogs, invitations, news clippings, and periodicals provide comprehensive coverage of her many exhibitions and other events. Printed material also documents the activities of a few other artists, primarily from the 2000s, and includes periodicals, primarily about art, and video recordings of documentaries about art and various other subjects.
Photographic material includes photographs of Nancy Spero from the 1940s on, photos of Spero with family and friends, and photographs of artwork including the heads of Spero's 2007 Maypole: Take No Prisoners which was the last major work completed before her death, originally realized for the Venice Biennale. Also found are a few installation shots and prints, slides, and digital images of Notes in Time at A.I.R. Gallery in 1979.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1950-2009 (Box 1, FC 30; 0.85 linear feet, ER01-ER04; 9.58 GB)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1946-2009 (Boxes 1-4, 27; 2.75 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, 1973-2007 (Boxes 4-5; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1950-2007 (Boxes 5-6; 1 linear foot)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, circa 1976-2009 (Boxes 6-9, 27, OV 28; 3.3 linear feet, ER09-ER10, ER14-ER17; 1.5 GB)
Series 6: Gallery and Museum Files, 1972-2009 (Boxes 9-14; 5.1 linear feet; ER05-ER08, ER12-ER13; 2.962 GB)
Series 7: Professional Files, circa 1967-2008 (Boxes 14-17, RD 29; 3.5 linear feet; ER15; 0.74 GB)
Series 8: Subject Files, 1950s-2009 (Boxes 17-19, 27, OV 28; 2.4 linear feet)
Series 9: Business Records, circa 1976-2008 (Boxes 19-20; 0.7 linear foot)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1949-2009 (Boxes 20-25, 27, OV 28; 5.5 linear feet)
Series 11: Photographic Material, 1940s-2009 (Boxes 25-27; 0.7 linear foot; ER18-ER19; 0.151 GB)
Biographical / Historical:
Nancy Spero (1926-2009) was a figurative painter, printmaker, and collage artist based in New York City whose work was executed primarily on paper from the 1960s on, and often incorporated text. Spero was among the first feminist artists and a political activist whose convictions were expressed relentlessly in her work. Using archetypal representations of women to examine the range of female experience, Spero centered "woman as protagonist" whilst simultaneously examining the suffering women have long been subjected to through structural inequality, the systematic abuses of repressive political regimes, and the atrocities of war.
Born in Cleveland, Nancy Spero lived in Chicago from the time she was a very young child until completing her studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA 1949) where she met her future husband, painter Leon Golub (1922-2004). Spero studied briefly in Paris and lived in New York City, returning to Chicago after her marriage in 1951. The couple and their two sons lived in Italy from 1956 to 1957. In 1959, after a few years in New York, the family moved to Paris where Spero developed an interest in existentialism and produced a series of black paintings. Spero and Golub returned to New York in 1964 with their three sons.
Nancy Spero was strongly affected by the war in Vietnam and the many social changes of the period. She became an activist and feminist, joined various organizations, and participated in a variety of demonstrations. Work such as the War series began to include political and sexual imagery, and Spero's work from here on was primarily executed on paper.
Spero was among the founding members of the women's cooperative A.I.R. Gallery established in 1972. In the 1970s archetypal representations of women in mythology, history, art, and literature became predominant in her work. Included in this vein are major series and installations, among them Torture of Women, Notes in Time on Women, The First Language, and her 66th Street/Lincoln Center subway station mosaic mural Artemis, Acrobats, Divas and Dancers.
Spero exhibited in the 1950 Salon des Independents and her first solo exhibition (in tandem with Leon Golub) was held at Indiana University in 1958. Thereafter, she showed sporadically until nearly 30 years later when her career flourished and she enjoyed international stature. Beginning in 1986, each year brought multiple solo exhibitions at galleries and museums in the United States and internationally. In addition, she continued to participate in group shows such as "Documenta" and the Venice Biennale. Her work is included in the permanent collections of museums throughout the world.
Awards and honors included the Skowhegan Medal for Works on Paper (1995), Hiroshima Art Prize shared with Leon Golub (1996), The Women's Caucus for Art award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Arts (2003), and The Women's Caucus for Art Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement (2005). Spero was awarded honorary Doctorates of Fine Arts by The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1991) and Williams College (2001), and was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2006).
After several years of declining health, Nancy Spero died from heart failure in New York City, October 18, 2009.
Related Materials:
Also among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are an interview with Nancy Spero conducted 2008 Februay 6-July 24, by Judith Olch Richards, and the papers of Spero's husband, Leon Golub.
Provenance:
Following a gift of materials by Nancy Spero in 1979, the majority of the collection was donated by Spero's sons, Stephen Golub, Philip Golub, and Paul Golub, in 2013.
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 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.
Occupation:
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Collagists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Nancy Spero papers, 1940s-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation. Funding for the digitization of the collection was provided by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
The papers of sculptor, video artist, printmaker, and educator Jacqueline Skiles measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1963 to 1980. The papers comment on Skiles's feminist activism and career as an educator and exhibiting artist. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, two photographs, printed material, professional files, and writings.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor, videotape artist, and educator Jacqueline Skiles measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1963 to 1980. The papers comment on Skiles's feminist activism and career as an educator and exhibiting artist. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, two photographs, printed material, professional files, and writings.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Jacqueline Skiles (1937- ) is a sculptor, printmaker, video artist, educator, and writer in New York City, New York. She has been active in New York feminist arts organizations and co-founded the Women's Interart Center.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview of Jacqueline Skiles conducted by Doloris Holmes in 1971 for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project, and the Women's Interart Center records, 1970-1981.
Provenance:
Donated 1979 by Jacqueline Skiles.
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:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Video artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of painter Joan Semmel measure 5.9 linear feet and span the dates of 1949-2013 with the bulk of the material dated circa 1960s-2013. The papers reflect her career and activities as a painter, writer, feminist, and educator through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, project files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Joan Semmel measure 5.9 linear feet and span the dates of 1949-2013 with the bulk of the material dated circa 1960s-2013. The papers reflect her career and activities as a painter, writer, feminist and educator through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, project files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic materials.
Among the biographical materials are awards, educational records,and audiovisual recordings about Joan Semmel and her work.
Professional correspondence concerns exhibitions, publication permissions, panel discussions, symposia, and visiting artist and summer school appointments. Also included are letters of recommendation for colleagues and students. A scattering of personal letters are from novelist David Markson and José Antonio, both of whom had personal relationships with Semmel. There are also a few letters from friends of a purely social nature and a few letters concerning routine personal affairs.
There are two interviews with Joan Semmel on video recordings, one was conducted for a television broadcast and the other is unidentified.
Writings by Semmel include the manuscript, illustrations, research material, and letters relating to her unpublished book about women's erotic art. Also found are articles, artist's statements, and notes for talks about her work. The writings about Semmel consist of several student papers.
Project files relate to two exhibitions curated by Semmel, Contemporary Women: Consciousness and Content (1977) at The Brooklyn Museum of Art School and Private Worlds (2000). One file is related to a project in which Semmel was involved to document the role and status of women in the arts.
Scattered teaching files concern a course about contemporary women artists developed and taught by Semmel for the women's studies program at Rutgers University, circa 1978. Also documented are summer programs at Skowhegan and Sommerakademie in Austria where Semmel served as an instructor.
Binders (now unbound) of printed materials were compiled by Semmel consisting of exhibition catalogs and announcements for solo and group shows, reviews, posters, and miscellaneous printed matter.
Photographs of people include Joan Semmel, friends and colleagues. Among the individuals pictured are: writer David Markson, painter John Hardy, José Antonio Nieto; and feminist artists: Judy Bernstein, Mary Beth Edelson, Eunice Golden, Nancy Grossman, Harmony Hammond, Miriam Schapiro, Sylvia Sleigh, and May Stevens. There are slides, photographs, color photocopies and digital images of Semmel's paintings. Of particular interest are photographs, photocopies of photographs, and digital images that served as source material for paintings, including portrait commissions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 8 seres:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1949-2013 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1973-2013 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, circa 1970s-1986 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1970s-2009 (Box 3; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 5: Project Files, 1972-2000 (Box 3; 3 folders)
Series 6: Teaching Files, 1970s-2000 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1960s-2013 (Boxes 4-6, OV 8; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographic Materials, circa 1965-2013 (Boxes 6-7; 0.6 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Joan Semmel (1932- ) is an abstract painter working in New York City and Easthampton, N. Y. Semmel's work explores erotic themes and the female body. She taught painting at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University from 1978-2000.
Born in New York City in 1932, Joan Semmel studied at the Cooper Union, the Art Students League of New York, and received her BFA in 1963 and MFA in 1972 from Pratt Institute. Semmel moved to Spain in 1963 and exhibited her abstract expressionist work in galleries and museums there before returning to New York in 1970.
Upon Semmel's return to New York, she became involved in the feminist art movement. One of the original Guerrilla Girls, Semmel was involved with several feminist activist art groups devoted to gender equality in the art world. Semmel spent years researching a book about women's erotic art. At the same time, her painting style shifted to incorporate more figurative imagery and she began working on series that explored the themes of the female body, desire, and aging. Each series consisted of 10-30 paintings, produced over several years, among them First and Second Erotic Series, Self Images, Portraits, Figure in Landscape, Gymnasium, Locker Room, Overlays, and Mannequins.
In addition to her teaching career at Rutgers University as a tenured Professor of Painting, Semmel taught briefly at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, Skowhegan, and the Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Germany. Over the years she served as a visiting artist, critic, and lecturer at many colleges, and participated in numerous symposia, panel discussions and conferences. She has received several grants and awards including Macdowell Colony and Yaddo residencies.
Semmel has exhibited widely and prolifically in the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, and South America, in addition to curating two exhibitions, Contemporary Women: Consciousness and Content (1977) at The Brooklyn Museum of Art School and Private Worlds - Art in General (2000). Her work is represented in the permanent collections of many museums including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Chrysler Museum, Guild Hall, Museum of Women in the Arts, Parrish Art Museum, and Vassar College Museum.
Joan Semmel continues to live and work in New York City and Easthampton, NY.
Provenance:
Donated by Joan Semmel in 2014.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access 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.
Occupation:
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of New York and New Mexico writer, art critic, and curator, Lucy R. Lippard, measure 70.5 linear feet and 0.454 GB and date from the 1930s to 2007, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Over half of the collection consists of correspondence files documenting Lippard's professional relationships with artists, writers, galleries, art institutions, and political organizations, and her interest in conceptual and minimalist art, feminism and political activism. Also found are Lippard's notes and writings including sound recordings and interviews, teaching and exhibition files, printed and digital material, several works of art, and photographs of artwork and artists. Scattered throughout the collection are a small number of records concerning Lippard's personal life. An addition of 3.0 linear feet donated 2015 includes subject files on feminist and conceptual art as well as land use, development, and local politics and history in New Mexico.
There is a 17.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2015 and 2021 that incudes research files (press clippings, notes, correspondence, ephemera) related to the publications 'Lure of the Local' and 'Undermining' are a significant portion. In addition there are approximetley 50 notebooks ranging from 1965-1996, containing notes and daily tasks. Printed material and ephemera includes promotional materials for talks and public engagements, as well as press clippings of reviews and other news items featuring Lippard. Another significant portion of the addition is labeled "miscellaneous professional correspondence."Materials date from circa 1965-2010.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York and New Mexico writer, art critic, and curator, Lucy R. Lippard, measure 70.5 linear feet and 0.454 GB and date from the 1930s to 2007, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Over half of the collection consists of correspondence files documenting Lippard's professional relationships with artists, writers, galleries, art institutions, and political organizations, and her interest in conceptual and minimalist art, feminism and political activism. Also found are Lippard's notes and writings including sound recordings and interviews, teaching and exhibition files, printed and digital material, several works of art, and photographs of artwork and artists. Scattered throughout the collection are a small number of records concerning Lippard's personal life. An addition of 3.0 linear feet donated 2015 includes subject files on feminist and conceptual art as well as land use, development, and local politics and history in New Mexico.
A small amount of biographical material comprises resumes and an address book.
Correspondence files document all aspects of Lippard's professional life including her relationships with artists such as Carl Andre, Judy Chicago, Hanne Darboven, Ray Johnson, Sol LeWitt, and Henry Pearson; feminist artists including Mary Beth Edelson, Harmony Hammond, Donna Henes, and May Stevens; political and art-related activist groups such as Alliance for Cultural Democracy, Art Workers Coalition, Political Art Documentation/Distribution, Printed Matter, and Women's Caucus for Art; galleries and museums including Addison Gallery of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art, and publishers including Art International and Art Forum. The series also traces the development of Lippard's involvement in activist causes including censorship and the rights of artists, Central America and the impact of U.S. policy on the region, and equality and reproductive rights for women, as well as her interest in conceptual and minimalist art. The series includes scattered artwork and photographs of artists.
Writings are primarily by Lippard and include correspondence, manuscript drafts, extensive notes, and publication records for some of her best-known books such as The Graphic Work of Philip Evergood (1966), Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object (1973), Eva Hesse (1976), Ad Reinhardt (1985), and Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America (1990), as well as essays for publications such as Art Forum and Studio International and contributions to exhibition catalogs. Also found are edited transcripts from conferences, symposia and interviews conducted by and of Lippard, some audio recordings of interviews and symposia, including an interview with Donald Judd, and notes and typescripts for lectures and speeches.
A small number of files document Lippard's teaching work during the 1970s and 1980s, primarily at the University of Colorado, Boulder where she taught several courses and seminars.
Exhibition files document Lippard's involvement with exhibitions she helped to organize or curate such as A Different War: Vietnam in Art (1989-1991) 557,087 and 955,000 (1969, 1970), 2,972, 453 (1971) c.7,500 (1973-1974) and those for which she wrote catalog contributions.
Printed material includes a collection of articles written by Lippard and a small amount of material concerning events, such as speaking engagements, in which Lippard was involved. Other printed material reflects Lippard's wide range of artistic, political and activist interests and documents exhibitions and performances and the activities of art-related and political groups. Material includes many exhibition catalogs, announcements, invitations, printed posters, news clippings, journal articles, brochures, pamphlets and other publications.
Artwork includes sixteen items by unidentified artists, including two by children. Photographs consist primarily of photographs of works of art in addition to a small number of photos of exhibition installations.
There is a 17.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2015 and 2021 that incudes research files (press clippings, notes, correspondence, ephemera) related to the publications 'Lure of the Local' and 'Undermining' are a significant portion. In addition there are approximetley 50 notebooks ranging from 1965-1996, containing notes and daily tasks. Printed material and ephemera includes promotional materials for talks and public engagements, as well as press clippings of reviews and other news items featuring Lippard. Another significant portion of the addition is labeled "miscellaneous professional correspondence."Materials date from circa 1965-2010.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1960s-circa 1980s (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1950s-2006 (Boxes 1-28, 51, OVs 54-63; 28.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1930s-1990s (Boxes 28-41, 51-52, OVs 64-66; 13.24 linear feet, ER01; 0.454 GB)
Series 4: Teaching Files, 1966-1993 (Boxes 41, 52; 0.76 linear feet)
Series 5: Exhibitions, 1960s-1990s (Boxes 42-45, 52, OVs 67-68; 4.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1940s-2007 (Boxes 45-49, 52, OVs 69-77; 5.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork and Ephemera, circa 1960s-circa 1990s (Boxes 50, 53; 4 folders)
Series 8: Photographs, 1950s-circa 1990s (Boxes 50, 53, OV 71; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1965-2010, (Boxes 78-94; 17.0 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
New York and New Mexico writer and art critic, Lucy R. Lippard, is the curator of numerous exhibitions and the author of over twenty-four books and other writings that trace the emergence of minimalist and conceptual art and document Lippard's commitment to feminism and political activism.
Born in New York City in 1937, Lippard earned a B.A. from Smith College in 1958 and an M.A. in 1962 from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. In the 1960s she began writing art criticism for the journals Art International and Artforum. In 1966 she curated the landmark exhibition Eccentric Abstraction at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City. Lippard then curated the first of four defining conceptual art exhibitions that became known as her "numbers" shows, each titled after the populations of the cities in which they took place, with catalogs in the form of a set of 10 x 15 cm index cards. Opening at the Seattle Art Museum in 1969, 557,087 was followed by 955,000 in Vancouver, Canada, a few months later. 2,972,453 was held at the Centro de Arte y Comunicacíon in Buenos Aires in 1971 and c.7500 opened in Valencia, California, in 1973-1974 before traveling to several other venues in the United States and Europe.
Lippard's first book, The Graphic Work of Philip Evergood was published in 1966, followed by Pop Art the same year, and a collection of her early essays, Changing, in 1971. Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object (1973) and From the Center: Feminist Essays on Women's Art (1976) documented the emergence of conceptual art and the early years of feminist art respectively. In 1976 Lippard published her seminal book on the life and work of Eva Hesse.
Between 1977 and 1978 Lippard lived on a farm in Devon, England, and worked on a novel, The First Stone, about the role of politics in the lives of three generations of women. During her walks across the English countryside she became interested in landscape art and conceived of her book Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory which was subsequently published in 1983. Other books include Get the Message?: A Decade Of Art For Social Change (1984), Ad Reinhardt (1985), and Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America (1990). Lippard has also written regular columns on art and politics for the Village Voice, In These Times and Z Magazine, and has been a contributing editor of Art in America.
Lippard was radicalized during a trip to Argentina in 1968 when she was invited to be a juror at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. On her return to the United States she became heavily involved in anti-war activities and the Art Workers Coalition. She is a co-founder of several feminist and artist organizations including the feminist collective Heresies, which produced Heresies: A Feminist Journal on Art and Politics from 1977-1992, Ad Hoc Women Artists, Alliance for Cultural Democracy, Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America, Women's Action Coalition, and Women's Art Registry. In 1976 she was a founder of Printed Matter, a New York nonprofit dedicated to producing artists' publications. She also worked closely with Franklin Furnace, an artist-run space devoted to the promotion of artists' books, installation art, and video and performance art, and served on the organization's International Committee.
Lippard has been a visiting professor at the School of Visual Arts, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the University of Queensland, Australia, and was Eminent Artist in Residence at the University of Wyoming Department of Art in 2015. She has received honorary doctorates in fine arts from Maine College of Art, the Massachusetts College of Art, Moore College of Art, San Francisco Art Institute, and others, and awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants in criticism, the Smith College Medal, the ArtTable Award for Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts, and the Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies Award for Excellence.
Lippard has lived in New Mexico since 1992 and works as a freelance writer and speaker.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Lucy Lippard conducted in 2011 March 15, by Sue Heinemann, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project, funded by a grant from the A G Foundation.
Provenance:
Lucy R. Lippard donated her papers in several increments between 1972-1995, 2006, 2015 and 2021.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference 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:
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Cornwall (England : County) -- Description and Travel
Europe -- description and travel
Date:
2011 April 22-24
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Moira Roth conducted 2011 April 22- 24, by Sue Heinemann, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History Project, at Roth's home, in Berkeley, California.
Roth discusses her childhood and family background; her "unconventional" mother attending the London School of Economics; her "romantic childhood" growing up in Cornwall, England; her family's move to Letchworth for her to attend St. Christopher, a Montessori school; taking in evacuees from London during the Battle of Britain in 1940; childhood colored with European culture, Jewish culture, and music; at 17 moving from England to Washington, D.C., to live with her Irish father who was working for the International Monetary Fund; her early "passion for travelling"; moving to New York City in 1952; meeting John Cage; her autobiographical writings; travels in Europe; studies at the University of Vienna and the London School of Economics; deciding to be a psychiatric social worker; majoring in sociology with a minor in art history; attending graduate school in art history; her interest in Duchamp; doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley; interviewing artists; her marriage to Bill Roth; teaching; early publications; performances at the Woman's Building in the late 1970s; editing the book "The Amazing Decade: Women & Performance Art in America, 1970-1980" (1983); traveling with Faith Ringgold; friendships with Linda Nochlin, May Stevens, Lucy Lippard and others; experimental theater; her interest in Noh theater; the Women's Caucus for Art at CAA; The Poor Farm contemporary art space; living in the Bay Area; "rethinking feminism in terms of Asian-American Women"; globalism; the fictional character she created, Rachel Marker; and other topics. She recalls Joyce Kozloff, Miriam Schapiro, Judy Chicago, Judy Baca, Claudia Bernardi, Eleanor Antin, Margo Machida, Mary Jane Jacob, Annika Marie, Whitney Chadwick, Suzanne Lacy, Allan Kaprow, Peter Selz, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Moira Roth (1933- ) is an art historian and writer in Berkeley, California.
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.
Occupation:
Art historians -- California -- Interviews Search this
The Girl Artists (1979-1997) was a performance group, consisting of Char Breshgold, Kathleen Clark, Christina DeGennaro, Susan Martin, and Lisa Siegel active in Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR. The group performed multidimensional installation/performance works, which combined visual art techniques with live performance, audio recordings, and projected light.
The Girl Artists records date from circa 1979-1996 and measure 1.7 linear feet. Included are correspondence, writings, printed material, administrative files, photographs and video relating to The Girl Artists group and performances.
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 born-digital records 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.
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
The papers of California artist, curator, and educator Bruria Finkel measure 15.3 linear feet and 83.815 GB, and date from 1953 to 2021. This collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, professional records, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital materials, photographic materials, and sound and video recordings.
There is a 3.2 linear foot and .225 GB unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 and 2022 that includes photographs, film photo slides and slides of works of art; printed material; biographical material; research material regarding papermaking in Japan; journals; project and exhibition files; interviews with Bruria and others on audio cassette, mini DVs and ¼ inch reels; and 16 mm film "Bruria" sequence from Art in America Part 5- Art Careers; and a video, Artist Talk with Bruria Finkel, October 21, 2021, created by the Southern California Women Caucus for the Arts for Third Thursday Artist Talk Time. Material dates from circa 1960-2021.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California artist, curator, and educator Bruria Finkel measure 15.3 linear feet and 83.815 GB, and date from 1953 to 2021. This collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, professional records, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital materials, photographic materials, and sound and video recordings.
Biographical materials include curriculum vitae, art portfolios, documents about studios, honors and awards, website designs and contents, travel documents, family-related video recordings, and miscellaneous items.
The bulk of the correspondence consists of professional correspondence with artists, curators, museums, and galleries about exhibitions. There is some personal correspondence with friends and family.
Writings include an annotated appointment calendar, book proposals, notes, and typescript drafts of statements and articles by Bruria Finkel, along with some writing by others.
Project files include correspondence, proposals, designs, photographic material, notes, budgets, reports, invoices, and printed and digital materials. Notable projects include the Natural Elements Sculpture Park, Tibet Project, and Verona Hotel Wall.
Professional records document Finkel's feminist and political activities. There are membership records of organizations, councils, and committees in addition to files on symposiums, conferences, workshops, and artist residencies. This series includes reports, correspondence, grant applications, mailing lists, presentations, video cassettes and digital video recordings, and other material.
Exhibition files contain material related to exhibitions that featured Bruria Finkel's work as well as exhibitions she curated. There are press releases, reviews, catalogs, correspondence, photographs, digital photographs, slides, price lists, resumes, videocassettes, and digital video recordings. Major exhibitions include Across Time, Space and The Ages (1992-1993), On Xenophobia and Walls (1997), and Women Artists of Southern California Then and Now (2007).
Artists' files consist of limited correspondence, resumes, photographs, and printed and digital materials.
Personal business records include assorted financial and legal documents such as price lists, sales invoices, contracts, and a financial ledger.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, clippings, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and news programs. Some of the materials are in digital format. Most of the material is related to Bruria Finkel, but there is some material on other artists and subjects.
Photographic materials include photographs, digital photographs, and slides. Photographs are of Bruria Finkel, her artwork, projects, and exhibitions. There are some photographs of family, friends, and travel.
There is a 3.2 linear foot and .225 GB unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 and 2022 that includes photographs, film photo slides and slides of works of art; printed material; biographical material; research material regarding papermaking in Japan; journals; project and exhibition files; interviews with Bruria and others on audio cassette, mini DVs and ¼ inch reels; and 16 mm film "Bruria" sequence from Art in America Part 5- Art Careers; and a video, Artist Talk with Bruria Finkel, October 21, 2021, created by the Southern California Women Caucus for the Arts for Third Thursday Artist Talk Time. Material dates from circa 1960-2021.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1977-circa 2014 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, 15.64 GB; ER01-ER13)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-2014 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 3: Writings, 1978-circa 2010 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 4: Project Files, 1979-2014 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, OV 14, 2.01 GB; ER14-ER20)
Series 5: Professional Records, 1971-2013 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, OV 14, 0.941 GB; ER21-ER22)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1972-2012 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 7-10, OV 15, 54.34 GB; ER23-ER49)
Series 7: Artists' Files, 1979-2013 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 10-11, 4.47 GB; ER50-ER55)
Series 8: Personal Business Records, 1977-2007 (0.2 linear feet; Box 11)
Series 9: Printed Materials, 1970-2014 (1 linear feet; Boxes 11-12, OV 15-16, 1.01 GB; ER56-ER58)
Series 10: Photographic Materials, circa 1963-2014 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 12-13, 5.18 GB; ER59-ER66)
Series 11: Unprocessed Addition, 2021 and 2022 (Boxes 17-19, OV 20-21, .225 GB)
Biographical / Historical:
Bruria Finkel (1932-) is an artist, curator and teacher based in Santa Monica, California.
Bruria Finkel was born in Jerusalem in 1932. She studied animal husbandry at Ayanot Agriculture School and received a teaching degree from Seminar Hakibutzim in Tel Aviv, Israel. In 1953, she married a musician and immigrated to the U.S. Their two daughters were born in New York City. In 1959, she divorced and moved to Santa Monica, California with her children. She later married David Finkel, a civil rights lawyer who went on to become a Superior Court judge, with whom she had a son and daughter.
Finkel works with a variety of mediums including pottery, paper, painting, porcelain, and sculpture. She has exhibited widely and her work has been featured in galleries and museums in California, across the country, and abroad. Major exhibitions include Across Time, Space and The Ages (1992-1993) at the Dusseldorf Stadtmuseum in Germany, On Xenophobia and Walls (1997) at the Mill Gallery in England, and The Complete Aleph Series (2009) at Track 16 Gallery in California.
In addition to being a prolific artist, Finkel also has a successful career as a curator. She has curated major exhibitions featuring artists such as Lita Albuquerque, John Baldessari, and Frank Gehry. Santa Monica Originals (2004-2005), Women Artists of Southern California Then and Now (2007), and Breaking in Two: Provocative Images of Motherhood (2012) are a few of the exhibitions she has curated.
Finkel has a long history of political activism and advocating for women. She helped establish the Santa Monica Arts Commission which is dedicated to creating city art programs. She is also a founding member of the Los Angeles County of Women Artists and Womenspace Gallery in Los Angeles. She continues to be actively involved in the Santa Monica community and art scene.
Provenance:
The Bruria Finkel papers were donated in 2015 and 2020-2022 by Bruria Finkel.
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 and born-digital records 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.
Papers compiled by Norma Broude, Mary Garrard, and Broude and Garrard together relating to the feminist art movement, especially the history of the Women's Caucus for Art (WCA). Files include a dossier formed by the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Artists (1972), reports, correspondence, meeting files, founding documents, surveys, committee records, conference records, newsletters, and subject files concerning "Slides of Works by Women Artists: A Sourcebook," 1974, by Garrard. Also included are subject files pertaining to various women's groups and organizations including the Washington Women's Art Center, Federation of Organizations for Professional Women, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Feminist Art Institute.
Biographical / Historical:
Norma Broude (1941- ) and Mary Garrard (1937- ) are art historians and educators in Washington, D.C. Broud and Garrard were members of the WCA (Gerrard was president from 1974-1976) which came into existence after a College Art Association meeting in San Francisco, California,1972.
Related Materials:
Manuscript of Norma Broude, 1964, is also located at Columbia University's Avery Classics Collection.
Provenance:
Donated 2016 by Norma Broude and Mary Garrard.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
The Mierle Laderman Ukeles papers measure 183.3 linear feet and date from circa 1960-2016. Included are correspondence, project files, fiscal files, teaching files, writings, interviews and printed material. A portion of the collection contains electronic media.
Biographical / Historical:
Mierle Laderman Ukeles (1939- ) is a conceptual artist, environmental artist, and public artist in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated 2020 by Mierle Laderman Ukeles.
Restrictions:
This collection is temporarily closed for processing. Contact References Services for more information.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Public artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
What is Feminist Art? questionnaire responses date from 2019 and measure 0.4 linear feet. The questionnaire asking "What is Feminist Art?" was sent by Mary Savig, Curator of Manuscripts at the Archives of American Art, to artists asking each to respond to the question on a single page of 8 1/2" x 11" paper, for inclusion in an exhibition "What is Feminist Art?" curated by Savig. Responses include collages, handwritten and typescript statements, drawings, photographs, and prints. The fifty-one artists responding include Tanya Aguiñiga, Marla Allison, Jerri Allyn, Helène Aylon, Siri Berg, Regina Bogat, Adrienne Maree Brown, Nanibah Chacon, Ann Chernow, Jesse Chun, Sheila de Bretteville, Judy Chicago, Mercedes Dorame, Kristen Dorsey, Anaïs Duplan, Eiko Fan, Audrey Flack, Vanessa Dion Fletcher, Grace Graup-Pillard, Harmony Hammond, Maren Hassinger, Jodie Herrera, Everyl Ocean Hughes, Ginny Huo, Xandra Ibarra, E. Jane, Arlette Jassel, Laura Kina, Joyce Kozloff, Nina Kuo, Carole Frances Lung, Mia Mackrandilal, Amber McCrary, Susan Michod, Yong Soon Min, Linda Mary Montano, Nora Noranjo Morse, Annysa Ng, Patricia Olson, Howardena Pindell, Liz Whitney Quisgard, L.J. Roberts, Martha Rosler, Mimi Smith, Joan Snyder, Tina Takemoto, Mary Temple, Cynthia Tom, Faith Wilding, Martha Wilson and Terry Wolverton. The Archives' 2019 exhibition will include responses to the same question asked of artists for the 1977 exhibition of the same name organized by the Woman's Building, a feminist art organization in Los Angeles, California.
Biographical / Historical:
The Archives of American Art compiled these documents for the exhibition "What is Feminist Art?" at the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery, 2019 where they will be presented along with responses to the same question posed to artists, 1976 and 1977, that were organized into an exhibition at the Woman's Building, Los Angeles, California, February 1977.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Woman's Building Gallery records.
The Archives of American Art also holds the records of the Woman's Building which include responses and other documentation relating to the 1977 exhibition "What is Feminist Art?".
Provenance:
The responses were donated individually by each artist in 2019 and 2020.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
28 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1989 September 10
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Miriam Schapiro conducted 1989 September 10, by Ruth Gurin Bowman, for the Archives of American Art, Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Miriam Schapiro (1923-2015) was a Canadian-born, feminist painter and sculptor in New York, N.Y. and California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 25 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. Funding for this interview was provided by the Margery and Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund of New York.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project Search this
Names:
Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
90 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1990 Mar. 16-Sept. 27
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Suzanne Lacy conducted 1990 Mar. 16-Sept. 27, by Moira Roth, for the Archives of American Art, Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project, in Berkeley, Calif.
Lacy discusses her childhood; early undergraduate work in zoology and medicine at California State University, Fresno; her decision to study in the feminist art program under Judy Chicago; her feminist activities at California Insitute for the Arts with Miriam Schapiro; her role in the women's art movement in Los Angeles; the evolution of her work as a performance artist and specific pieces performed in Los Angeles, La Jolla, Ithaca, N.Y., and Minneapolis.
Biographical / Historical:
Suzanne Lacy (1945- ) is performance artist from California.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 39 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. Funding for this interview was provided by the Margery and Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund of New York.
An interview of Judy Chicago conducted 2009 August 7 and 8, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art, at Chicago's home and studio, in Belen, New Mexico.
Chicago speaks of her work since the late 1980s, having previously discussed her early life and works; printmaking projects with various print studios around the country; giving archived documents to important museums; creating a foundation with her husband Donald Woodman to protect the legacy of their art; the non-profit organization she started in 1978, Through the Flower; her studio practices and her most practiced techniques; keeping a regular schedule; her interest in collaborative projects such as The Dinner Party [1974-1979], the Birth Project [1980-1985], the Holocaust Project [1985-1993] and Resolutions: A Stitch in Time [1994-2000]; working with various textile and glass artists; feeling a kin with other female artists, like Nikki de Saint Phalle and Marisol Escobar; the responsibility she feels to share underrepresented information; her enjoyment of the process of making art and the hope that she creates art that is not bound by time; her relationships with galleries though the years including the ACA Galleries in New York and LewAllen Contemporary in Santa Fe; her intention in making art was not create proactive or controversial art; various teaching positions; her interest in combining text and images in works like Song of Songs [1997-1999]; her more current interest in glass; experimenting with the techniques of casting and etching to achieve her desired images; her want to change institutional policies that underrepresent women artists in museums and the absence of images of women by women artists. Chicago also recalls Henry Hopkins, Mary Ross Taylor, Susannah Rodee, John Bullard, Jack Lemon, Alice Neel, Edward Lucie-Smith, John Copeland, Harold Rosenberg, Carolee Schneemann, Jeffery Bergen, Audrey Flack, Joan Semmel, Nancy Youdelman, David McFadden, Viki Thomson Wylder, Tom Pruitt, Arlene LewAllen, Flo Perkins, Norman and Ruth Dobbins, Karen LaMonte, Lu Jie and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Judy Chicago (1939- ) is a feminist artist and author who lives and works in Belen, New Mexico. Interviewer Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 compact discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 40 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:
Installation artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Performance artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
An interview with Lucy Lippard conducted 2011 Mar. 15, by Sue Heinemann, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project, at Lippard's home, in Galisteo, N.M.
Lippard discusses her childhood summers in Maine; growing up in New Orleans, La., and Charlottesville, Va.; attending the Abbot Academy and Smith College; her junior year in Paris; working in the Museum of Modern Art Library; living on Avenue D; meeting Bob Ryman and Sol Lewitt; birth of her son Ethan; Dore Ashton as a role model; involvement with various groups and political causes including the Angry Arts movement, the Art Workers' Coalition, Women Artists' Committee, Guerilla Art Action Group, Womanhouse, Political Art Documentation and Distribution (PAD/D), the Ad Hoc Women Artists Committee, and others; the development of Heresies Collective; her publications including, "From the Center: Feminist Essays on Women's Art," (1976), "On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art and Place," (1999), "Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America," (1990, 2000), "The Lure of the Local: Sense of Place in a Multicentered Society," (1997), and "Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory," (1983) ; curating exhibitions; travels to Argentina and Mexico; moving to Galisteo, N.M.; interest in the Galisteo Basin; teaching; and other topics. She recalls Ad Reinhardt, Donald Judd, Harmony Hammond, Judy Chicago, Gregory Sholette, Carolee Schneemann, Max Koszloff, Joyce Koszloff, May Stevens, Betsy Hess, Mary Miss, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Lucy R. Lippard (1937- ) is a writer and art critic in New York, N.Y. and Galisteo, N.M.
General:
Originally recorded on Edirol R-09HR on 4 secure digital memory cards. Duration is 4 hr., 29 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:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An oral history interview of Kay WalkingStick conducted 2011 December 14-15, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at WalkingStick's studio, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York.
WalkingStick speaks of her childhood experiences and her parents; her grandfather Simon Ridge Walkingstick and jurisprudence; Dartmouth and Indian scholarships; how her parents met; her mother as a big influence; drawing and art in the family; her siblings; Syracuse; outdoors; Onondaga Valley; painting; winning a Scholastic Art Award; moving to Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania; attending Beaver; the 1950s; Pratt; review in Artnews; Danforth Foundation; Christianity; the women's movement; Cannabis Gallery; Native American heritage; Teepee Form and Chief Joseph; using wax; Dawes Commission; influences and artists; Catholicism; Italy; Bowling Green; sketchbooks; eroticism; Edward Albee's summer camp; Wenger Gallery; The Cardinal Points; being biracial; spirituality; Rome; abstraction and patterns; Il Cortile; Cairo; traveling; teaching; Cornell; Stony Brook; photography; technology; social and political commentary in art; changes to artwork over time; landscapes; mountains and the Rockies; Colorado; dialogues with God; symbols; art world; dealers; the WalkingSticks; Late Afternoon on the Rio Grande; art theory; drawing; diptych format; Venere Alpina; Sex, Fear and Aging; prints and books; and curiosity and humor. WalkingStick also recalls Simon Ralph WalkingStick, Margaret Emma McKaig, Charles WalkingStick, Murray Peterson McKaig, Benton Spruance, Michael Echols, Bear Paw, Bertha Urdang, Ramona Sakiestewa, Jody Folwell, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Emmi Whitehorse, George Longfish, David Penny, Dirk Bach, Bryn Mawr, and Marsden Hartley.
Biographical / Historical:
Kay WalkingStick (1935- ) is a Cherokee painter and professor in Jackson Heights, New York. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is an independent scholar in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded as 7 sound files. Duration is 5 hr., 21 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:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Cherokee artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Merryll Saylan conducted 2006 May 20-June 5, by Glenn Adamson, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, in London, England.
Saylan speaks of her childhood in Los Angeles, California; her early musical education in piano and viola; memories of World War II; her family's political views during the Cold War; meeting her first husband at UCLA; dropping out of school to move to Virginia and Georgia in fulfillment of her husband's military service; experiencing anti-Semitism in Georgia; the challenges of her eldest son's speech problems; traveling to France, Japan, Guatemala, Hong Kong and the Philippines; her interest in Japanese culture; completing her B.A. in design at UCLA and her M.A. in studio art at California State University, Northridge; anti-Vietnam sentiment on campus; early interests in environmental design; her second husband and his friends; her interest in furniture and woodworking; differing approaches to woodworking on the east and west coasts; her views on feminism and working women; her use of color and texture in woodworking; teaching experiences; popular perception of her work; receiving a grant to go to England and her involvement with English and German woodturners; the lack of collector interest in her work; forced absences from working because of illnesses; serving on the boards of the American Association of Woodturners and The Woodturning Center; her involvement in the International Turned Objects Show, the Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Biannual Exposition, and the International Turning Exchange; her thoughts on future work. Saylan also recalls George Foy, Bob Stocksdale, Michael Cooper, Pamela Weir-Quiton, Joanne Rapp, J.B. Blunk, Marvin Lipofsky, Gail Fredell, Wendy Maruyama, Ralph Evans, Del Stubbs, Jerry Glaser, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Merryll Saylan (1936- ) is a wood artist from San Rafael, California. Glenn Adamson (1972- ) is a museum professional, in London, England.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 9 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.
