Search Results

Interviewee:

Hu, Mary Lee, 1943-  Search this

Interviewer:

Riedel, Mija, 1958-  Search this

Creator:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Names:

American Craft Council  Search this

Cleveland Institute of Art -- Students  Search this

Cranbrook Academy of Art -- Students  Search this

Lawrence Arts Center  Search this

Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) -- Students  Search this

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Society of North American Goldsmiths  Search this

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale -- Students  Search this

University of Washington -- Faculty  Search this

Baldridge, Mark S., 1946-  Search this

Choo, Chunghi  Search this

Christensen, Hans, 1924-1983  Search this

Dingeldein, Otto  Search this

Eikerman, Alma  Search this

Farafol, Daphne  Search this

Fenster, Fred, 1934-  Search this

Fike, Phillip G., 1927-1997  Search this

Halper, Vicki  Search this

Ho, Ron  Search this

Kidman, Hero  Search this

Kington, L. Brent (Louis Brent), 1934-2013  Search this

Marshall, John, 1936-  Search this

Matsukata, Miye, 1922-1981  Search this

Matzdorf, Kurt  Search this

McMurray, James  Search this

Moty, Eleanor  Search this

Noffke, Gary  Search this

Pujol, Eleanor  Search this

Seppä, Heikki  Search this

Turner, Gary  Search this

Warashina, Patti, 1940-  Search this

Extent:

8 Items (Sound recording: 8 wav files (5 hr., 42 min.), digital)

163 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Place:

Afghanistan -- Description and Travel

Australia -- Description and Travel

China -- Description and Travel

Indonesia -- Description and Travel

Iran -- Description and Travel

Nepal -- Description and Travel

Ohio -- Description and Travel

Papua New Guinea -- Description and Travel

Tibet (China) -- Description and Travel

Turkey -- description and travel

Date:

2009 March 18-19

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Mary Lee Hu conducted 2009 March 18-19, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Hu's home and studio, in Seattle, Washington.

Hu speaks of growing up outside Cleveland, Ohio; her early interest in making objects; attending the Lawrence Art Center camp in Kansas at the age of 16 where she first experimented with metals; her like of working with tools in order to create something; taking metal smith classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art during high school; attending Miami University in Ohio for two years followed by two years an Cranbrook Academy of Art; working as a TA with L. Brent Kington at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale; her collaborative work in both textiles and metals while at Carbondale which lead to her first experimentation in weaving silver wire; creating a body of work for her Master's thesis in which all the pieces were woven wire; various works, their origins, when, where and why they were created, including her Neckpiece, Choker, Bracelet, Brooch and Ring series; her aesthetic interest in patterns, line and positive/negative space; a limited interest in and use of color in her work; the transition from silver to gold wire; a progressively larger interest in the history of jewelry and body adornment which eventually became a lecture at the University of Washington, where she taught for 26 years; numerous trips around the world to countries such as China, Tibet, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia; a strong interest in ethnic and native jewelry/body adornment practices; the various purposes which jewelry can serve in society; her involvement with the Society of North American Goldsmiths and the American Craft Council; her technique based teaching practices; the role that modern technology plays in teaching, learning, and making jewelry; the lack of support and funds for metals programs in universities around the country; her library, which includes aver 2,000 books about the history of jewelry and body adornment; her collection of jewelry from around the world; her want to create beautiful and functional jewelry; the public and private aspects to jewelry and it's role in museums; current projects and the importance to maintain interest of metals in younger generations. Hu also recalls Gary Turner, Hans Christensen, Otto Dingeldein, Heikki Seppä, Hero Kielman, Phil Fike, Patti Warashina, Gary Noffke, Elliott Pujol, Chonghi Choo, Daphne Farafo, Vicki Halper, Ron Ho, Miye Matsukata, Alma Eikermann, Mark Baldridge, Kurt Matzdorf, Eleanor Moty, Fred Fenster, John Marshall, James McMurray, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Mary Lee Hu (1943- ) is a metalsmith in Seattle, Washington. Smith was educated at Cranbrook Academy of Art and Southern Illinois University. She teaches at the University of Washington.

General:

Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 43 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:

Metal-workers -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this

Educators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this

Topic:

Body adornment  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Jewelry making  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.hu09

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a23bb6bc-66a5-4900-9a0f-031b4e2ab83d

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-hu09

Interviewee:

Fenster, Fred, 1934-  Search this

Interviewer:

Yager, Jan, 1951-  Search this

Subject:

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 Fred Fenster, 2004 August 9-10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Metal-workers -- Wisconsin -- Interviews  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Metal-work  Search this

Theme:

Craft  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)12243

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)249007

AAA_collcode_fenste04

Theme:

Craft

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_249007

Interviewee:

Fenster, Fred, 1934-  Search this

Interviewer:

Yager, Jan, 1951-  Search this

Creator:

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:

119 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2004 August 9-10

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Fred Fenster conducted 2004 August 9-10, by Jan Yager, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Fenster speaks of his parents and growing up in the Bronx; getting his degree in industrial arts from City College of New York; becoming interested in working with metals; setting up his first studio and making silver jewelry; getting married; teaching industrial arts for two years at a junior high school in the Bronx; studying metal work at the Cranbrook Academy of Art; working in a metal shop; writing his thesis on pewter work; doing commissioned projects while at Cranbrook; showing his work in the graduate exhibition; working as an Army crafts instructor; teaching metal work at the University of Wisconsin; his teaching philosophy; having a studio at home; teaching workshops at many places including Penland School of Crafts; the influence of other artists and periodicals on his work; teaching a workshop in Taiwan; the process of making a piece in his studio.

Fenster also speaks of his favorite piece that he has made; choosing tools; designing and making Kiddush cups; pricing his work; the importance of function in his work; choosing designs, surfaces, and types of metal; being influenced by ironwork; learning problem solving skills from his father; participating in exhibitions; visiting museums; the influence of aboriginal artifacts and tools; visiting Australia, New Zealand, and Japan; his relationship with collectors; preparing for his retrospective; working on commission; how the craft market has changed; what some of his students are doing now; applying for grants; the influence of Scandinavian design on his work; being a member of many metal and craft organizations; and retiring and plans for the future. Fenster also recalls Al Pine, Bernard Bernstein, Richard Thomas, Michael Jerry, Don Haskins, Zoltan Sepeshy, Stanley Lechtzin, L. Brent Kington, Harvey Littleton, Arthur Vierthaler, Eleanor Moty, Mary Ann Scherr, Jack Prip, Art Smith, Bill Brown, Chunghi Choo, Phillip Morton, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Fred Fenster (1934- ) is a metalsmith of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Jan Yager is a jeweler and metalsmith from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

General:

Originally recorded on 6 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 17 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr., 11 min.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Restrictions:

Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Topic:

Metal-workers -- Wisconsin -- Interviews  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Metal-work  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.fenste04

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9296a1c69-6a55-4368-9c12-4b6771e88a54

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-fenste04

Author:

Clowes, Jody  Search this

Fenster, Fred 1934-  Search this

Moty, Eleanor  Search this

Chazen Museum of Art  Search this

Subject:

Fenster, Fred 1934-  Search this

Moty, Eleanor  Search this

University of Wisconsin--Madison Faculty  Search this

Physical description:

125 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Place:

Wisconsin

Madison

Date:

2006

C2006

Topic:

Art metal-work  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_799819