The collection of audiovisual material relating to Pacita Abad measures 89.63 GB and dates from 1984 to 2008. All materials in this collection are in born-digital format and include video and audio recordings and presentations. The Biographical Materials series includes videos of Pacita Abad's life in the Washington, D.C., region, and several recordings of memorials and services after her passing in 2004. The Professional Materials series consists of videos of two workshops and two lectures given by Pacita Abad. The Interviews and Documentaries series consists of American and Asian TV programs, films, and radio interviews with and about Pacita Abad and her art. The Exhibitions and Artwork series has videos and presentations of Pacita Abad's art, and solo and group exhibitions.
Scope and Contents:
The collection of audiovisual material relating to Pacita Abad measures 89.63 GB and dates from 1984 to 2008. All materials in this collection are in born-digital format and include video and audio recordings and presentations. Several of the videos were transferred from VHS tapes. Some recordings in this collection are only partially transferred, and technical quality of both audio and video components varies. The Biographical Materials series includes videos of Pacita Abad's life in the Washington, D.C., region, and several recordings of memorials and services after her passing in 2004. The Professional Materials series consists of videos of two workshops and two lectures given by Pacita Abad. The Interviews and Documentaries series consists of American and Asian TV programs, films, and radio interviews with and about Pacita Abad and her art. The Exhibitions and Artwork series has videos and presentations of Pacita Abad's art, and solo and group exhibitions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1994-2005 (19.39 GB; ER01-ER08)
Series 2: Professional Material, 1995-2000 (11.86 GB; ER09-ER11, ER42)
Series 3: Interviews and Documentaries, 1990-2004 (36.68 GB; ER12-ER29)
Series 4: Exhibitions and Artwork, 1984-2008 (21.70 GB; ER30-ER41)
Biographical / Historical:
Pacita Abad (1946-2004) was an Ivatan and Filipina painter based in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Abad emigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1970, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1994.
Abad traveled in over 80 countries and different cultures had a profound influence on her artistic style. She developed a technique of trapunto painting, which entailed stitching and stuffing painted canvases to give them a three-dimensional, sculptural effect, and incorporating materials such as traditional cloth, mirrors, beads, shells, plastic buttons, and other objects into the surface of paintings. Abad crafted more than 5,000 artworks over a 30-year career. Her work has been featured in over 60 solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries worldwide, and her art is held in private collections and cultural institutions in more than 70 countries.
Provenance:
Donated 2009 by Jack Garrity, Abad's husband and director of Pacita Abad Art Estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
This collection is open for research. 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.
An interview with Carlos Villa conducted 1989 July 11, by Moira Roth, for the Archives of American Art, at Villa's studio in Oakland, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Carlos Villa (1936- 2013) was a Filipino American painter, curator, and educator based in San Francisco, California. Moira Roth (1933- ) is an art historian and writer in Berkeley, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 U-matic videocasettes.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview with Carlos Villa, 1995 June 20-July 10.
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 not transcribed. The video recording is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
A resume; correspondence, 1954-1991, mainly regarding teaching positions at Seattle University and commissions; 7 sketches for mural projects; art inventories, 1970 and 1987; writings, including biographical notes, and a portion of his M.F.A. thesis "Hard Edge Variations," 1964; exhibition announcements; clippings; photographs of Laigo in his studio, Laigo with his paintings, and his family; 2 video tapes, 1990, taken by Marvin Herard of Laigo discussing his murals at the Seattle University Library.
ADDITION : A chronology; awards; clippings; magazine articles; writings; obituary; correspondence; and two video tapes, including Wing Luke Art Museum's January 29, 1994 Auction Honoring Val Laigo, and Seattle University Laigo Retrospective Show at the Kinsey Gallery, October 6 to November 19, 1992.
Biographical / Historical:
Val Laigo (1930-1992) was a Filipino American painter based in Seattle, Washington. Val Laigo was born in Naguilian, La Union, in the Phillipines. His family moved to the United States in 1931 and to Seattle in 1941. Laigo's full name Valeriano Emerenciano Montante Laigo.
Provenance:
Donated 1990 by Val Laigo and in 1994 and 1998 by his widow Austreberta Laigo.
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.
Occupation:
Artists -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Extent:
1 Sound recording (digital audio file)
Type:
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Date:
2016 July 09
Scope and Contents:
Hosts from Radio Bilingue will interview Filipino American artist Low Leaf about the use of tradition and technology in her music.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
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
An interview of Val Laigo conducted 1989 July 12, by Alan Lau and Kazuko Nakane, for the Archives of American Art Northwest Asian American Project, in Laigo's home, Seattle, Wash.
Laigo speaks of learning how to paint at age eleven with watercolors; growing up with a heart condition known as Eisenmenger's Complex; teaching at Highline High School and creating a wolverine as the school's mascot; the inclusion of his life story in a Filipino oral history project; singing for an orchestra called the Gentlemen of Rhythm, at the Filipino Catholic Youth Activities events and other venues; Doug Bennett as an influence in composition and design; being a student at Seattle University and joining Art Equity in approximately 1951; remembering his painting, "Madonna" being shown at the Seattle Art Museum; his first show at the People's Furniture Store and later with Fay Chong at the Hathaway House; Zoe Dusanne became his agent; his introduction to the MacPaint software program and his first piece of computer art; his desire to study Mexican muralists, Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, David Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo and becoming at student at Mexico City College; his life in Mexico with the woman who would become his wife; the strong influence of Nick Damascus on his painting; how his palette changed to brighter colors after living in Mexico; his health crisis there that lead him to abandon his work towards a master's degree and return to Seattle in 1959; having to start over from the beginning at the University of Washington; Tommy Kwazume hiring him at Boing as an artist in 1960; Lee Nordness and the RCA Victor album cover; his negative experience with Margaret Reed while showing at the Panaca Gallery; his exhibit at the Frye Art Museum in 1969 and criticism by Clark Voorhees; his Mexican experience having influenced his vigor and scale; the Lost Generation series; his comment about Picasso not being able to paint; encouragement from his family to pursue art training; the murder of his father in 1936; his mother's success as a new painter; and his work, "Dilemma of the Atom" featured on the cover of an RCA Victor record album. Laigo also recalls Perry Acker, Foster White Gallery, David Mendoza, Fred Mendoza, Tom Tooley, Ray Sadirius, Quincy Jones, Oscar Holden's Orchestra, Fred Cordova, Mits Katayama, Rudy Bundis, Kal Chin, Paul Horiuchi, James Washington, Dick Kirsten, Frank Okada, John Matsudaira, Walter Froelich, Bill Ritchie, John Counts, Don Fenton, Kenneth Callahan, Fred Run, Barry Ferrell, Ken Harms, Andrew Chin, Ben Dar, Ruth Mora, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Val Laigo (1930-1992) was a Filipino American painter based in Seattle, Washington. Val Laigo was born in Naguilian, La Union, in the Phillipines. His family moved to the United States in 1931 and to Seattle in 1941. Laigo's full name Valeriano Emerenciano Montante Laigo.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 48 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.
Occupation:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
An interview of Carlos Villa conducted 1995 June 20-July 10, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Villa discusses his "progress" from Filipino background to his art world identity; the phenomena and individuals who contributed to the new awareness in the mid-1970s: "El Movimiento," Chicano "Rasquache," Rupert Garcia, Amalia Mesa-Baines; the idea of "recuperation," and the sense of Asian-American identity and community as a basis for his art. Villa recalls growing up in San Francisco; his early life; living in the Tenderloin district and his exposure to racism; the influence of his cousin, artist Leo Valledor; growing up Filipino in California and the difficulties that accompanied it. Villa discusses popular (black) culture, jazz "guapo," zoot-suit style as role models and basis for aesthetic/art; his admiration for black self-esteem; his aesthetics; viewing art as a way out of the ghetto and an escape from racism.
Villa discusses his introduction to the California School of Fine Arts (soon thereafter the San Francisco Art Institute); his need to be part of the artist community; CSFA and other students and teachers; and his self-conception as a modernist. He discusses the technical aspects of his art; the influence of various Bay Area artists on his work; his investigation of Filipino art history and his role models; the role of the women at the CSFA and women as role models. Villa recalls his first show at Pointdexter in New York; his associations with minimalists and the Park Place Gallery group; his New York minimalist phase and his need to escape the New York environment after six years. He discusses his return to the Bay Area and his use of identity/politics as subjects for his art.
Villa recalls or mentions Rupert Garcia, Leo Valledor, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, Bill Morehouse, David Stone Martin, Wallace Berman, William Wiley, Bob and Dona Hudson, Bill Allen, Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, Ralph DuCass, Walter Kuhlman, Wally Hedrick, Bruce Conner, Alvin Light, Claire Falkenstein, Bob McFarlane, Hayter, Tapies, Fred Martin, Nathan Oliveira, Jennifer Bartlett, Dick Maclean, Elizabeth Murray, Alfred Neumeyer, Mark Rothko, Kenneth Noland, Sol Lewitt, Mark di Suvero, Robert Grovesnor, Tom Seligman, Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg, Angela Davis, and Moira Roth.
Biographical / Historical:
Carlos Villa (1936-2013) was a Filipino American painter, curator, and educator in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 8 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 15 digital wav files. Duration is 7 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral History interview with Carlos Villa, 1995 June 20-July 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Carlos Villa worlds in collision edited by Mark Dean Johnson and Trisha Lagaso Goldberg with Sherwin Rio ; with contributions by Tricia Laughlin Bloom, Patrick D. Flores, Luis H. Francia, Theodore S. Gonzalves, Paul J. Karlstrom, Lucy R. Lippard, Margo Machida, and Sherwin Rio
Schematic drawing for mural project at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, Seattle, Washington, circa 1980. Val Laigo papers, 1954-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Schematic drawing for mural project at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, Seattle, Washington, circa 1980. Val Laigo papers, 1954-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Schematic drawing for mural project at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, Seattle, Washington, circa 1980. Val Laigo papers, 1954-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph of Val Laigo next to his mosaic in Dr. Jose Rizal Park, Seattle, Washington, between 1988 and 1989. Val Laigo papers, 1954-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Carlos Villa, 1989 July 11. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
