An interview of Beverly Mayeri conducted 2007 September 15 and October 3, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Mayeri's studio, in Sausalito, California.
An interview of Beverly Mayeri, conducted by Mija Riedel for the Archives of American Art, at the artist's studio in Mill Valley, California, on September 15, 2007 and October 3, 2007. Mayeri speaks of her childhood in New Jersey; the artistic and creative activities of her parents; her mother, who was a watercolorist; her father, who was an inventor, woodworker, and artist; enjoying setting up and conducting biology experiments in high school; working as an intern marine biologist between senior year of high school and freshman year of college; attending the University of California, Berkeley and receiving her degree in zoology; becoming interested in clay during her senior year at Berkeley; her marriage, daughter, and time spent in New York City where she was unable to focus on ceramics; participating in classes and workshops at the Sausalito Art Center upon her return to California; her early functional, production work; being inspired by Karen Breschi's work, which led to the Mother series; working from her garage; attending graduate school at San Francisco State University; reading Erich Neumann's "The Great Mother" and becoming interested in the psychological world within individuals and expressing that through art; the development of the checkerboard theme in her work; expressing a personal truth that others will recognize in themselves; the prevalence of faces, animals, patterns, and texture in her work; portraiture and anatomy; working with dark clay; exploring environmental themes; the connection between expressing both human and environmental frailty; the cyclical nature of her work in returning to previous themes; conveying stillness versus gesture; her experience with galleries, including Susan Cummins Gallery, Dorothy Weiss Gallery, and Ivory Kimpton Gallery; the freedom of working with acrylic paint as opposed to glaze; and becoming more involved in environmental activism. Mayeri also recalls Peter Marler, Marni Turkel, Diana Bohn, Marilyn Stiles, Steven De Staebler, Robert Arneson, José Argüelles, Wendy Gruber, Mimi Chen-Ting, Gail Van Dyke, Daniel Goldstein, Allan Frumkin, George Adams, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Beverly Mayeri (1944- ) is a ceramist in Mill Valley, California. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a curator and writer from San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 34 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.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Melvin Kranzberg Papers, 1934-1988, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Beverly Mayeri, 2007 September 15-October 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Smith, Neal Griffith, Goldstein, David L., and Bartholomew, George A. 1986. "Is Long-Distance Migration Possible for Soaring Hawks Using Only Stored Fat?" The Auk, 103, (3) 607–611.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Search this
Extent:
0.25 Cubic feet (2 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Transcripts
Audiotapes
Date:
1996.
Summary:
Transcripts and audio cassettes of oral history interviews with pioneers in the field of microelectronics. The interviews document the spectrum of innovative activities in the microelectronics industry.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains transcripts and original audio cassettes of oral history interviews with pioneers in the field of microelectronics. Series 1, Transcripts, 1996 are arranged alphabetically and a table of contents and abstracts are available for each interview. Series 2, Audio Cassette Tapes, 1996 are arranged alphabetically. The interviews were conducted by Andrew Goldstein, David Morton, and Frederik Nebeker.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into two series.
Series 1: Transcripts, 1996
Series 2: Audio Cassette Tapes, 1996
Historical:
The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, in cooperation with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Center for the History of Electrical Engineering, conducted oral histories to document the spectrum of innovative activities in the microelectronics industry. These activities include, translation (people or companies instrumental in knowledge transfer between invention stage and commercialization); venture capital (entrepreneurs or financiers); applications (use of the basic form of microelectronics technology in entirely new, often unexpected applications) research management; legal issues; and chip design.
Provenance:
This collection was created by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation with NMAH staff member, Barney Finn of the Division of Information, Technology and Communication and David Morton of the Center for the History of Electrical Engineering in 1996.
Restrictions:
Some oral histories are restricted; others unrestricted for research use on site by appointment. Gloves required with unprotected photographs.
Viewing the future in the past : historical ecology applications to environmental issues / edited by H. Thomas Foster II, Lisa M. Paciulli, and David J. Goldstein
