An interview of Ramona Solberg conducted 2001 March 23, by Vicki Halper, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Solberg's apartment, Seattle, Washington.
Solberg speaks of her family background and childhood in Seattle; her jewelry studies with Ruth Pennington at the University of Washington in Seattle and her use of found objects; her service in the Unites States Army; attending the Edison Vocational School on the GI Bill and pursuing a masters degree in jewelry at the University of Washington; studies with Coralyn Pence; her travels to Mexico and her fascination with pre-Columbian objects; enameling in Norway; collecting beads from around the world; her book, "Inventive Jewelry-Making" (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1972); leading tours for a Seattle-based group, "Friends of the Crafts," to the Middle East, Asia, Antarctica, and elsewhere for 16 or 17 years; teaching at Central Washington State College and creating her first bead and found object pieces there in 1956; her fondness for turquoise, lapis, and coral; inviting Don Tompkins to teach at Central Washington State College; Tompkins's "tongue-in-cheek" use of metals; her desire to make jewelry that can "shake, rattle, and roll"; teaching and workshops; her use of preliminary sketches; her soldering technique; fasteners; the weight of her jewelry; the "restraints of jewelry"; her lack of interest in making matched sets and bracelets and rings; the lack of social commentary in her work; her series of pieces inspired by the book, "Watership Down;" the influence of Fred Woell and his use of "American throw-aways"; her involvement with the Northwest region of the American Craft Council; her association with a group of jewelers in the Northwest including Ron Ho, Laurie Hall, Nancy Worden, and Kiff Slemmons; making beaded fibulas; curating exhibitions such as Ubiquitous Bead (1987) and Ubiquitous Bead II (1998) at the Bellevue Art Museum in Seattle; exhibitions at Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle and the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington in Seattle; working in small spaces; getting into the exhibition Objects: USA "through the back door"; her status as an international artist; pricing her work; her pieces in museum collections; and her health. She recalls Russell Day, Jack Lenor Larsen, Sam and Frieda Maloof, John Marshall, Marvin Lipofsky, LaMar Harrington, Mary Lee Hu, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Ramona Solberg (1921-2005) was a jeweler from Seattle, Washington. Vicki Halper is a curator at the Seattle Art Museum.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 13 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.
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
The papers of ceramicist and sculptor Akio Takamori measure 0.5 linear feet and date from 1981 to 2004. The collection comprises professional files containing an artist statement, correspondence with Vicki Halper and others, a digital photographic print of Takamori with Jun Kaneko, a presentation book, and a work plan for the European Ceramics Work Centre. Also found are printed materials featuring Takamori, and artwork by Takamori including drawings and sketches in pencil, pen, and ink.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of ceramicist and sculptor Akio Takamori measure 0.5 linear feet and date from 1981 to 2004. The collection comprises professional files containing an artist statement, correspondence with Vicki Halper and others, a digital photographic print of Takamori with Jun Kaneko, a presentation book, and a work plan for the European Ceramics Work Centre. Also found are printed materials featuring Takamori, and artwork by Takamori including drawings and sketches in pencil, pen, and ink.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: Professional Files, 1981-circa 1995 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Printed Materials, circa 1981-2004 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Artwork, circa 1990s (2 folders; Box 1, OV 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Akio Takamori (1950-2017) was a Japanese American ceramicist and sculptor based in Seattle, Washington. He is known for his figures, some life-sized, based on his childhood memories of Japan, and observations about his native Japanese and adopted American cultures.
Takamori was born in Nebeoka, Miyazaki, Japan. His father, an obstetrician, introduced him to art through art and medical books. Takamori went on to graduate in 1971 from Musashino Art College. After graduation, he became an apprentice to a master potter in Koishiwara ware and met American ceramicist Ken Ferguson who encouraged Takamori to study in the United States. Taking Ferguson's advice, Takamori moved to the United States and studied at Kansas City Art Institute, graduating in 1974. Takamori continued his studies at Alfred University earning his Master of Fine Arts degree. He eventually moved to Seattle, Washington in 1993 where he continued to produce ceramic sculptures and worked as an associate professor at the University of Washington.
Takamori died of pancreatic cancer in 2017.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Akio Takamori conducted on March 20-21, 2009, by Mija Riedel for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Takamori's studio, in Seattle, Washington.
Provenance:
The Akio Takamori papers were donated in 2004 by Akio Takamori as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
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.
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.
Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Akio Takamori's widow, Vicki Takamori. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mary Lee Hu, 2009 March 18-19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 Ramona Solberg, 2001 March 23. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Smithsonian Institution. Office of Fellowships and Internships Search this
Container:
Box 13 of 64
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted for 15 years; until Jan-01-2028. These records contain sensitive information and will be redacted by SIA before use by researchers. Boxes 1, 6-7, 12-14, and 58-64 contain materials restricted indefinitely; see finding aid.; Transferring office; 8/19/2013 memorandum, Johnstone to Murphy; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 14-099, Smithsonian Institution, Office of Fellowships and Internships, Program Records
