An interview of Peter Rodriguez conducted 2004 October 23-24, by Nora Wagner, for the Archives of American Art, in San Francisco, Calif.
Rodriguez speaks of his family background, early childhood and elementary art education; travels to Mexico, Alaska, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.; exhibitions he participated in as well as curated; joining Galería de la Raza; the founding of the Mexican Museum in San Francisco, grants received and support from the San Francisco community; artists Jesse Aguirre, Manuel Villamor, and Ester Hernandez; Ann Rockefeller Roberts and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection of Mexican Folkart, acquired by the Mexican Museum in 1985. Rodriquez also discusses the various art forms he works in, including, sculpture, tapestry, oil painting, acrylic painting, portraits of artists, and pen and ink drawings; a collection of chairs he made; his 1992 Retrospective at the Haggin Museum, in Stockton, Calif.; his creativity and color scheme for exhibitions; appointment as an Art Commissioner for the city of San Francisco, 1977-1986; the Rosa Covarrubias collection; the different locations of the Mexico Museum; current funding for a new building on Mission Street; the exhibition "Lo del Corazon"; and his own hopes for the future of the Mexican Museum. Rodriguez also recalls Rufino Tamayo, Adriana Williams, Lauro Lopez, Chucho Reyes Ferreira, Rupert Garcia, Alfredo Arreguin, Candelario Medrano, Terrey Dickey, Bea Carrillo, and Tomás Ybarra-Frausto.
Biographical / Historical:
Peter Rodriguez (1926- ) is the founder and former director of the Mexican Museum, in San Francisco, Calif. Nora Wagner (1938- ) is a program director at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 14 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
