The papers of Chicago artist and educator Ray Yoshida measure 10 linear feet and date from circa 1895 to 2010, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950 to 2005. Yoshida's career as a painter and collagist as well as his long tenure as a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are documented through biographical material, personal correspondence, notebooks and writings, teaching records, personal business records, printed material, source material, photographs, sketchbooks, artwork by Yoshida and others, and scrapbooks. Items within the collection also document Yoshida's personal interest in collecting folk art and artifacts.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Chicago artist and educator Ray Yoshida measure 10 linear feet and date from circa 1895 to 2010, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950 to 2005. Yoshida's career as a painter and collagist as well as his long tenure as a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are documented through biographical material, personal correspondence, notebooks and writings, teaching records, personal business records, printed material, source material, photographs, sketchbooks, artwork by Yoshida and others, and scrapbooks. Items within the collection also document Yoshida's personal interest in collecting folk art and artifacts.
Biographical material about Ray Yoshida includes award certificates, identification records, student records, and interview transcripts. Also found is one video recording of a documentary short about Yoshida's art and object collection at his Chicago home.
Correspondence includes letters, postcards, and greeting cards from friends, colleagues, and artists, including Roger Brown, Jim Nutt, Gladys Nilsson, Christina Ramberg, Karl Wirsum, Miyoko Ito, Jin Soo Kim, Barbara Rossi, Vera Berdich, and Tom Kapsalis.
Notebooks contain notes on art history, art technique, Japanese language, travel, and other subjects. Many of the notebooks include sketches and contain loose items.
Writings by Yoshida consist of college papers, fragments of writings on art and other subjects, and notes. Writings by others include essays by Yoshida's students, exhibition essay drafts, and poetry.
Teaching records primarily document Yoshida's tenure as a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, though a few records of guest professorships at other schools are included. These records include course evaluations, employment records, teaching notes, and letters of recommendation for students. Miscellaneous teaching records include department memos, course summaries, correspondence, and notes.
Personal business records consists of documentation regarding the sale, exhibition, and loan of artwork by Ray Yoshida, including his business dealings with the Phyllis Kind Gallery. Additionally there are several files regarding the estate of artist Roger Brown.
Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, news clippings, newsletters and press releases documenting Yoshida's career and other subjects.
Source material consists of material that Yoshida gathered and intended to use for his art. Collected printed material includes postcards, comics and comic books, mail order catalogs, magazines, product labels, and advertisements. Also found are many small clippings from comics collected for collages.
Photographs depict Ray Yoshida, friends, students, travel, and artwork. Also found are a few photographs of Karl Wirsum's studio, as well as photographs of various subjects collected by Yoshida. Additionally, there is one photograph album from the early 1910s of an unidentified family.
Sketchbooks include pencil and ink sketches of various subjects.
Artwork by Ray Yoshida includes collages on paper, pencil sketches, and ink drawings. Artworks by others include numerous prints by Kathleen Blackshear, Ethel Spears, and Vivian Mayers, and collages, drawings, and prints given to Yoshida by students and friends. Some work by unidentified artists is included as well. Other artwork, such as handmade picture and alphabet books, appears to have been created by children and collected by Yoshida.
Scrapbooks include volumes that were created by Yoshida as well as books created by others. Three of the scrapbooks containing source images, clippings, and comics appear to have been created by Yoshida. Additional scrapbooks were created by others and collected by Yoshida.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 12 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1950-2005 (0.5 Linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1952-2009 (2 Linear feet; Boxes 1-3, 11, 15)
Series 3: Notebooks, circa 1956-circa 2000 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 3)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1950-2003 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 3)
Series 5: Teaching Records, circa 1960-2003 (0.6 Linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, circa 1960-2010 (0.4 Linear feet; Box 4)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1906-2010 (1.8 Linear feet; Boxes 4-6, 11, OV 14)
Series 8: Source Material, circa 1940-circa 2005 (0.7 Linear Feet; Boxes 6-7, 11)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1910-circa 2005 (0.5 Linear feet; Box 7)
Series 10: Sketchbooks, circa 1960-circa 2000 (1.1 Linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 11-13)
Series 11: Artwork, 1903-2009 (0.7 Linear feet; Boxes 8, 13)
Series 12: Scrapbooks, circa 1895-circa 2005 (1 Linear feet; Boxes 8-10, 13)
Biographical / Historical:
Ray Yoshida (1930-2009) was a Japanese American painter, collagist, and educator based in Chicago, Illinois.
Raymond Kakuo Yoshida was born in Kapaa, Hawaii, in 1930. He attended the University of Hawaii for two years and completed a B.A. in Arts Education at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953. He also served in the U.S. Army for two years during the Korean War. In 1957 he recieved his M.F.A from Syracuse University and became a faculty member at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1959. He was named Frank Harold Sellers Professor in the Department of Painting and Drawing in 1971, retired as professor emeritus in 1998, and continued to teach until 2003.
Yoshida was a member of the Chicago Imagists, a loose and informal group of representational artists from the late 1960s to early 1970s who were influenced by Surrealism and connected to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Yoshida's friends and contemporaries among this group include but are not limited to Roger Brown, Ed Paschke, Christina Ramberg, and Barbara Rossi. Yoshida was an inspiring teacher and he mentored many of the later Chicago Imagists such as Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, and Karl Wirsum.
Yoshida's paintings and collages were strongly influenced by comics as well as his own collection of folk and outsider art. He regularly exhibited at Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago from 1975 to 1996, and a major retrospective of his work was organized by the Contemporary Museum of Honolulu in 1998. He retired to Hawaii in 2005 where he lived until his death in 2009 due to cancer. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Sullivan Galleries held a posthumous retrospective exhibition of Yoshida's work from 2010-2011 and the John Michael Kohler Art Center had an exhibition of Yoshida's personal collection of art and artifacts in 2013.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2012 by Ray Yoshida via Terri Yoho of the Kohler Foundation, representing Yoshida's estate, and in 2013 and 2015-2016 by Jennifer Sabas and Shayle Miller, estate executors.
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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copy requires advance notice. One box of letters from Jim Nutt are ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.
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.
Ray Yoshida papers, circa 1895-2010, bulk 1950-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of the Ray Yoshida papers received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
The papers of Japanese American fiber artist and ceramicist Alice Kagawa Parrott measure 7.1 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2010. The papers document Parrott's career as a textile artist and weaver based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There is a small amount of biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, and art institutions; personal business records mostly of financial records related to Parrott's business The Market later known as Parrott Fabrics Inc.; studio practice files related to equiment, materials, and designs for wall hangings, clothes, and tapestries; printed material such as exhibition catalogs and clippings mostly on Parrott and her arwork but also on other artists; and photographs and slides of Parrott, her weavings, family and friends, and her studio and home.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Japanese American fiber artist and ceramicist, Alice Kagawa Parrott, measure 7.1 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2010. The collection mainly documents Parrott's work as a fiber artist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There is a small amount of biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, and colleagues; personal business records mostly of financial records related to Parrott's business The Market later known as Parrott Fabrics Inc.; studio practice files related to equiment, materials, and designs for wall hangings, clothes, and tapestries; printed material such as exhibition catalogs and clippings mostly on Parrott and her arwork but also on other artists; and photographs and slides of Parrott, her weavings, family and friends, her studio and home, and dyeing process.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1957-2009 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-2009 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, circa 1957-2009 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 2-4, 9)
Series 4: Studio Practice Files, 1951-2005 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, 9)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1954-2008 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 9)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1950-2010 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 7-9)
Biographical / Historical:
Alice Kagawa Parrott (1929-2009) was a Japanese American fiber artist and ceramicist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Parrott was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1929 to Takato and Isono Kagawa who were Japanese immigrants. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1952, then studied weaving at Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she met ceramicist Toshiko Takaezu, who became a lifelong friend. After graduating from Cranbrook in 1954, she taught weaving and ceramics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In 1956, she married Allen Morgan Parrott and they moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they bought a home and adopted their sons Ben and Tim. Also that year, she opened a weaving and craft shop called The Market, which later became Parrott Fabrics Inc. Parrott had many commissions and customers, such as the woodworker Sam Maloof. A notable early commission was from the Santa Fe Opera. From 1971-1972, Parrott was an artist-in-residence in Maui, where she taught workshops and created tapestries for several public commissions. In 1977, she became an American Craft Council Fellow. Parrott participated in numerous exhibitions over the course of her career. Parrott passed away in 2009 in Santa Fe.
Provenance:
The Alice Kagawa Parrott papers were donated in 2019 by Paul Kagawa and Diane Leavitt, trustees of the Alice Kagawa Parrott Family Trust.
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 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.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Hisako Hibi and Matsusaburo "George" Hibi papers, circa 1906-2022. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Miyoko Ito conducted 1978 July 20, by Dennis Barrie, for the Archives of American Art.
Ito discusses her family background; being in Japan at an early age, attending school and learning calligraphy; returning to California in 1928; excelling in drawing and painting; attending Berkeley High School; studying watercolor at Berkeley School of Water Color; studying under Erle Loran, Worth Ryder, John Haley; the influence of Hans Hofmann; being in internment camp (Camp Rann); attending Smith College, Northampton to study painting under instructor George Cohen; attending the Art Institue of Chicago and meeting Francis Chapin and Joan Mitchell; being influenced by Bonnard; moving into lithography at Oxbow; studying under Max Kahn; doing printmaking and etching; and participating in the Momentum Shows. Ito mentions Ynez Johnston, Leonard Edmondson, Lionel Venturi, Ellen Lanyon, Don Baum, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Vera Berdich.
Biographical / Historical:
Miyoko Ito (1918-1983) was a Japanese American painter based in Chicago, Illinois.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 tape reel (5 in.).
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 others.
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-1983 Search this
Extent:
34 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2002 June 21-July 5
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Ruth Asawa and her husband, Albert Lanier, 2002 June 21-July 5, conducted by Mark Johnson on June 21 and Paul Karlstrom on July 5, for the Archives of American Art, in the subjects' home/studio in San Francisco, California.
Asawa and Lanier shared their memories of Black Mountain College, Josef and Anni Albers (with whom they became close friends) and Buckminster Fuller. Part of their account of those years and the early stage of their marriage dealt with issues of race.
Biographical / Historical:
Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) was a Japanese American sculptor based in San Francisco, California. Albert Lanier is an architect from San Francisco, California. Interviewer Mark Johnson is head of the California Asian American Artists Biographical Survey and resides in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 20 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:
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
An interview of Kay Sekimachi [Stocksdale] conducted 2001 July 26-August 6, by Suzanne Baizerman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Sekimachi's home in Berkeley, California.
Sekimachi speaks of her family and early childhood in Berkeley; a trip to Japan when she was four, during which her older brother died of dysentery; what it was like growing up in a Japanese community in Berkeley; the death of her father when she was ten years old; learning Japanese culture through her mother's cooking and traditions; the relocation of her family during WWII; learning to paint and draw at the relocation center in Tanforan; moving to Utah, then Cincinnati before finally returning to Berkeley; her trip to Japan in 1974 and how it felt like she really belonged there, and falling in love with the Japanese aesthetic; trips to London, and consequently meeting Ann Sutton and Peter Collingwood; studying and working with Trude Guermonprez; teaching for Mary Woodard Davis in Santa Fe, N.M.; her first trip to Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine.; how the community groups and guilds provided support and many friendships, including Claire Weaver; some of the magazines she subscribes to, and the numerous books that influenced her during her career, by Anni Albers, Mary Atwater, and others; how her work started out as functional and gradually became non-functional; the many different types of her artwork, monofilament, paper bowls, and hornets nests; the limitations of the loom, and learning to experiment with fiber; difficulty of selling her craft; the numerous places she has exhibited and sold her work, including but not limited to Local Color, Nanny's (both in San Francisco), the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, and Brown Grotta Gallery in Wilton, Connecticut; how she doesn't like to deal with agents, and dealers; her marriage to Bob Stocksdale; her studio and the studio of her husband; all of the artwork in her dining room and living room area; and how she is still weaving, but is not as frequent in her studio because she has been taking care of Bob. Sekimachi also recalls Kenneth Trapp, Marguerite Wildenhain, Lee Nordness, Loiuse Allrich, Jack Lenor Larsen, Dominic DiMare, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Kay Sekimachi (1926- ) is a Japanese American fiber artist based in Berkeley, California. Suzanne Baizerman is a curator at the Oakland Museum in Oakland, California. Sekimachi is also known as Kay Sekimachi Stocksdale. She is married to wood-turner Bob Stocksdale.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 21 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:
Fiber artists -- California -- Berkeley Search this
The papers of painter, printmaker, performance artist, and teacher Roger Shimomura measure 13.6 linear feet and date from 1959 to 2014. Found within the papers are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, notes, printed material, one scrapbook, and photographs.
There is a 11.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2019 that includes comprehensive project files with initial sketches, technical diagrams, budgets, materials lists, collaborator correspondence, communications with gallerists, curators and venues, and related press clippings; professional correspondence; writings including notebooks related to performance and painting developments, diaristic dated entries, and two experimental notebooks with "diary entries" for 'An American Diary' project; personal business records containing loan records and budgets for projects and exhibitions, and contracts for performance and film commissions; printed material; scrapbooks; and photographs of installations and events. Also included are 17 videocassettes (U-matic) concerning Kabuki theater performances and other perfomances. Materials date from circa 1959-2014.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, printmaker, performance artist, and teacher Roger Shimomura measure 13.6 linear feet and date from 1965 to 1990. Found within the papers are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, notes, printed material, one scrapbook, and photographs.
Biographical materials include a photograph of Shimomura and a resume. The bulk of the papers consist of correspondence files about exhibitions, grants, performances, lectures, and the Japanese-American redress movement. Correspondence is with friends, colleagues, galleries, and with universities and colleges. Correspondents include Frank Chin, Akiko Day, Jonathan R. T. Hughes, and Wayne Miller. Writings and notes include Shimomura's artist's statement, scripts to four plays, and one folder of miscellaneous notes. The papers also include clippings, exhibition announcements, catalogs and miscellaneous printed material. A scrapbook contains clippings of articles that document Shimomura's career. Photographs are of artwork by other artists.
There is a 11.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2019 that includes comprehensive project files with initial sketches, technical diagrams, budgets, materials lists, collaborator correspondence, communications with gallerists, curators and venues, and related press clippings; professional correspondence; writings including notebooks related to performance and painting developments, diaristic dated entries, and two experimental notebooks with "diary entries" for 'An American Diary' project; personal business records containing loan records and budgets for projects and exhibitions, and contracts for performance and film commissions; printed material; scrapbooks; and photographs of installations and events. Also included are 17 video cassettes (U-matic) concerning Kabuki theater performances and other perfomances. Materials date from circa 1959-2014.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1989-1990 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1969-1990 (Boxes 1-3; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1984, 1987-1989 (Box 3; 5 folders)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1975-1990 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Scrapbook, 1975-1989 (Box 4; 1 folder)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1970s (Box 4; 1 folder)
Series 7: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1959-2014 (Boxes 5-15; 11.0 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Roger Shimomura (b. 1939) is a Japanese American painter, printmaker, performance artist, and teacher who has worked primarily in Kansas since 1969.
Roger Shimomura was born in 1939 in Seattle, Washington. He was a third generation Japanese-American and received his B.A. in Graphic Design from the University of Washington in 1961, and a M.F.A. in Painting from Syracuse University in 1969. Shimomura spent two childhood years in one of 10 concentration camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII, and later served as an officer in the United States Army from 1962 to 1965. He was active in the Japanese-American redress movement in the 1970s. Since the 1970s, Shimomura's work has combined American popular imagery with the Japanese ukiyo-e tradition.
He has had over 125 solo exhibitions of paintings and prints, as well as presented his experimental theater pieces at such venues as the Franklin Furnace, New York City, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Shimomura has been a visiting artist and lectured on his work at more than 200 universities, art schools, and museums across the country. Shimomura began teaching at the University of Kansas' Department of Art in 1969 and worked there until his retirement in 2004. At that time he started the Shimomura Faculty Research Support Fund, an endowment to foster faculty research in the Department of Art. Throughout his career, Shimomura has had numerous exhibitions and experimental theater pieces on a national level. In 1999, the Seattle Urban League designated a scholarship in his name that has been awarded annually to a Seattle resident pursuing a career in art. In 2002, the College Art Association presented him with the "Artist Award for Most Distinguished Body of Work," for his 4 year, 12-museum national tour of the painting exhibition, "An American Diary." Shimomura continues to live and work in Kansas.
Provenance:
Roger Shimomura donated a portion of his papers in 1990, as part of the Archives of American Art's Northwest Asian-American project in Seattle. Shimomura donated the bulk of the material in 2019.
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.
Researchers interested in accessing 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.
The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2001. Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death. The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo. Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and for which Okubo was hired to illustrate. Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper.
Scope and Contents:
The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2001. Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death. The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo. Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and for which Okubo was hired to illustrate. Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper.
Biographical materials consist of Roy Leeper's medical licenses. The bulk of the collection is comprised of Miné Okubo's letters, many of which are illustrated, to Hall and Leeper discussing her health, career, their purchase of her artwork, and mutual friends. Other correspondents include Howard Hamilton and Doris and Harry Tono. Writings and notes by Okubo inlcude a statement about the pricing of her artwork and a list of artwork. Leeper and Hall's personal business records concern the purchase and loan of Okubo's artwork for exhibitions.
Printed materials include a 1944 edition of Fortune magazine devoted to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The issue includes reproductions of Okubo's illustrations of life in the World War II internment camp in Topaz, Utah. Photographs include snapshots of Okubo at an exhibition with her art and of works of art. Sketches and drawings depict mostly cats and flowers.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-1994 (1 folder; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1957-2001 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1940-circa 1970 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1957-1998 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1944-2000 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1940-circa 1990s (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 7: Artwork, 1960s-1997 (0.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Biographical / Historical:
Miné Okubo (1912-2001) was a Japanese American painter, illustrator, and author. She is known for her book Citizen 13600in which she described her experience at the Topaz War Relocation Camp in Utah through prose and drawings.
Born in Riverside, California in 1912, Okubo began her arts education at Riverside Junior College and transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where she completed her BA and MA in Fine Arts (where she first met Roy Leeper). In 1938, she received an award to travel and study under Fernand Léger in Paris. When World War II began in Europe, she moved back to California and worked under the Federal Arts Project. She produced some solo murals and also assisted Diego Rivera on his Treasure Island mural Pan American Unity, (1940).
In April of 1942, Miné Okubo and one of her brothers were sent to the Tanforan Assembly Center under Executive Order 9066, which forcibly interned over 100,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens living on the West Coast of the United States. Six months later, they were sent to the Topaz War Relocation Camp in Topaz, Utah. There, Okubo taught art in the camp's school and often sketched camp life. She was art editor for the camp newsletter Trek, a supplement to the Topaz Times.
In 1944, Fortune magazine published a sympathetic special edition on the Japanese and Japanese American internment during World War II. The magazine hired Okubo to illustrate two of the articles. She was permitted to leave the camp and move to New York City, where she remained for the rest of her life, working as a painter and illustrator. She wrote and illustrated a book about her experiences in the Topaz confinement camp, Citizen 13600, which won the American Book Award in 1984. Miné Okubo died in 2001.
Medical doctor Roy Leeper befriended Miné Okubo while they were both students at the University of California. Later, he and his partner dentist Gaylord Hall were reintroduced to Okubo and her artwork by a mutual friend. They began a life-long relationship with Okuba, both as friends and collectors.
Related Materials:
Riverside City College in Riverside, California also holds the Miné Okubo papers.
Provenance:
Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall donated the collection of Miné Okubo papers in 2001.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of woodturner Bob Stocksdale and fiber artist Kay Sekimachi measure 19.5 linear feet and 0.125 GB and date from circa 1900 to 2015. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, professional files, exhibition files, project files, personal business records, printed and digital material, scrapbooks, photographic material, and artwork. Of note are records from Sekimachi's forced internment during World War II at Tanforan Assembly Center and Topaz War Relocation Center from 1942 to 1944.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of woodturner Bob Stocksdale and fiber artist Kay Sekimachi measure 19.5 linear feet and 0.125 GB and date from circa 1900 to 2015. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, professional files, exhibition files, project files, personal business records, printed and digital material, scrapbooks, photographic material, and artwork. Of note are records from Sekimachi's forced internment during World War II at Tanforan Assembly Center and Topaz War Relocation Center from 1942 to 1944.
The bulk of biographical materials are from Kay Sekimachi with some originating from her time spent in forced internment at Topaz and Tanforan camps. These records include identification cards, War Relocation Authority printed materials, and school records. Also found are awards, resumes, and blank stationery. Some materials are from Stocksdale's 85th birthday and memorial service.
Letters and extensive greeting cards are from friends, family, and professional acquaintances. Correspondents include Norman Anderson, Peter Collingwood, Jack Lenor Larsen, Sam and Alfreda Maloof, Forrest L. Merrill, Miné Okubo, Barbara Shawcroft, and others.
Writings and notes are scattered and include two interviews with Kay Sekimachi, hanging instructions, and notes. Writings by others are by Jack Lenor Larsen, Tran Turner, and Yoshiko Uchida.
Sekimachi's and Stocksdale's professional activities are documented through files relating to their participation at conferences, awards ceremonies, and lectures. Also found are fiber samples, order forms for materials and equipment, and notes on techniques and design by Kay Sekimachi. Exhibition records include extensive documentation on Marriage in Form, In the Realm of Nature, and Loom and Lathe as well as files for various solo and group exhibitions for both Sekimachi and Stocksdale. Gallery and institution files include material on multiple or unnamed exhibitions. Exhibiton documentation may include correspondence, writings, proposals, printed material, financial and loan records, condition reports, and photographs. Project files contain material for proposed book projects, a retrospective, and portfolio, by and about Sekimachi and Stocksdale. Also found are three commissions files for works by Sekimachi. A proposed retrospective on the work of Bob Stocksdale by Kay Sekimachi includes a digital sound recording of recollections.
Personal business records include sales books, purchase records for works of art by others, appraisals, contracts, consignment receipts, and insurance records.
Published books, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, magazines, and newsletters are found within printed materials. Of note is a publication by the San Francisco Chronicle entitled "This World" which features illustrations by Miné Okubo.
Four scrapbooks compiled by Kay Sekimachi date from 1937 to 1944. Most of the scrapbooks contain printed material from magazines and other sources with images such as children, valentines, food, birds, clothing, and may include scattered sketches and notes by Sekimachi. One scrapbook dates from the end of Sekimachi's internment at Topaz and relocation to Cincinnati, Ohio. This scrapbook includes sketches and printed materials concerning local and global events. Loose material found in this series was likely meant to be pasted into a new or the forth scrapbook. These materials include relocation information, Japanese-American publications, maps, clippings, sketches, and printed programs.
The bulk of photographic materials consist of slides of various vacation locations and homes and date from the 1960s to the 1980s. Also found are scattered portraits of Kay Sekimachi and Bob Stocksdale, as well as a photo of Miné Okubo with Roy Leeper and Cecil Thompson. Artworks are largely by Kay Sekimachi and include watercolor and pencil sketches as well as designs for fabrics and a weaving portfolio. Watercolor and pencil sketches are of Tanforan Assembly Center and date from circa 1942.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1920-2003 (1.5 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1943-2014 (7.6 linear feet; Box 2-10)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1960s-2008 (0.2 linear feet; Box 10)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1950s-2011 (1.1 linear feet; Box 10-11, 22)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1951-2015 (2.9 linear feet; Box 11-14, ER01; 0.125 GB)
Series 6: Project Files, circa 1900-2004 (0.3 linear feet; Box 14)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1970s-2010 (0.7 linear feet; Box 14-15)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1943-2011 (2.3 linear feet; Box 15-17, 22)
Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1937-1946 (0.9 linear feet; Box 17, 21)
Series 10: Photographic Material, circa 1950-2001 (0.9 linear feet; Box 18)
Series 11: Artwork, 1942-circa 1970 (1.1 linear feet; Box 18-20, 22-23)
Biographical / Historical:
Bob Stocksdale (1913-2003) was a woodturner active in California. He was known for bowls he formed from rare types of wood. Kay Sekimachi (1926- ) is a Japanese-American fiber artist and educator also active in California. She began her career in weaving on and off the loom and was part of the New Basketry movement.
Born in Indiana, Bob Stocksdale began his interest in carving by whittling with a pocket knife. Later, he created his own lathe with a washing machine motor and turned items such as baseball bats. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector and worked at various camps performing forestry work. It was in one of the camps that he turned his first bowl on a lathe.
After the war, Stocksdale settled in the Bay Area of California where he established his own woodturning shop in his basement. He concentrated on making bowls out of rare woods. His work has been recognized throughout the world and in 1998, he received the American Association of Woodturners Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2003, he received the James Renwick Alliance Masters of the Medium Award.
Kay Sekimachi was born in San Francisco, California in 1926. As a high school student, she was forcibly interned through Executive Order 9066 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt which incarcerated approximately 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Along with her mother and siblings, Kay lived at Tanforan Assembly Center and later moved to Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. She continued her schooling at Topaz and after 1944, was resettled in Cincinnati, Ohio.
After graduating from high school, Kay Sekimachi enrolled at the California College of Arts and Crafts and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts where she learned the craft of weaving under Trude Guermonprez and Jack Lenor Larsen. Her early works were tapestries and garments. She later used her weaving techniques as part of the New Basketry movement to create baskets and boxes out of fibers. Also an educator, Kay taught weaving at San Francisco Community College. She received the American Craft Council Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship in 2002.
After the dissolution of his first marriage through which he had two children, son Kim and daughter Joy Stocksdale, Bob married Kay Sekimachi in 1972. The two had been acquainted for many years as they were both craft artists living in the Bay Area. Although they married later in life, Kay and Bob travelled the world and exhibited their art together in many exhibitions including Marriage in Form and Loom and Lathe.
Bob Stocksdale died in Oakland, California in 2003. Kay Sekimachi continues to exhibit her work and lives in Berkeley, California.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview of Bob Stocksdale conducted February 16-March 21, 2001, by Signe Mayfield and an oral history interview of Kay Sekimachi [Stocksdale] conducted July 26-August 6, 2001, by Suzanne Baizerman. Both interviews were conducted in Berkeley, California, during the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Provenance:
The Bob Stocksdale and Kay Sekimachi papers were donated in 2003, 2004, and 2015 by Kay Sekimachi Stocksdale 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. Use of original audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
The papers of architect, craftsman, woodworker, and furniture designer George Nakashima measure 1.0 linear foot and date from 1950 to 1991. The collection is comprised of biographical material, correspondence, writings, subject files, and printed material that mostly relate to Nakashima's work in furniture design.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of architect, craftsman, woodworker, and furniture designer George Nakashima measure 1.0 linear foot and date from 1950 to 1991. The collection is comprised of biographical material, correspondence, writings, subject files, and printed material that mostly relate to Nakashima's work in furniture design.
Biographical materials consist of a curriculum vitae and obituaries. Correspondence is with clients, colleagues, and friends in the United Staes, Japan, and the Sri Aurobindo community. Writings by and about Nakashima include articles, essays, and a speech about his design processes. Subject files are on Alfred Caldwell, flush toilet systems, trademark, and wood and tree services. Printed material includes art reproductions, booklets, catalogs, clippings, and publicity material.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1990 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1950-1990 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1953-1989 (Box 1, 2 folders)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1957-1980s (Box 1, 4 folders)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1954-1991 (Box 1, 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
George Nakashima (1905-1990) was a Japanese American architect, craftsman, woodworker, and furniture designer in New Hope, Pennsylvania. He was born in Spokane, Washington and received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Washington in 1929. He also earned a master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1930.
After his studies, Nakashima traveled around the world by steamship. He spent time in France, North Africa, and Japan. While in Japan, he began working under architect Antonin Raymond. When Raymond's architecture company was commissioned to build for the Sri Aurobindo ashram in Puducherry, India, Nakashima became the onsite architect as well as a devotee of Sri Aurobindo. When World War II began, Nakashima returned to the U.S. with his wife, Marion, whom he met in Japan. George, Marion, and their infant daughter Mira were sent to a Japanese internment camp in Idaho in 1942. The Nakashimas were able to leave the camp after Raymond sponsored their release in 1943. Nakashima began working on Raymond's farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he eventually built his workshop. Nakashima's son Kevin was born after the family relocated to Pennsylvania.
Nakashima's design work includes furniture lines for the Widdicomb Furniture Company and Knoll Furniture, and 200 pieces of furniture commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller. He also wrote a book titled The Soul of a Tree: A Master Woodworker's Reflections.
Nakashima died in 1990.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Marion Nakashima, widow of George Nakashima, in 1991.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
An interview of Frank Okada conducted 1990 Aug. 16-17, in Seattle, Wash., by Barbara Johns, for the Archives of American Art Northwest Asian American Project. Okada discusses his parents' background; his family including his brothers, John, author of "No-No Boy," and Charlie, a graphic designer; traveling to Japan for the Pacific Northwest Artists and Japan exhibition; being in an internment camp; painting in Eugene, Ore. and Seattle, Wash.; his painting techniques; studying under Leon Derbyshire; his connection with the jazz scene in Seattle in the late 1940s and 1950s including musicians Sammy Davis, Ray Charles, and Quincy Jones; attending Cornish School of Art, Seattle; meeting Mark Tobey; comparision of his painting style to Tobey's; his stint in the Army; attending Cranbrook Academy of Art and studying with painter Fred Mitchell; his Whitney fellowship in New York; study of Japanese, Chinese, and Zen paintings; working for Boeings in the early 1960s; traveling to France on a Guggenheim; teaching at University of Oregon in Eugene; his minimalist work; influence of Japanese art in his painting. Okada mentions Lawson Inada (Asian American poet), Frank Chin (Asian American playwright), artists David Stone Martin, James Edward Peck, Yayoi Kusama, George Tsutakawa, Paul Horiuchi, Ben Shahn, Kenjiro Nomura, Louis Bunce, Bill Ivey, and art gallery owner Zoe Dusanne.
Biographical / Historical:
Frank S. Okada (1931-2000) was a Japanese American painter based in Seattle, Washington. He taught at University of Oregon from 1969-1999.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 38 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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.
An interview of Robert Hanamura conducted circa 1977, by Marsha Miro, for the Archives of American Art.
Hanamura speaks of his youth as the son of Japanese immigrants; time spent in an internment camp during World War II; his education; and his career as an architect.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Hanamura (1923-2020) was a Japanese American architect based in Detroit, Michigan.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
