Letters from Bernard and Janet Leach to Warren MacKenzie from their home in England and while traveling in Japan. The letters describe their exhibitions of pottery, the progress of their work, and their travels. Four of the letters are illustrated and one includes a rough draft of an article on pottery by Janet Leach.
Biographical / Historical:
Ceramist and educator; West Bank, Minnesota.
Provenance:
Donated 1985 by Warren MacKenzie.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The records of the Susanne Hilberry Gallery measure 5.8 linear feet and 10.1 gigabytes, and date from 1964-2017, with the bulk of the material dating from 1976-2016. Gallery artists include Richard Artschwager, Lynda Benglis, Jun Kaneko, Ellen Phelan, Italo Scanga, Joel Shapiro, Alex Katz, Judy Pfaff, Warren MacKenzie, and Nancy Mitchnick, among many others. The collection consists largely of files grouped by artist containing correspondence, sales records, and exhibition records documenting the activities of the gallery including outside or traveling exhibitions and other initiatives. Also included are significant amounts of visual materials (photographs, slides, transparencies, and digital images) documenting gallery exhibitions and the oeuvres of the gallery artists, as well as digital video recordings in the form of video works, recordings of artist talks, and artwork documentation.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Susanne Hilberry Gallery measure 5.8 linear feet and 10.1 gigabytes, and date from 1964-2017, with the bulk of the material dating from 1976-2016. Gallery artists include Richard Artschwager, Lynda Benglis, Jun Kaneko, Ellen Phelan, Italo Scanga, Joel Shapiro, Alex Katz, Judy Pfaff, Warren MacKenzie, and Nancy Mitchnick, among many others. The collection consists largely of files grouped by artist containing correspondence, sales records, and exhibition records documenting the activities of the gallery including outside or traveling exhibitions and other initiatives. Also included are significant amounts of visual materials (photographs, slides, transparencies, and digital images) documenting gallery exhibitions and the oeuvres of the gallery artists, as well as digital video recordings in the form of video works, recordings of artist talks, and artwork documentation.
The artist files document each gallery artist's exhibition history in the gallery and include correspondence with the artist or estate as well as files documenting significant outside exhibitions, projects and the placement of artworks. The group show files document the production of select group exhibitions organized throughout the span of the gallery's operation. Transparencies and slides document the respective artists' exhibitions at Susanne Hilberry Gallery, and also contain representations of individual works. The group show slides document select group exhibitions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 4 series.
Series 1: Artist Files, circa 1964-2016 (4.5 Linear feet; Boxes 1-5, 10.1 Gigabytes; ER01-ER08)
Series 2: Group Show Files, 1976-2016 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 5)
Series 3: Tranparencies, circa 1980-1999 (0.2 Linear feet; Box 5)
Series 4: Slides, circa 1976-1999 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)
Biographical / Historical:
Susanne Hilberry Gallery was a contemporary art gallery opened by Susanne Hilberry in 1976 in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham. The gallery moved to Ferndale, Michigan in 2002, and closed in early 2017 following Hilberry's death in 2015.
Susanne Hilberry was a pioneering presence in the Detroit art scene. Before opening her gallery she earned a degree in art history from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Yale in architectural history, and later served as an assistant to the curator of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Sam Wagstaff. Wagstaff encouraged Susanne to open her gallery, which focused on bringing emerging art trends and established artists not being shown otherwise in the area, as well as championing the careers of local artists. Hilberry's dedication to developing the local art scene played out in her encouragement and support of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, where she served as a steering committee member after its opening in 2006.
Related Materials:
Related materials include Wayne State University's Cass Corridor Artists Oral History Project, Oral History with Susanne Feld Hilberry, April 1, 2010.
Provenance:
Donated 2017 by the Susanne Hilberry Estate via Daniel Feld, Trustee.
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 and born-digital records with no duplicate 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.
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- Michigan
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Susanne Hilberry Gallery records, 1964-2017, bulk 1976-2016. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Warren MacKenzie conducted 2002 October 29, by Robert Silberman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Stillwater, Minnesota.
MacKenzie speaks of his early childhood and eagerness to become a painter; being drafted in 1943; returning from active duty in the Army to find all the painting classes full and registering for a ceramic class; the significance of Bernard Leach's, "A Potter's Book" to his early ceramic education, and fellow classmates; his studies at the Chicago Art Institute; museums in Chicago; his first wife, potter, Alix MacKenzie; traveling to England to receive further training from Leach, first being rejected and then returning a year later to work 2 1/2 years at Leach Pottery at St. Ives; contacts such as Shoji Hamada, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Terry Frost, Peter Lanyon, and others; his lack of interest in sculptural ceramics; the good remnants of Leach pottery pots in his pottery today; Korean and Japanese influences; the International Potters and Weavers Conference in 1952 and returning to the U.S.; Alix's role in arranging Hamada's tour of the U.S. and exhibition in St. Paul; building their first pottery; exhibitions at the Walker Arts Center; purchasing the best Hamada pot at the St. Paul exhibit; teaching at the University of Minnesota; his experiences at craft schools; his involvement with NCECA [National Council on Education in Ceramic Art] and the Minnesota Craft Council; his travels; the self-service showroom on his property; changes in the field of ceramics; the 1968 fire that destroyed his barn studio; his working process; his experience with a salt kiln; experimenting in each firing; and his monthly work schedule. MacKenzie also recalls Kathleen Blackshear, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Soetsu Yanagi, Jerry Liebling, Allen Downs, Walter Quirt, Phil Morton, Curt Heuer, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Josef Albers, Kenneth Ferguson, Rudy Autio, Peter Voulkos, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, David Lewis, Michael Cardew, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Warren MacKenzie (1924-2018) was a ceramist from Stillwater, Minnesota.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 33 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.
Topic:
Ceramicists -- Minnesota -- Interviews Search this
The Michael Simon papers measure 4.3 linear feet and 50.74 gigabytes and date from circa 1965-2020. The collection documents Simon's career as a ceramicist and educator. Included is printed material related to Simon consisting of publications, articles and exhibition ephemera; personal and professional correspondence with colleagues and galleries; letters from Warren MacKenzie; digital video recordings on his friends and mentors Warren Mackenzie and Ron Meyers; teaching files; writings by Simon and others; biographical information; exhibition checklists and forms; slides and photographs of works of art by Simon and others, Simon at work in his studio, friends, family and travel; materials relating to the book Michael Simon: Evolution edited by Susan Stokes Roberts; personal and financial information; lectures, including video and audio recordings; gallery talks and sales; kiln construction and documentation; glaze and clay body notes and recipes; and sketches. A portion of this material is in electronic format.
Scope and Contents:
The Michael Simon papers measure 4.3 linear feet and 50.74 gigabytes and date from circa 1965-2020. The collection documents Simon's career as a ceramicist and educator. Included is biographic material comprised of resumes, Simon's MFA diploma from University of Georgia and and an adapted version of an interview conducted by Mark Shapiro in September 2005 for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, as well as personal and professional correspondence with some original letters from Simon to others. Also included are wedding invitations, greeting cards and photographs from friends and family. Writings include a manuscript for his book Evolution, artist statements, lecture notes and video recordings, his M.F.A thesis, and notes on Warren Mackenzie. Also found are writings by others such as magazine article drafts and an NPR interview transcript with Warren Mackenzie where Michael Simon is mentioned. An annotated transcript and digital video recording of a University of Minnesota Panel Discussion and an annotated transcript of a Warren Mackenzie lecture and cassette tape recording at the Minnesota Historical Society is also included.
Professional Files document exhibition, publishing, financial and workshop records and recordings. Some documentation of exhibitions, and workshops are in born-digital and audio recorded form. Other materials include studio files regarding the construction and operation of kilns, as well as glaze and slip recipes. Studio files also document Michael Simon's website. Photographic materials make up the bulk of the collection and consist of photographs, including inkjet prints, negatives and slides of Michael Simon, his artwork, workshops, including his 1994 workshop and trip to Chile. Also found are photographs documenting the construction of his salt fire kiln and studio in Georgia, as well as photographs and slides of family, friends, and work by other ceramicists. The papers also include sketches and printed material consisting of magazine features and news clippings on Michael Simon, his book Evolution, and other artists including Warren Mackenzie. Additionally, there are exhibition catalogs, pamphlets, and invitation for both Simon and other ceramicists and reference books and articles on other artists. A portion of this material is in electronic format.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as eight series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1982-2006 (0.1 Linear feet: Box 1; 0.087 Gigabytes: ER0001)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1968-2016 (0.4 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1965-2020 (0.2 Linear feet: Box 1; 4.37 Gigabytes: ER0002-ER0003)
Series 4: Professional Files, circa 1993-2014 (0.2 Linear feet: Box 1, OV ; 30.5 Gigabytes: ER0004-ER0009)
Series 5: Studio Records, circa 1965-2020 (0.2 Linear feet: Box 1-2)
Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1973-2020 (0.6 Linear feet: Box 2; 8.73 Gigabytes: ER0010-ER0012)
Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1965-2020 (1.8 Linear feet: Box 2-4; 7.06 Gigabytes: ER0013-ER0018)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1965-2020 (0.1 Linear feet: Box 4)
Biographical / Historical:
Michael Simon (1947-2021) was a functional ceramicist and educator in Georgia. Originally from Minnesota, Simon earned his B.F.A from the University of Minnesota where he was a student of Warren MacKenzie. After receiving his B.F.A in 1970, Michael moved and set up a studio in Athens, GA, and would go on to receive his M.F.A from University of Georgia in 1980. That same year he built his own kiln and began keeping a pot from each kiln load to document his work's development. Throughout his career, his works were usually fired in salt kilns featuring motifs of nature and animals. His work has been shown in multiple exhibitions including a 2011 retrospective at The Northern Clay Center entitled Michael Simon: A Life in Pots covering 30 years of his pottery. In addition to numerous exhibitions, Simon taught several workshops at schools, galleries and studios across the country including at the Arrowmont school in Tennessee, and the Penland School and Cedar Creek Gallery in North Carolina. As well as abroad in Chile and Italy.
In 2011, Simon published his book Michael Simon: Evolution which was edited, and art directed by Susan Stokes Roberts, an award-winning designer, artist and Michael Simon's wife.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds a 2005 September 27-28 oral history interview with Michael Simon.
Provenance:
Donated in 2022 by Susan S. Roberts, Michael Simon's widow.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Archival audiovisual recordings must be digitized for research access. Researchers may access digitized audiovisual materials in the Archives' Washington, D.C. or New York, N.Y. Research Centers by appointment.
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 Museum of Craft and Folk Art records measure 28.9 linear feet and 12.48 GB and date from 1970 to 2012. The museum was established in 1982 in San Francisco, California and exhibited local and national craft and folk art collections until it closed in 2012. The collection includes administration records, extensive exhibition files, artists' files, museum publications, printed material, video recordings, born digital items, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records measure 28.9 linear feet and 12.48 GB and date from 1970 to 2012. The museum was established in 1982 in San Francisco, California and exhibited local and national craft and folk art collections until it closed in 2012. The collection includes administration records, extensive exhibition files, artists' files, museum publications, printed material, video recordings, born digital items, and photographic material.
Administration records include museum bylaws, lists of early exhibitions, education program evaluations, documents related to public programs, and printed materials.
Exhibition files comprise the largest group of materials in the collection. Notable exhibitions documented include Who'd A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking (1987-1988), MetalSpeaks: The Unexpected (1997), and Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of an American Potter (2009). There are also video recordings and born digital content scattered throughout the series. Though most of the material is related to the MOCFA exhibitions, there are a few files on exhibitions at other galleries and museums. The exhibition files contain a wide variety of correspondence, art inventories, price lists, printed and digital materials, guest registers, photographic materials, and video recordings, electronic discs, videodiscs, and floppy discs.
Artists' files are found for a handful of artists, including Bennett Bean, Ralph Fasanella, Bill Graham, Ron Kovatch, Mike Moran, and Salvador V. Ricalde. The files contain primarily video recordings of artist performances and interviews, but also include resumes and inquiries.
Museum of Craft and Folk Art publications consist of exhibition catalogs, newsletters, reports, and announcements. There are several video recordings of events, such as fashion shows, that were held at the museum.
Printed materials and commercial video recordings include an oversize scrapbook, binders of exhibition press clippings, and folders of clippings on various topics, as well as documentaries and news coverage of the museum.
Photographic materials consist of slides, negatives, photographs, transparencies, and a photo album. The images are of artwork, exhibition installations, events, artists, and museum offices and staff.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Administration Records, circa 1988-circa 2010 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, 0.004 GB; ER01-ER02)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1976-2012 (22.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-24, 12.14 GB; ER03-ER50)
Series 3: Artists' Files and Video Recordings, 1983-2007 (0.6 linear feet; Box 24)
Series 4: Museum of Craft and Folk Art Publications, 1977-2012 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 24-25, OV 31-32, 0.003 GB; ER51)
Series 5: Printed Materials and Commercial Video Recordings, 1983-2007 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 26-28, OV 33-35, 0.050 GB; ER52)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1970-2011 (2 linear feet; Boxes 28-30, 0.282 GB; ER53)
Biographical / Historical:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art was established in San Francisco, California by painter and sculptor Gertrud Parker in 1982. The museum was originally located in a house on Balboa Street and then moved to the Fort Mason Center where it operated for over twenty years before relocating to Yerba Buena Lane in 2006.
Notable exhibitions organized or held at the museum include Innerskins/Outerskins: Gut and Fishskin (1987), Who'd A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking (1987-1988) which was a traveling exhibition, Folk Art of the Soviet Union (1990), MetalSpeaks: The Unexpected (1997), Emblems of Passage: Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (2002), The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts From the Japanese Internment Camp 1942-1946 (2006), and Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of an American Potter (2009).
The museum also worked with artists on commission and regularly offered public programs, workshops, and educational outreach events for visitors of all ages. They also partnered with the website Etsy on a popular monthly "Craft Bar" series where people could gather, socialize, and create something handmade.
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art closed in December of 2012. The final exhibition was Fiber Futures: Japan's Textile Pioneers.
Provenance:
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art records were donated by Jennifer McCabe, former executive director of the museum, in 2014.
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 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.
A digital audio recording of an interview with ceramicist Michael Simon conducted February 23, 2018 by ceramics dealer Leslie Ferrin and Lyndel King, director and chief curator of the Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota at Simon's studio in Athens, Georgia. Also present is Simon's wife, Susan Roberts. They talk about Simon's pots and the development of his work. The interview was conducted by Ferrin as part of her effort to place Simon's works in private and public collections.
Also included is a conversation between King and potters Warren MacKenzie and Randy Johnston, and MacKenzie's daughter Tamsyn, March 19, 2018 regarding and exhibition being planned about MacKenzie and the Mingei tradition.
Biographical / Historical:
Leslie Ferrin (1958- ) is the director of Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, Massachusetts and Ferrin Contemporary Project Art in Cummington, Massachusetts, specializing in contemporary ceramics circa 1950 to the present by artists whose primary medium is clay.
Provenance:
Donated 2018 by Leslie Ferrin.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of born digital records with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.
