An interview of Preston Singletary conducted 2011 March 23-24, by Mary Savig, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Singletary's studio, in Seattle, Washington.
Singletary speaks of his family background, especially his Tlingit heritage and his grandmother; his early interest in music; his job at the Glass Eye Studio in Seattle; his formative years as a glass blower in Seattle and at Pilchuck Glass School; his early styles and processes in the modern Venetian tradition; his interest in Tlingit motifs; early mentors including David Svenson, Joe David, and Tony Jojola; collaboration in the studio with other glass artists and other native artists who work with various media; his interest in the modernist primitivist art movement; the character of significant exhibitions and commissions; his collaborative project with David Svenson and native Alaskans on the Pilchuck Founders' Totem; how he met his wife in Sweden; descriptions of his processes and techniques, including lighting techniques; his retrospective at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and the Smithsonian's Gustave Heye Center in New York; current and future directions of his work; the character of his studio, including the contributions of his assistants; collaborations with other native artists including Tammy Garcia, Joe Feddersen, and Maori jade carver Lewis Gardiner; his interest in Jungian psychology and shamanism; his relationship with critics, collectors, and dealers; and his involvement with native communities. Singletary also recalls Dante Marioni, Paul Marioni, Benjamin Moore, Lino Tagliapietra, Dale Chihuly, Dan Dailey, Stanislav Libensky, Napoleone Martinuzzi, David Svenson, Keke Cribbs, Joe David, Tony Jojola, John Hauberg, Richard Royal, Tammy Garcia, Joe Feddersen, Brian Jungen, and James Luna.
Biographical / Historical:
Preston Singletary (1963- ) is a Tlingit glass artist in Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 memory cards as 8 digital sound files. Duration is 3 hr., 48 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.
Topic:
Glass artists -- Washington (State) -- Interviews Search this
An interview of William Morris conducted 2009 July 13-14, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Morris' home, in Stanwood, Washington.
William Morris speaks of his decision to stop working in glass in 2005; his deep connection to the natural world; working now with stone; the longstanding theme of man and nature in his work; his influence on the studio glass movement; use of installations; relationship to the greater art world; Cache [1993]; the importance of working in a team, particularly with Jon Ormbrek; studio practice and philosophy of working in the studio; series Man Adorned and first use of the human form; how his work evolves artistically; the influence of his travels on his work and his particular affinity for Mesoamerican culture; the process of choosing his subjects; growing up in Carmel, California, and frequenting the museum at the Carmel Mission Basilica; his early fascination with Native American artifacts and history in the museum; childhood spent hiking in the hills around Carmel and youth spent camping and rock-climbing; art instruction during childhood; ceramics work in high school; introduction to ideas of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell by his high school teacher, Lloyd Baskerville; undergraduate work at California State University, Chico, working with Vernon Patrick; first experience with glass in high school, through the Fort Ord military base crafts department; brief studies at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington; arriving at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, in 1977 as a shop assistant/maintenance person; his first encounter with Dale Chihuly; 10 years as Chihuly's main assistant and de facto apprenticeship; his greater overall technical education at Pilchuck; the development of his own team as he continued to work with Chihuly; working with Chihuly and Italo Scanga; the synergy of working in a group and artistic cross-pollination at Pilchuck; the influence and mentorship of Judy Pfaff; working with Italian glass masters at Pilchuck; the influence of Pino Signoretto; his trip with Chihuly to the British Isles, which inspired his series Stone Vessels and series Standing Stones in the mid-1980s; his practice of working in series; series Petroglyph Vessels, and the beginning of narrative in his work; the importance of naiveté, experimentation, and a "confidence in innocence"; series Artifacts; the influence of Donald Lipski on Morris' installations; series Burial Urns and series Burial Rafts; series Canopic Jars; commissions for George Stroemple; the genesis of the series Rhyton; the transcendental/mythic qualities in his work; series Crow and Raven; more discussion of series Man Adorned; series Rattles; collaboration with fashion designer Donna Karan; the importance of glass as a material, and the importance of "play"; the value of an apprentice-type program; his work in bronze and with Nancy Graves; series Cinerary Urns and coming to terms with the deaths of close friends; series Mazorca; series Idolo and Idolito; series Native Species (2006); series Fish Traps; more discussion of his decision to leave glassworking; documentary film Creative Nature, 2008; "Myth, Object, and the Animal" exhibition; the adventurous spirit of the American studio glass movement, particularly in the early years; his preference for short workshops rather than longer teaching sessions; the aesthetic continuity of his work throughout his career; his appreciation of the community of collectors of glass art. He also recalls Ken Wiese, Robert and Terrie Kvenild, Bertil and Ulrica Vallien, Gary Galbraith, Stan Price, Dennis Oppenheim, Kiki Smith, Dante Marioni, Livio Seguso, Marvin Lipofsky, Benjamin Moore, Jamie Carpenter, Checco Ongaro, Lino Tagliapietra, Ricky DeMarco, Flora Mace, Joey Kirkpatrick, Trumaine Mason, Karen Willenbrink, Ross Richmond, Randy Walker, John Hauberg, Stanislav Libenský, Graham Graham, Charlie Cowles, George and Dorothy Saxe, and Jack and Rebecca Benaroya.
Biographical / Historical:
William Morris (1957- ) is a glass artist in Stanwood, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 5 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.
The papers of glass artist and educator Richard Marquis measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1967 to 2004. The collection comprises biographical materials including resumes and photographs of Marquis in his studio; correspondence with Scott Benefield, Susanna K. Frantz, Audrey Mann, Benjamin Moore, Anna Venini, and others; professional files containing correspondence, price lists, consignment forms, invoices, appraisals, exhibition forms, goblet lists, and other material from Marquis's professional activities; and printed materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of glass artist and educator Richard Marquis measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1967 to 2004. The collection comprises biographical materials including resumes and photographs of Marquis in his studio; correspondence with Scott Benefield, Susanna K. Frantz, Audrey Mann, Benjamin Moore, Anna Venini, and others; professional files containing correspondence, price lists, consignment forms, invoices, appraisals, exhibition forms, goblet lists, and other material from Marquis's professional activities; and printed materials.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1967-2004 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1973-2004 (10 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Professional Files, 1983-2004 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: Printed Materials, 1970-2004 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Richard Marquis (1945- ) is a glass artist and educator in Freeland, Washington. He is considered a pioneer of American glass art.
Marquis was born in Bumble Bee, Arizona. He attended the University of California in Berkeley where he received both his bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1969, he traveled to Italy on a Fulbright-Hays fellowship to work as a guest designer at the Venini glass factory where he mastered Venetian glass techniques. Marquis is a collector of a wide variety of objects and often uses found objects in his work. He has taught at the University of California in Los Angeles, the Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuk Glass School, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Richard Marquis conducted on September 16, 2006 by Mija Riedel for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America at the artist's home and studio in Freeland, Washington.
Provenance:
The Richard Marquis papers were donated in 2004 by Richard Marquis as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
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 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.
Correspondence with Benjamin Moore: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Richard Marquis. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Pilchuck Glass Center (Stanwood, Wash.) Search this
San Carlos Borromeo Basilica (Carmel, Calif.) Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
British Isles -- Description and travel
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with William Morris, 2009 July 13-14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.). George Gustav Heye Center Search this
Pilchuck Glass Center (Stanwood, Wash.) Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Preston Singletary, 2011 March 23-24. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Glass artists -- Washington (State) -- Interviews Search this
Freedmen's Bureau Digital Collection, 1865–1872, is a product of and owned by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Copyright for digital images is retained by the donor, FamilySearch International; permission for commercial use of the digital images may be requested from FamilySearch International, Intellectual Property Office, at: cor-intellectualproperty@ldschurch.org.
Collection Citation:
Courtesy of the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration, FamilySearch International, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
