An interview with Brenda Kingery conducted 2022 September 10-15, by Laura Marshall Clark for the Archives of American Art, at Kingery's studio in San Antonio, Texas.
Biographical / Historical:
Brenda Kingery (Chickasaw; 1939- ) is a painter and educator who creates syncretic works that incorporate elements from indigenous cultures around the globe. Kingery was raised in Oklahoma, studied in Okinawa, and is based in San Antonio, Texas. Laura Marshall Clark (Muscogee Creek; 1953- ) is an indigenous scholar, educator, and curator who has worked in Oklahoma City, OK and is currently based in Houston, TX.
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:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its Oral History Program interviews available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. Quotation, reproduction and publication of the recording is governed by restrictions. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers must quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers must quote from the recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The Frank and Eleanor Freed papers measure 2.9 linear feet and date from 1923-1992 with bulk dates from 1943-1975. The papers document Frank Freed's career through biographical material, printed material, and artwork. Both Freeds are documented through writings and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The Frank and Eleanor Freed papers measure 2.9 linear feet and date from 1923-1992 with bulk dates from 1943-1975. The papers document Frank Freed's career through biographical material, printed material, and artwork. Both Freeds are documented through writings and printed material. Biographical material includes Frank Freed's resumes, a tv documentary interview video and related audio tape and correspondence from friends congratulating Freed on the TV special. Also found is a Museum of Fine Arts, Houston reel-to-reel panel discussion: The Fine Arts from Various Points of View, and a home video of friends remembering and celebrating Freed on what would have been his 80th birthday. Writings contains essays by Frank Freed on war along with essays and memorial speeches about Freed and writings by Eleanor Freed on artist and professor Donald J. Weismann. The series also contains thirteen guest books from the Freed's home, signed by visitors often with accompanying drawings. Printed material includes clippings by and about Frank Freed including articles written under Freed's pseudonym "Caliph McFloe", along with copies of student cartoons Freed drew for Rice University's student humor magazine the Rice Owl. Also found are exhibition catalogs and announcements and newsletters written by Eleanor Freed. Photographic material contains over two hundred photographs of Freed's paintings, along with portraits of Frank Freed and photographs of the filming of the channel KUHT 8 TV documentary on Freed, depicting Frank, Elanor and Freed's studio. Also found are two hundred and thirteen slides of Freed's artwork. Artwork consists of four of Freed's sketchbooks along with four loose large charcoal drawings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1950-1986 (0.5 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 2: Writings, 1943-1992 (1 Linear foot Box: 1-2)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1923-1984 (0.7 Linear feet: Box 2-3, OV 1-2)
Series 4: Photographic Material, 1958-1989 (0.3 Linear feet: Box 3-4)
Series 5: Artwork, 1948-1975 (0.2 Linear feet: Box 4, OV 3)
Biographical / Historical:
Frank Freed was a self taught painter, cartoonist and writer. His wife, Eleanor (1914-1992) was an art critic for The Houston Post and an active member in the arts and culture sector of Houston, Texas where the couple lived. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Freed and his family moved to Houston in 1913, where Freed drew cartoons for his high school yearbook and the Rice Owl, the campus humor magazine, during a year of study at Rice University. Ultimately, Freed graduated from Harvard in 1927 with a degree in English Literature. After graduation he published several articles and began a forty-two-year career as a life-insurance salesman. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 and from 1944 to 1946 served in Normandy with the United States Corps of Engineers. In 1948 Freed began to paint and in 1949 he was included in two group shows in Houston galleries and then participated in annual group shows of Houston artists sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 1950–1952 and 1958–1959. Freed went on to participate in numerous group and solo exhibitions in the United States and abroad, including a 1970 solo show in Mexico City. Freed's work can be found in the collections of the Museum of Fine Art, Houston; the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum in San Antonio; and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, Austin.
In addition to her career as an art critic Eleanor Freed served as member and subsequent president of the Friends of the Houston Public Library organization, and then later served on the Houston Public Library Board. In her will, Eleanor left a bequest to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for a lecture series and renovation funding to the museum's Glassell School of Art, which contains the Eleanor and Frank Freed Auditorium and Image Library.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 432-3433, 3538) including
3 scrapbooks containing clippings regarding a trial on which Frank was a juror and Mexican Painting and Drawing, a show curated by Frank; articles written by Eleanor as art critic for the Houston Post, 1965-1973; and an article written for Texas Humanist, 1984, Dominique de Menil: Rare Visions in the Arts, outlining the collecting philosophy of Menil and the establishment of a private museum to exhibit the collection; source material for paintings; a guestbook from an exhibition at Instituto Mexicanos Norteamerico de Relaciones Culturales; and sketches. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Material on reels 3432-3433 lent for microfilming 1985, by Frank and Eleanor Freed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project. The remainder was donated by the Freeds, 1978-1985, and by Eleanor Freed Stern's estate, 1993. The estate bequest included the guestbooks which were part of the 1985 loan.
Restrictions:
Use of 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.
Frank and Eleanor Freed papers, 1923-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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Citation:
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Citation:
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Citation:
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Interviews
Citation:
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Topic:
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Citation:
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