Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Extent:
14 Pages
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
1988 Aug. 17
Scope and Contents:
A transcript of an interview Nancy Crow conducted 1988 Aug. 17 by Jean Robertson. Interview was conducted as part of Robertson's research for the book, "Nancy Crow: Quilts and Influences:, which was released in Dec. 1989, written by Crow and Robertson, Collector Books, Dec. 1989. Crow speaks about her childhood and early artistic aspirations; her dissatisfaction with her first quilts in the early 1970s; traditional quiltmaking; her work in tapestry weaving; meeting Francoise Barnes and Virginia Randles and learning to quilt; the difference between the weaving and quilting process; working in series; her interest in Mexican folk art and African American quilts; living on an isolated farm and drawing inspiration from nature; her use of titles, colors, patterns, scale, and fabrics; the importance of her training in ceramics; and she compares her work to quilts by Michael James.
Biographical / Historical:
Nancy Crow (1943-) is a quiltmaker from Baltimore, Ohio.
Interviewer Jean Robertson is an art critic and curator from Indianapolis, Ind.
Provenance:
Donated 2003 by Jean Robertson as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Researchers note: A separate 2002 interview of Crow, also conducted by Robertson and a part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America is also available.
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.
An interview of Carolyn Mazloomi conducted 2002 September 17 and 30, by Joanne Cubbs, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in West Chester, Ohio. Mazloomi speaks of growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a family of self-taught artists; the positive influence of her aunt and teacher Dr. Carter; the generation of African American quilt-makers who followed a gap in quilt-making post-slavery; she describes her previous career as an aeronautical engineer and her transition to quilt-making; how she identifies herself as a craftsperson, not an artist; her experience with Baltimore album and Appalachian quilts; learning to quilt; the Women of Color Quilter's Network and its economic and social development programs; her book, "Spirits of the Cloth"; the positive and negative aspects of travel; the false generalizations of African American quilts in academic circles; the importance of gender, race, and ethnicity in her work; her connection to "praise songs"; she discusses functional vs. nonfunctional quilts; the market for "hand-crafted" quilts; agents and galleries; she describes her working environment; adopting the use of a sewing machine in her work; the importance of community; her technique; her accomplishment of placing African-American quilts in the Renwick Gallery; the influence of magazines, including "Raw Vision;" her aversion to commissions; expanding her use of materials and technology; her exhibitions; her role as an advocate and dealer; finding inspiration in black and white linocuts and her use of color in quilts; and making a connection with her audience. Mazloomi also recalls Marie Wilson, Cuesta Benberry, Edjohnetta Miller, Roland Freeman, Robert Cargo, Martha Connell, Penny Sisto, Minnie Adkins, Nkosi Johnson, and Lauryn Hill.
Biographical / Historical:
Carolyn Mazloomi (1948- ) is a quilt maker from West Chester, Ohio.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 16 digital wav files. Duration is 4 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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Carolyn Mazloomi, 2002 September 17-30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Nancy Crow conducted 2002 December 18, by Jean Robertson, for the Archives of American Art, at her home and studio, in Baltimore, Ohio, as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Crow speaks of her early childhood and her father's high standards; her early interest in color; her studies at Ohio State University and her first ceramics professor Edgar Littlefield; joining the textile guild in Athens, Ohio; how her quilting evolved from traditional to contemporary and abstract forms; her practice of working on several quilts simultaneously; the influence of Anna Williams, a quiltmaker in Baton Rouge, Alabama; and she describes her studio. Crow also discusses her association with the Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia; a trip to China that resulted in the series Chinese Souls; and how beauty is her ultimate goal. She talks about her travels to Mexico and South Africa; her technical mastery of strip piecing; working at home while raising two sons; the dyeing process; her sketchbooks; her long-term working relationship with hand quilter, Marla Hattabaugh; teaching at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts; the beginnings of the Quilt National Show at the Dairy Barn; the Ohio Arts Council; the Art Quilt Network; periodicals including FiberArts, Surface Design, Hali, and Raw Vision; two seminal exhibitions in her career, "Nancy Crow: Work in Transition," at the American Craft Museum, 1993, and "Nancy Crow -- Improvisational Quilts," at the Renwick Gallery, 1995; and the changing market for quilts in America. She recalls Bruce Hoffman, Rick and Ruth Snyderman, Jan Myers-Newberry, Rosalie Gascoigne, Sandra Blaine, Vivian Harvey; Linda Fowler, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Nancy Crow (1943- ) is a fiber artist and quiltmaker in Baltimore, Ohio.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 31 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. Researchers note: A separate 1988 interview of Crow, also conducted by Robertson is also available.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Nancy Crow, 2002 December 18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quilts in community : Ohio's traditions / Ricky Clark, George W. Knepper, and Ellice Ronsheim ; edited by Ricky Clark ; with the support of American Association for State and Local History ... [et al.]
