An interview of Flora Mace conducted 2005 August 17-18, by Lloyd E. Herman, 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, which she shares with Joey Kirkpatrick, in Seattle, Washington.
Ms. Mace discusses growing up in New Hampshire, in a house that her family had lived in for generations; various family businesses, including clam-shucking; how her mother suffered from depression throughout her childhood; her grandparents, who played a large role in her upbringing; joining the 4-H and becoming a skilled shepherd; her family's hunting, fishing, and gathering, on which they survived during her childhood; the various art projects she did with her mother and grandmother, including making wreaths for friends and relatives; building tree houses out of scrap wood; trapping animals and making their pelts into clothes for her dolls; saving up her money from after school jobs and the 4-H competitions to buy tools; getting a scholarship from her grandmother's old employer to go to college; attending Plymouth State; her involvement in college athletics, including field hockey, skiing, and softball; early artistic influences, especially Alexander Calder; traveling to Norway on the International Farm Youth Exchange; attending the University of Illinois for graduate school and being their sculpture technician; attending a summer workshop at the University of Utah with Dale Chihuly; being invited by Chihuly to go to Pilchuck Glass School to continue her work; becoming an artist-in-residence at Wheaton Glass Village; having her first show at the Contemporary Glass Gallery (later the Heller Gallery) in New York; the growth of the studio glass movement in the late 1970s; and finally going to Pilchuck Glass School for the first time in 1979, where she met Joey Kirkpatrick. The continuation of Mace's story, and her lifelong collaboration with Kirkpatrick, is discussed in a joint interview of Kirkpatrick and Mace. Mace also recalls Bill Morris, Ben Moore, Audrey Handler, Paul Stankard, Mary and Frank Wheaton, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Flora Mace (1949- ) is a glass artist from Seattle, Washington. Lloyd E. Herman (1936- ) is a curator and former director of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 25 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.
Smithsonian American Art Museum. Renwick Gallery Search this
Extent:
11.16 Linear feet (9 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1961-2004
bulk 1970-2000
Summary:
The collection, which dates from 1961 to 2004 and measures 11.16 linear feet, documents the career of artist, curator, and museum technician Edith T. Martin. The papers in the collection include education documents, professional correspondence, sketches, promotional material, news clippings, newsletters, catalogues/magazines from exhibits and arts organizations, and exhibit photographs and slides.
Scope and Contents note:
1. Biographical: The series is mostly comprised of curriculum vitae, artist statements, writings, memberships and materials related to her continued education while employed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery. Box 2 consists of sketches and photographs.
2. Memberships: The series contains materials from several of the organizations Edith T. Martin was a member of from circa 1970s thru 2004.
3. Correspondence: Arranged chronologically by year consisting primarily of correspondence from 1997-2004, either generated by Edith T. Martin or addressed to her relating to exhibitions, memberships, as well as organizations, which promoted the visual arts.
4. Exhibitions: The series consists of art exhibitions and related materials, which Edith T. Martin either participated in and/or organized over the span of her career to include: Association for the Study of American Life and History, National Conference of Artists, District of Columbia Art Association, as well as the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum.
5. Printed Material: Arranged chronologically by year and material type. The series consists primarily of newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, magazines, articles, clippings, as well as miscellaneous materials collected throughout her career in the visual arts.
6. Artist Files: Folders are arranged in alphabetical order from A thru Y consisting primarily of resumes, biographies, and artist statements. Folders include correspondence related to exhibitions, slides and photographs of art.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged into six main categories: Biographical, Memberships, Correspondence, Exhibitions, Printed Materials, and Artist Files.
Biographical/Historical note:
Edith T. Martin was born in Caroline County, Virginia. She relocated to Washington D.C. and joined the staff of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery were she served as a Museum Technician until her retirement. She attended American University in Washington, D.C. where she received a degree in the Fine Arts and continued her education at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Martin was affiliated with a host of organizations during her career, such as the D.C. Art Association, Smithsonian Institution's Women's Council, National Conference of Artists, and the Washington Women's Art Center. As an accomplished artist her work is a part of several permanent collections throughout the nation. She was a participant in, and curator of countless exhibitions over the years, which includes the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, Smith-Mason Gallery, and American Art League. In an effort to share the talents and creativity of African American artists she partnered with many organizations during the span of her career to promote the strengths and accomplishments of her fellow artists through active community involvement.
Provenance:
The Edith T. Martin papers were donated to the Anacostia Community Museum in 2006 by Edith T. Martin.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for unrestricted research. Use requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Edith T. Martin papers, 1961–2004 are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.
An interview of Joey Kirkpatrick conducted 2005 August 17-18, by Lloyd E. Herman, 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, which she shares with Flora Mace, in Seattle, Washington.
Joey Kirkpatrick (1952- ) is a glass artist from Seattle, Washington. Lloyd E. Herman (1936- ) is a curator and former director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery of Art and is currently from Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 2 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.
An interview of Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick conducted 2005 August 17-18, by Lloyd E. Herman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artists' home and studio, in Seattle, Washington.
They discuss their first meeting at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, in 1979; the structure of classes and teaching philosophies at Pilchuck in the late '70s and early '80s; the change in equipment and the growth of the Pilchuck campus through the years; their first projects together, which were wire drawings made by Flora and based on Joey's sketches; leaving Pilchuck after the summer session and moving together to Waterville, New Hampshire, where they worked in a studio at the Rhode Island School of Design with Dale Chihuly; building up a body of work and then having to decide whose work it was, at a time when collaborating and co-signing was not standard practice; going back to Pilchuck every summer for 14 years after first meeting there in 1979; beginning to teach as a collaborative team at Pilchuck in 1981, the first women to teach glass blowing at that school; building their house together on the grounds of Pilchuck, a design which was then emulated for dormitories at the school; convincing Dale Chihuly to lower the class size at Pilchuck to 10, down from 20, to allow teachers to work more closely with the students; early shows of their work at Habatat Galleries in Royal Oak, Michigan, Ivor Kurland Gallery in Los Angeles, California, and Foster-White Galleries in Seattle, Washington; the support of their sisters and families throughout the years, mostly in providing them a place to stay as they traveled cross country; their relationships with collectors; what each artist brings to the partnership, including vision, inspiration, and technique; the influence of water on their work, as both artists are drawn to the sea and the tides; the purpose of their work, and what they feel it can bring to the viewer; the challenge given to the artists by Joan Borenstein to make 30 glass goblets, all with different fruits and vegetables; having their work cast at the Walla Walla Foundry; and the ideas behind various bodies of work, including the "Bird Pages" and the large latticino fruit. A more in-depth discussion of each artist's childhood, education, and artistic experiences prior to their meeting at Pilchuck can be found in the individual artist's interviews. They recall Italo Scanga, Bill Morris, Ben Moore, Rich Royal, Howard Ben Tre, Toots Zynsky, Therman Statom, Harvey Littleton, Lino Tagliapetra, Chris Wilmarth, Judy Pfaff, Lynda Benglis, Alice Rooney, Bertil Vallien, Ann Wolff, Betsy Rosenfield, George and Dorothy Saxe, Doug and Dale Anderson, Jon and Mary Shirley, Sarah and Bill Dehoff, Francine and Benson Pilloff, George Stroemple, Ann Welch, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Joey Kirkpatrick (1952- ) and Flora Mace (1949- ) are glass artists from Seattle, Washington. Lloyd E. Herman (1936- ) is a curator and former director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery of Art and is currently from Seattle, Washington. Mace and Kirkpatrick have been working collaboratively on glass since the late 1970s.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 17 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.
