An interview of Sam Gilliam conducted 1989 Nov. 4-11, by Ben Forgey for the Archives of American Art. Gilliam speaks of his decision to come to Washington, D.C., from Louisville, Ky.; his shift from figurative painting to abstract painting; meeting Washington painters Robert Gates and Tom Downing; the "stature" of Tom Downing in the Washington art scene in the 1960s and Walter Hopps' role; influential exhibitions at the Jefferson Place Gallery and the Washington Gallery of Modern Art; being a Washington artist and a black artist; artist/teachers at American University; the Johnson Avenue Workshop grant; his relationship with Rockne Krebs; the history of the Washington Coalition of Artists; the Corcoran Gallery and the Washington Project for the Arts' relationship to Washington artists; his involvement with the District of Columbia Art Center; teaching; and his working methods. Gilliam also discusses various paintings, processes, materials, ideas and experiments at length. He recalls Gene Davis, Howard Mehring, Ken Noland, Morris Louis, Nesta Dorrance, Alma Thomas, Lou Stovall, Al Nodal, Jock Reynolds, Michael Botwinick, Willem de Looper, Paul Reed, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Sam Gilliam (1933- ) was a painter of Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Washington Project for the Arts (D.C.) Search this
Extent:
39 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
[ca. 1975-1990.]
Scope and Contents:
By-laws, notes and minutes of board meetings; correspondence files; administrative records; exhibitions and other program files; clippings, press releases, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and other printed material; and miscellany. Included are 8 ft. of records related to the exhibition, "War and Memory: in the Aftermath of Vietnam."
Biographical / Historical:
Visual and performing art organization; Washington, D.C. Opened in 1975.
Provenance:
Donated by the Washington Project for the Arts via Program Director Richard Powell, 1988. "War and Memory" records donated 1991 by the WPA via Philip Brookman.
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.
Business correspondence and administrative records regarding Freudenheim's involvment as director, trustee, secretary, chairman and consultant for a variety of museums, art associations and foundations. Included are files on the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Worcester Art Museum, the American Federation of Arts, the museum program at the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Association of Museums, the American Association of Museum Directors, the American Arts Alliance, Washington Project for the Arts, the Hand Hollow Foundation and the Textile Museum.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director; consultant; New York, N.Y. Freudenheim is a trustee of the American Federation of Arts and was Director of the Worcester Art Museum, 1982-1986, Director of the National Endowment for the Arts,1979-1982, Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, 1971-1978, Founder and board member of the American Arts Alliance, 1976, 1984-1986, and Secretary and Chairman of the Association of Museum Directors, 1976-1977 and 1983-1986. He held numerous other prestigous positions not found within the papers.
Provenance:
Donated 2007 by Tom L. Freudenheim.
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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
The papers of curator Philip Brookman measure 3.5 linear feet and date from 1977 to 1993. The collection documents Brookman's exhibition, writing, and filmmaking projects in the form of artist files, exhibition files, professional files, and subject and research files. Much of the material concerns the production and distribution of Brookman's 1988 video documentary about Chicano art in California, Mi Otro Yo (My Other Self), that grew out of the exhibition and conference "Califas: An Exhibition of Chicano Art and Culture in California," held at University of California, Santa Cruz in 1981 and 1982.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of curator Philip Brookman measure 3.5 linear feet and date from 1977 to 1993. The collection documents Brookman's exhibition, writing, and filmmaking projects in the form of artist files, exhibition files, professional files, and subject and research files. Much of the material concerns the production and distribution of Brookman's 1988 video documentary about Chicano art in California, Mi Otro Yo (My Other Self), that grew out of the exhibition and conference "Califas: An Exhibition of Chicano Art and Culture in California," held at University of California, Santa Cruz in 1981 and 1982.
Artist files are for David Avalos, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Louis Hock, Elizabeth Sisco, and others. Exhibition files include correspondence, notes, loan agreements, and printed material concerning Made in Aztlán, Photographing Ourselves: Contemporary Native American Photography, Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation/CARA among others. Professional files provide documentation on "El Centro Cultural de la Raza - Fifteen Years," Culture Wars: Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts, and various projects at Washington Project for the Arts.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Artist Files, 1981-1991 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1982-1992 (Boxes 1-2; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Professional Files, 1982-1991 (Boxes 2-3, OV 5; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 4: Subject and Research Files, 1977-1993 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Califas Documentation, 1981-1993 (Boxes 3-4, OV 5; 0.8 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Philip Brookman is a curator in California and Washington, D.C. He was director of the Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery at the University of California at Santa Cruz from 1974 to 1983, a curator at El Centro Cultural de la Raza in San Diego from 1985 to 1986, and a curator at the Washington Project for the Arts from 1987 to 1997. Brookman was also Curator of Photography and Media Arts at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and is a consulting curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Amy Brookman, co-directed the documentary Mi Otro Yo (My Other Self) about Chicano art in California which grew out of the Califas conference held at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) in 1982.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Philip Brookman in 1999.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Washington Project for the Arts (D.C.) Search this
Extent:
8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Notebooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Date:
1958-2006
Summary:
The papers of Washington, D.C. painter and printmaker Kevin MacDonald measure 8 linear feet, and date from 1958-2006. The collection contains correspondence with friends and colleagues; journals, notebooks, and other writings; printed material; artwork by MacDonald and others; 29 sketchbooks; sound and video recordings; and home movies. Of note are several files regarding his work with the Washington Project for the Arts.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Washington, D.C. painter and printmaker Kevin MacDonald measure 8 linear feet, and date from 1958-2006. The collection contains correspondence with friends and colleagues; journals, notebooks, and other writings; printed material; artwork by MacDonald and others; 29 sketchbooks; sound and video recordings;, and home movies. Of note are several files regarding his work with the Washington Project for the Arts.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1968-2006 (1.9 linear feet:; Boxes 1-2)
Series 2: Notebooks and Journals, 1968-2005 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 2-4)
Series 3: Writings, 1970s-1999 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 4: Project Files, 1958-2005 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, 9)
Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1970-2004 (1.0 linear foot; Boxes 5-6, 9)
Series 6: Artwork, 1960s-2000s (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 6, 9)
Series 7: Sketchbooks, circa 1969-2006 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 9)
Series 8: Sound Recordings and Moving Images, circa 1970s-1990s (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, FC 10-12)
Biographical / Historical:
Kevin MacDonald (1946-2006) was a painter and printmaker in Washington, D.C. He received a BFA from George Washington University in 1969, and also took courses at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. From 1967 to 1977 he worked at the Phillips Collection. After leaving the Phillips he worked full-time as an artist, taking an active role in the D.C. arts community. He was co-curator of "The Washington Show" at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1986, and served on the Board of Directors for both the Washington Project for the Arts (1986-1992) and Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (1991-1997). MacDonald regularly exhibited his work at the Lunn Gallery and David Adamson Gallery, and had artist residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (1995) and Oglebay Institute (1993). MacDonald also had an interest in music, and served as art director of a short-lived music fanzine called "Infiltrator." He was in Twisted Teenage Plot, a band organized by fellow artist Michael Clark, and worked with artist and musician Robin Rose on a collaboration called "Scriptronics." He lived most of his life in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of D.C., and was married to art consultant Robin Moore.
Provenance:
Donated in 2012 by Robin Moore, Kevin MacDonald's widow.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. research facility. 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.
