The papers of weaver, textile designer, and consultant Dorothy Liebes date from circa 1850-1973 (bulk 1922-1970) and comprise 24.7 linear feet. Through biographical material including a sound recording of an interview, family and general correspondence, writings including a draft of Liebes's autobiography, subject files providing detailed records of her influential consulting work, financial and legal files, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork, textile samples, and photographic material picturing a wide variety of career and personal activities, the collection provides rich and extensive documentation of Liebes's career and personal life.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of weaver, textile designer, and consultant Dorothy Liebes date from circa 1850-1973 (bulk 1922-1970) and comprise 24.7 linear feet. Through biographical material including a sound recording of an interview, family and general correspondence, writings including a draft of Liebes's autobiography, subject files providing detailed records of her influential consulting work, financial and legal files, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork, textile samples, and photographic material picturing a wide variety of career and personal activities, the collection provides rich and extensive documentation of Liebes's career and personal life.
Biographical material consists of awards, biographical notes, membership and identification cards, passports, a will, and a sound recording of a 1945 interview with Liebes.
Correspondence is personal with family and friends, and general with friends and colleagues including artists, and fellow weavers and designers. Notable correspondents include Dorr Bothwell, Daren Pierce, Beatrice Wood, and Frank and Olgivanna Lloyd Wright.
Diaries and calendars record Liebes's busy professional and personal life, with notations on daily activities and, beginning in 1952, detailed notes by staff recording activities at the studio on days when Liebes was absent.
Writings by Dorothy Liebes include notes, drafts, and manuscripts of published and unpublished writings, including an autobiography, speeches, and drafts for an unpublished book on weaving.
Subject files contain correspondence, printed material, photographs, and miscellaneous items in varying combinations, and focus heavily on Liebes's consulting work for businesses in the textile industry, including her work with DuPont, Bigelow-Sanford, Goodall, Dow, and others. The files document the importance of her work as a colorist and show how she successfully adapted craft weaving to machine methods. Furthermore, they record how Liebes used her marketing instincts and broad media appeal to rebrand the image of companies such as DuPont from one of chemistry and utility, to one that represented high style and glamor in durable and practical fabrics that were affordable and desirable in home furnishings. Other subject files document organizations, individuals, and topics of interest to Liebes, including files recording her involvement with arts and crafts organizations, her role as director for the Decorative Arts Display at the Golden Gate Exposition in 1939, her work as director of the Red Cross's Arts and Skills workshop, scattered exhibition records, and files on weavers and weaving. Files on Liebes's extensive promotional work for multiple clients are also included here, as are files documenting Liebes's relationship with Relman Morin, such as correspondence and scattered records of Morin's career as a Pullitzer Prize winning journalist.
Financial and legal records are comprised of accounting records from the 1930s-1940s, financial summaries, investment statements, personal and business inventories, personal and business tax returns, and some legal records.
Printed material includes advertisements, articles, and exhibition announcements and catalogs, recording Liebes's career. This material is supplemented by thirty-three bound scrapbooks of printed publicity material, photographs, and documents recording Liebes's career in substantial depth.
Artwork by Dorothy Liebes consists of designs, feather weavings, a small hooked composition, and tapestry samples. Artwork by others includes prints by Dorr Bothwell, designs by Lawrence J. Colwell, and painted sketches of clothing designs by Daren Pierce. Two linear feet of samples consist primarily of textile swatches primarily designed by Dorothy Liebes Studio, Inc.
Photographic material includes professional portraits of Liebes and others, photos of Liebes at events and parties, with staff and other weavers, at work in her studio, and traveling. Of note are a series of pictures taken at Taliesin West with Frank and Olgivanna Wright, Relman Morin, and others. Photographic material also provides examples of Liebes's design work in homes, hotels, offices, and elsewhere, and shows her work pictured in exhibitions and showrooms. Photographs of other subjects include portraits of unidentified women by Man Ray and Consuela Canaga.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1934-circa 1970 (Box 1, OV 23; 0.28 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1922-1973 (Boxes 1-2; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Diaries and Calendars, 1948-1971 (Boxes 2-4; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1920-circa 1971 (Boxes 4-5; 1.05 linear feet)
Series 5: Subject Files, circa 1933-1971 (Boxes 5-13, 20, OVs 23, 59; 8.43 linear feet)
Series 6: Financial and Legal Records, circa 1935-1972 (Box 13, 20; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1897-1971 (Boxes 14, 20-21, OV 38; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1933-1972 (Box 21-22, 24-36; 5 linear feet)
Series 9: Artwork, circa 1920s-circa 1960s (Boxes 14, 22, OVs 23, 39, 42, RD 37; 1.24 linear feet)
Series 10: Samples, circa 1850-1855, circa 1930s-circa 1970 (Boxes 15-16; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 11: Photographic Material, circa 1875, circa 1897-circa 1970 (Boxes 17-19, 36, OVs 38, 40-41; 2.0 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
California and New York weaver, textile designer, and consultant Dorothy Wright Liebes (1899-1972) was known for distinctive textiles featuring bold color combinations and unusual textures achieved through the use of materials such as glass rods, sequins, bamboo, grass, leather, ribbon, wire, and ticker tape. Her work with companies in the synthetic fiber industry to make craft weaving compatible with man-made fabrics and machine looms, produced an innovative and exciting new aesthetic in interior design that was both functional and affordable, and made Liebes a mid-century household name.
Born Dorothy Wright in Santa Rosa, California, Liebes was the daughter of chemistry professor Frederick L. Wright and teacher Bessie Calderwood Wright. She studied art, education, and anthropology at San Jose State Teachers College and the University of California, Berkeley. During her college years, a teacher encouraged her to experiment with weaving and textile design since many of her paintings resembled textiles.
Liebes was a teacher for several years before deciding to pursue a career in textile design. She then studied weaving at Hull House in Chicago and traveled to France, Italy, Guatemala, and Mexico to learn the traditional weaving forms of those cultures. Upon her return to the United States, Liebes opened her first professional studio for weaving and textile design on Powell Street in San Francisco; Dorothy Liebes Design, Inc. was established in 1934, and eventually employed a staff of weavers. Liebes moved her studio to 545 Sutter Street in 1942.
Her first client in the industry was Goodall-Sanford Mills, with whom Liebes worked as a consultant for more than a decade. As her client base expanded, she decided to open a New York studio and maintained both studios until 1948 when she closed her San Francisco operation and relocated to New York City.
Liebes became a color and design consultant to corporations such as DuPont, Dow, and Bigelow-Sanford and tested and promoted newly developed synthetic fibers. She advised textile chemists in the development of fibers that were versatile enough to produce many different textures and worked with engineers and technicians to develop new machines that could reproduce the irregularities of hand-loomed fabrics. Liebes became a sought-after speaker by textile industry and consumer groups, and sometimes taught workshops on color and design.
Liebes's commissions included the United Nations Delegates Dining Room, the Persian Room at the Plaza Hotel and the King of Saudi Arabia's traveling royal throne room. Between 1937 and 1970, Liebes participated in more than thirty solo and group exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, de Young Museum, Cranbrook Museum, Detroit Institute of Art, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, and other venues. She received prizes and awards from institutions and corporations such as Lord and Taylor, Neiman-Marcus, the Paris Exposition, the American Institute of Decorators, the American Institute of Architects and the Architectural League. She was also awarded the Elsie de Wolfe Award and an honorary degree from Mills College in 1948.
Liebes's other notable activities included her work a director of the Decorative Arts Display for the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair, which she credited with establishing her as an authority in the field, and her work as organizer and director of "Arts and Skills," a Red Cross occupational therapy project that included training in weaving for soldiers injured in World War II. In the 1950s, she worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, journeying though the southwest to study Indian schools and weaving techniques.
Liebes was married to businessman Leon Liebes from 1928 until their divorce in 1940 and continued to use the name Liebes for the remainder of her life. In 1948, she married Pulitzer prize winning Associated Press special correspondent Relman "Pat" Morin.
During the last year of her life, Dorothy Liebes was semi-retired due to a heart ailment. She died in New York City on 10 September 1972.
Provenance:
Gift of the Estate of Dorothy Liebes through Relman Morin, 1972, and Ralph Higbee, 1973-1974.
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.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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.
Occupation:
Textile designers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Textile designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Weavers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Weavers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art consultants -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Dorothy Liebes papers, circa 1850-1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of the Dorothy Liebes papers was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the digitization of the collection was provided by the Coby Foundation.
Waddy, Ruth G. (Ruth Gilliam), 1909-2003 Search this
Extent:
26.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1928-2018
Summary:
The papers of African American artist, curator, and arts administrator Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery measure 26.1 linear feet and date from 1929-2019. The papers relate to Montgomery's career and involvement in the African American art scene in California and Washington, D.C. The collection includes biographical materials consisting of calendars and appointment books, certificates and awards, records regarding Montgomery's personal art collection, resumes and biographies, and other personal records; correspondence with colleagues and friends such as Benny Andrews, Willis Bing Davis, Edmund Barry Gaither, Eugene Grigsby, Dele Jegede, Samella Lewis, Nzegwu Nkiru, and A.M. Weaver; professional activity files documenting Montgomery's career as a consultant, curator, member, and volunteer for a myriad of organizations including the American Association for State and Local History, National Conference of Artists, and the Oakland Museum; and research files and notes on African and African American arts and history, Black media, Black photographers, the museum profession, and the artists Betye Saar, Lois Mailou Jones, Nike Davies-Okundaye, Romare Bearden, Ruth Waddy, Sam Gilliam, and Sargent Johnson. Also included are files regarding Montgomery's career as an artist containing material on the Brandywine Workshop, interviews with Floyd Coleman and for The Historymakers, sales and consignment records, and other material; printed and documentary material consisting of art reproductions, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and posters regarding Montgomery and other African American artists; artwork by Montgomery, including student sketchbooks, and others; photographic material of Montgomery, friends and colleagues, events, personal snapshots, and works of art; and unidentified audiovisual material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist, curator, and arts administrator Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery measure 26.1 linear feet and date from 1929-2019. The papers relate to Montgomery's career and involvement in the African American art scene in California and Washington, D.C. The collection includes biographical materials consisting of calendars and appointment books, certificates and awards, records regarding Montgomery's personal art collection, resumes and biographies, and other personal records; correspondence with colleagues and friends such as Benny Andrews, Willis Bing Davis, Edmund Barry Gaither, Eugene Grigsby, Dele Jegede, Samella Lewis, Nzegwu Nkiru, and A.M. Weaver; professional activity files documenting Montgomery's career as a consultant, curator, member, and volunteer for a myriad of organizations including the American Association for State and Local History, National Conference of Artists, and the Oakland Museum; and research files and notes on African and African American arts and history, Black media, Black photographers, the museum profession, and the artists Betye Saar, Lois Mailou Jones, Nike Davies-Okundaye, Romare Bearden, Ruth Waddy, Sam Gilliam, and Sargent Johnson. Also included are files regarding Montgomery's career as an artist containing material on the Brandywine Workshop, interviews with Floyd Coleman and for The Historymakers, sales and consignment records, and other material; printed and documentary material consisting of art reproductions, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and posters regarding Montgomery and other African American artists; artwork by Montgomery, including student sketchbooks, and others; photographic material of Montgomery, friends and colleagues, events, personal snapshots, and works of art; and unidentified audiovisual material.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1967-2015 (1.0 linear feet; Box 1, OV 27)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1963-2014 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 2-4)
Series 3: Professional Activity Files, 1963-2017 (7.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-11)
Series 4: Research Files and Notes, 1928-2018 (4.0 linear feet; Boxes 11-16)
Series 5: Files Regarding Montgomery's Career as an Artist, 1970-2016 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 16-17)
Series 6: Printed and Documentary Materials, 1964-2018 (7.2 linear feet; Boxes 17-23, 26, OVs 27-29, 31-34
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1957-2006 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 23, 26, OV 30)
Series 8: Photographic Materials and Moving Images, circa 1965-2017 (3.0 linear feet; Boxes 23-27, OV 27)
Series 9: Unidentified Audiovisual Materials, circa 1990s (1 folder; Box 25)
Biographical / Historical:
Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery (1930- ) is an African American artist, curator, and arts administrator in California and Washington, D.C.
Montgomery was born in New York and moved to Harlem in New York City after the divorce of her parents, Oliver and Carmelite Thompson. Upon graduating from Seward Park High School in 1951, Montgomery worked painting faces on dolls and statues. In 1955, she married Ulysses "Jim" Montgomery and moved to Los Angeles. In California she began working for jewelry designer Thomas Usher while attending Los Angeles City College. She continued her education at California College of the Arts (California College of Arts and Crafts) where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1969. During the late 1960s, Montgomery began curating exhibitions. From 1971 to 1976, she was curator for Rainbow Sign Gallery in Berkeley. Other roles Montgomery held were as the national exhibits workshop coordinator at the American Association for State and Local History and as program development consultant at the African American Museums Association. From 1976 to 1979, she was art commissioner for the city of San Francisco.
Montgomery moved to Washington, D.C. in 1980 to serve as the community affairs director for Howard University's WHMM-TV station. She then began working for the United States Information Agency (USIA) as a program officer in their Arts America program in the early 1980s. In her role, she worked to promote cross-cultural exchanges through art, specializing in American exhibitions touring abroad. Montgomery retired from the USIA in 2008.
As an artist, Montgomery gained recognition for her work in printmaking and metalworking. She was the recipient of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities fellowship in 2012 and an Excellence in the Arts Award from the Brandywine Print Workshop in 2004. Due to her diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in the 1990s, Montgomery had to stop working with metal but continued her printmaking work.
Provenance:
The Evangeline J. Montgomery papers were donated in 2019 by Evangeline J. Montgomery, as part of the Archives' African American Collecting Initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
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. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Neda Al-Hilali, 2006 July 18-19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Walter Nottingham, 2002 July 14-18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Walter Nottingham conducted 2002 July 14-18, by Carol Owen, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the studios of Idyllwild Arts, in Idyllwild, California. Nottingham speaks of his enthusiasm for basketball; being an altar boy and, as such, surrounded by beautiful fabrics at an early age; attending St. Cloud State University on the GI Bill; his teachers Jim Crane and Pauline Penning; serving as an art consultant for public schools in Jackson, Michigan; the lasting influence of an exhibition of battle flags at the Metropolitan Museum; articulating aging and decay through self-taught weaving; developing a fiber art program at University of Wisconsin, River Falls; attending Cranbrook Academy of Art and working with Glen Kaufman and Meda Johnson. He discusses specific works including his "Yahooties", that combine both his grandmother's and mother's crochet work; his trip to Mexico City on a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1974; forming the company Off the Wall with his eldest daughter Karron and their decorative design commissions; the influence of his Catholic upbringing, oriental philosophy, and spirituality in his work; and techniques and materials. Nottingham recalls Shelly Ross, Helen Drutt, Francis Merritt, Don Miller, Lois Moran, Jack Lenor Larsen, Marianne Strengell, Mildred Constantine, Gerhardt Knodel, Lee Nordness, Ed Rossbach, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Walter Nottingham (1930-2012) is a fiber artist from Hilo, Hawaii. Carol Owen is a fiber artist from Pittsboro, North Carolina.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 41 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.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jack Lenor Larsen, 2004 February 6-8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Adela Akers, 2008 March 4-6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Adela Akers conducted 2008 March 4-6, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Akers' studio, in Guerneville, California.
Akers speaks of her California studio; moving from Spain to Cuba at a young age; earning a degree in pharmacy before pursuing art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; her parents' businesses; struggling with English and becoming a citizen; the influence of architecture, geometry, and math in her work; her first big show at the American Craft Museum; working at Penland School of Crafts and Cranbrook Academy of Art; her several commissioned works; light and shadow in her accordion-shaped pieces; working with the Peace Corps and weaving in Peru; learning pre-Colombian weaving techniques; working on a commissioned project in Mexico with native weavers; experimenting with size and color in weaving; teaching at the Tyler School of Art; the influence of travel in her work; the qualities of jute, sisal, metal, and horsehair in weaving. Akers also recalls Cindy Cleary, Guido Llinas, Abelardo Estorino, Marianne Strengell, Ed Rossback, Glen Kaufman, Julia and Isiah Zagar, Joyce Chow, Katie and Billy Bernstein, Tom Suomalainen, Ron Garfinkel, Lee Nordness, Janet Taylor, Leora Stewart, Aron Siskin, Lewis Knauss, Agnes Martin, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Adela Akers (1933- ) is a fiber artist from Guerneville, California. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a curator and writer from San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 59 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 Jack Lenor Larsen conducted 2004 February 6-8, by Arline M. Fisch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Longhouse, East Hampton, N.Y.
Larsen speaks of his childhood in Seattle, Washington; his parents and other adults who had a positive impact on his development; building things with his friends; attending the University of Washington to study architecture and deciding to study textiles instead; visiting Dorothy Liebes's textile studio; leaving school and moving to Los Angeles; attending the University of Southern California and eventually returning to the University of Washington; becoming a teaching assistant to Ed Rossbach; getting a Masters degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art; meeting many influential people in San Francisco and New York; moving to New York and setting up a studio; working on commission for several companies including Thaibok; expanding his offices to include larger looms and a showroom; setting up a branch of production in Haiti; working in the fashion industry and designing home decor; and working in Southeast Asia developing handcrafted woven exports. He also speaks of his involvement with the American Craft Council and the World Crafts Council, re-organizing and building the new campus at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; traveling to Central Asia, Africa, Europe, and his desire to travel more; working and exhibiting in Japan; experiencing the Japanese textile industry; writing numerous books on fiber arts including, "The Dyer's Art," often collaborating with other fiber artists; developing a classification system for interlacing; collecting art; gardening and its relation to art and design; building Round House and the inspiration behind it; building LongHouse using the Japanese Ise Shrine as a model and plans for further expansion; retiring and difficulties writing, "A Weaver's Memoir." Larsen also recalls Dorothy Liebes, Marianne Strengell, Florence Knoll, Edgar Kaufman, Ed Rossbach, Toshiko Takaezu, Francis Merritt, Mary Bishop, Garth Clark, Issey Miyake, Mildred Constantine, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jack Lenor Larsen (1927-2020) was a weaver and textile designer from East Hampton, N.Y. Arline M. Fisch (1931- ) is a jeweler from San Diego, Cailfornia.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound discs and 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 19 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hrs., 23 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.
Occupation:
Textile designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Neda Al-Hilali conducted 2006 July 18-19, 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, in Los Angeles, California.
Al-Hilali speaks of her childhood in Czechoslovakia and Bavaria; studying language in London; her experience living in Baghdad, Iraq with her first husband; moving to California and completing her undergraduate and graduate degrees at UCLA; teaching experiences at Scripps College, Claremont Graduate University, California State University Los Angeles, and UCLA; the installation processes of Beach Occurrence with Tongues, Black Passage, the Cassiopeia series, and others; frustrations she encountered with commission work; the rich history of the fiber tradition; travels to Afghanistan, Japan, and Oaxaca, Mexico; achieving gestural and painterly qualities with fiber; the importance of color in textile work in the Middle East; experiences with galleries, including the Hunsaker/Schlesinger Gallery in Santa Monica, California; utilizing a Ouija board for reflection and creative guidance; issues such as global warming and over-development; the status of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule; the gratitude she feels at being a part of the fiber tradition; and plans for the future. Al-Hilali also recalls Bernard Kester, Jim Bassler, Fern Jacobs, Joyce Hunsaker, Alice Simsar, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Neda Al-Hilali (1938- ) is a fiber artist and weaver in Los Angeles, California. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a curator and writer in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 22 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr., 46 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.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Names:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Extent:
60 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2002 June 4-10
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Dominic Di Mare conducted 2002 June 4-10, by Signe Mayfield, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at his home and studio, in Tiburon, California.
Di Mare speaks of growing up in Monterey, California, around thread, as his mother crocheted and his fisherman father made lures; drawing as a child; receiving the Junior Scholastic Art Awards in high school; enrolling at Monterey Peninsula College and San Francisco State; acquiring a teacher's degree and taking a craft class; being "enthralled" by setting up a loom; teaching art in junior high schools; getting married and buying a loom; reading Craft Horizon magazine and becoming inspired by the work of Kay Sekimachi; buying yarn from Helen Pope at The Yarn Depot and forming a friendship with her; exhibiting at The Yarn Depot; participating in craft competitions and showing his work to Paul Smith, the director of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts; his first show at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in 1965; exhibiting at Museum West (the west coast extension of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts); recognizing "self and struggle and passion" in Ferne Jacobs' work; his dealers including Marjorie Annenberg (Annenberg Gallery, San Francisco), Ruth Braunstein (Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco), Susan Cummins (Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, Calif.), and Florence Duhl (Florence Duhl Gallery, New York); receiving a grant from the Marin Arts Council; quitting his teaching job, receiving an NEA grant, and becoming a full-time artist; collectors Dan and Hillary Goldstein; the beauty of poet Betty Parks' article, "Dominic Di Mare: Houses for the Sacred," in American Craft (October/November 1982); his "shrine" imagery; his military service during the Korean War and being assigned to a post office in Paris, France; going to the Louvre and encountering the Nike, "winged victory" sculpture; and Jack Lenore Larson's support.
Di Mare considers himself to be "self-taught" although he attended the California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco State, and Rudolph Schaefer School of Design. He also talks about autobiographical elements in his work; his "personal, artistic vocabulary"; the repetition of black and white; his use of sticks and feathers; and cross shapes, representing the church and a ship's mast. He comments on making portraits during his summers in Switzerland and making magical wands; and his artistic philosophy. Di Mare also recalls Camille Cook, Helen Drutt, Trude Guermonprez, Sophi Harpe, Gyongy Laky, Marjorie Livingston, Hal Painter, June Schwarcz, Rose Slivka, Millie Tresko, and Dorian Zachai.
Biographical / Historical:
Dominic Di Mare (1932- ) is a fiber artist from Tiburon, California. Signe Mayfield is an art historian.
General:
Originally recorded 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 47 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:
Patrons must use transcript. Transcript available online. Sound recordings (3 cassettes) are ACCESS RESTRICTED; Written permission required.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Joyce Marquess Carey, 2002 June 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Names:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
University of Wisconsin--Madison -- Faculty Search this
University of Wisconsin--Madison -- Students Search this
Extent:
76 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2002 June 16
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Joyce Marquess Carey conducted 2002 June 16, by Glenn Adamson, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Carey's home, in Madison, Wisconsin.
Carey speaks of growing up in Redding, California; her widowed mother working to support Carey and herself; her "lonesome" childhood and her eagerness to leave Redding to attend the University of California at Berkeley; majoring in English; meeting her husband Harlan (Mark) Marquess in her senior year at Berkeley and marrying him; dropping out of college; regretting her marriage; her life as a housewife and mother in the late 1950s and 1960s; moving to Madison, Wisconsin, for her husband's job as a Russian teacher; taking weaving classes with Larry Edman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and meeting fiber artist Claire Zeisler on a field trip to Chicago. Carey discusses experimentation in her work and "stretching the limits of the technique" in Edman's class; receiving her undergraduate degree in textile arts in 1971; working with a computer-driven Dobby Loom; studying with Ruth Gao and Jim Peters at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for her MFA in the early 1970s; teaching weaving at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a focus on technical and design skills; writing articles on the technical aspects of fiber art for "Fiber Arts," "Weaver's Journal," "Shuttle, Spindle, & Dye Pot," and other periodicals; exhibiting with the Wisconsin Designer Craftsmen in the 1970s; participating in the Quilt National Show in 1979; receiving a five-year development grant from the University of Wisconsin and quitting her teaching job; using "systematic" weaving methods in quilting; her involvement with galleries such as the Connell/Great American Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia; working with art consultants; the difference between private and corporate commissions; her use of bright colors and various fabrics; her use of tools and technology including an industrial sewing machine and computer programs such as Photoshop; her second marriage to Phil Carey in 1980 after her divorce to Marquess in the mid-1970s; and the "ephemeral" qualities in art. She considers herself a "collager," assembling fabrics and "embellishments." She also discusses her involvement with the Studio Art Quilt Associates and in the Art Quilt Network; and her piece, "Blue Ribbon," in the collection of the American Craft Museum. Carey recalls Camille Cook, Lia Cook, Martha Connell, Hillary Fletcher, Ted Hallman, Pat Mansfield, Ursula Ilse-Neuman, Yvonne Porcella, [Laurence] Rathsack, Victor Vasarely, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Joyce Marquess Carey (1936- ) is a quilt maker from Madison, Wisconsin. Glenn Adamson is an art historian.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 51 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.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Margery Magnani, 1965 July 7. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 Kay Sekimachi [Stocksdale], 2001 July 26-August 6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ferne Jacobs, 2005 August 30-31. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
