Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Howard Ben Tré

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.bentre07
Creators:
Ben Tré, Howard, 1949-2020
Shea, Josephine, 1958-
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
Dates:
2007 July 7
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
63 Pages
Transcript
3 Sound discs
Sound recording (4 hr., 3 min.)
digital
2 5/8 in.
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Howard Ben Tré conducted 2007 July 7, by Josephine Shea, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's studio, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Scope and Contents
Ben Tré speaks of his childhood in Rockaway Park, New York; his Polish immigrant father who was a woodworker and artist; inheriting a particular aesthetic and sense of hard work from his father; attending Brooklyn Technical High School to play football but not graduating; moving to Marshall, Missouri to attend Missouri Valley College for one year; attending Brooklyn College; becoming involved in Students for a Democratic Society, the antiwar movement and civil rights movement of the 1960s; traveling to Cuba as part of the first Venceremos Brigade to cut sugarcane in 1969; meeting his first wife, Gay, in Cuba and returning to New York with her; organizing a food co-op and community events in Brooklyn; moving to Portland, Oregon; working in construction for the city before going back to school to study veterinarian medicine at Portland State University; discovering the glass studio in a garage at Portland State; meeting Dale Chihuly and working at Pilchuck Glass School; utilizing the foundry skills learned from Brooklyn Technical High to work with glass in casting and cope and drag methods; his series Burial Boxes and the influence of ancient architecture and ceremonial Chinese bronzes; the rise of the studio glass movement as symptomatic of socio-political-economic times, not just the pioneering efforts of Harvey Littleton and Dominic Labino; traveling throughout Europe with Gay; visiting Stanislav Libenský and Jaraslava Brychtová in Czechoslovakia; visiting Dan Dailey at Cristallerie Daum in France; attending Rhode Island School of Design [RISD]; his first show at Hadler/Rodriguez Gallery in 1980; teaching experiences at Haystack Mountain School of Craft and Appalachian Center for Craft; building and installing an oven at Blenko Glass in Milton, West Virginia and at Super Glass in Brooklyn; working with Mold Melted Glass Studio in Pelechov, Czech Republic; the history of glass and early glass-working techniques; his many commissions, including sited public projects such as Post Office Square in Boston; the adoption of his name, Ben Tré; return visits to Cuba; working with RISD to create a winter study session in Havana; and his view of artists as artists, not defined by medium. Ben Tré also recalls Anthony Parker, Italo Scanga, Ron Onorato, Alice Aycock, Ferdinand Hampson, Steven Polander, Karen LaMonte, among others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Howard Ben Tré (1949- 2020) was a glass artist from Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Josephine Shea is a curator from Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 3 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art commissions Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Civil rights -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Decorative arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peace movements Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cuba -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Europe -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glass artists Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glass art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aycock, Alice Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brychtová, Jaroslava, 1924- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chihuly, Dale, 1941- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dailey, Dan, 1947- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hampson, Ferdinand Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Labino, Dominick Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
LaMonte, Karen, 1967- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Libenský, Stanislav, 1921-2002 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Littleton, Harvey K. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Onorato, Ronald J. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Parker, Anthony Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Polander, Steve Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scanga, Italo, 1932-2001 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Appalachian Center for Craft Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brooklyn College -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brooklyn Technical High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cristallerie Daum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hadler/Rodriguez Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Missouri Valley College -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pilchuck School Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Portland State University -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rhode Island School of Design -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Venceremos Brigade Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions