Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Dominic Di Mare Papers, 1950-2003, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.dimadomi
Creators:
Di Mare, Dominic, 1932-
Dates:
1950-2003
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of Dominic Di Mare measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1950 to 2003. The collection provides an overview of Di Mare's career as a fiber artist through biographical information, correspondence, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The papers of Dominic Di Mare measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1950 to 2003. The collection provides an overview of Di Mare's career as a fiber artist through biographical information, correspondence, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs. Of particular interest is the material concerning Di Mare's 1998 retrospective exhibition, including correspondence, a guest book, writings, publications, and photographs.
Biographical material includes award certificates from the American Craft Council and an extensive professional resumé. The correspondence series includes personal and professional correspondence as well as three folders of incoming and outgoing correspondence with the Susan Cummins Gallery, revealing the relationship that Di Mare had with the gallery during the 1990s. Writings include those by Di Mare and others. Of note are numerous artist statements and an illustrated journal from 1971. The printed material provides researchers with press clippings, exhibition catalogs, announcements, and published material on Di Mare, as well as other printed material on topics that Di Mare found of interest, including craft in education and the art of his colleagues. The artwork series includes many drawings, the highlight being a sketchbook of color drawings and diagrams spanning a thirty year period. The extensive collection of photographs include many portraits of Di Mare, photos of exhibitions, and numerous photos and slides of his artwork.
An unprocessed small addition of 0.4 linear feet consists of correspondence with colleagues, arts organizations, galleries, and museums regarding exhibitions and publications; photographs of De Mare at work and of works of art, including two flash drives containing images of works of art; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and one schematic drawing of an unidentified work by De Mare, 1990.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into six series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1987-2003 (box 1; 4 folders)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1970-2002, undated (box 1; 7 folders)
  • Series 3: Writings, 1971-1977, undated (box 1; 7 folders)
  • Series 4: Printed Material, 1964-2003, undated (box 1-2; 1.5 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Artwork, 1950-1999, undated (box 3; 3 folders)
  • Series 6: Photographs, 1959-2001, undated (box 3-4; 0.7 linear feet)
  • Series 7: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1950-2003 (box 5; 0.4 linear feet)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Fiber artist Dominic Di Mare was born in San Francisco, California, in 1932. He grew up working on his father's fishing boat and was artistically influenced by the process of making rope and fishing lines. After finishing high school, Di Mare attended the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and later received his art teaching certification at San Francisco State University. In 1960, Di Mare married Margaret Nef, bought his first loom, and began teaching at Francisco Junior High School. He and his wife had three children together, Marcello, Lorenzo, and Livia. A highly respected teacher, Di Mare taught at Francisco Junior High until 1976, when he left to work in his studio full-time.
A self taught fiber artist, Di Mare has explored, throughout his career, the imagery of the ocean and the shore. He works with fiber, wood, handmade paper, and small found objects to create unique sculptures. Since his first one person show at The Yarn Depot in 1963, Di Mare has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions and has been represented by the Anneberg Gallery and Braunstein Gallery in San Francisco, Florence Duhl Gallery in New York, and most recently the Susan Cummins Gallery in Mill Valley, California. In 1998 the Palo Alto Art Center curated "Dominic Di Mare: A Retrospective," which traveled throughout the country. In 1999 Di Mare received the American Crafts Council Gold Medal Award.

Administration

Author
Erin Corley
Provenance
Dominic Di Mare donated his papers in 2003 and 2013 to the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Erin Corley in March, 2005, as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. The 2013 addition of 0.4 linear feet is unprocessed and minimally described in this finding aid.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Terms of Use
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.
Preferred Citation
Dominic Di Mare papers, 1950-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Material
The Archives also has a transcribed interview of Dominic Di Mare, conducted June 4 and 10, 2002 by Signe Mayfield for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. The interview was conducted in Di Mare's home in Tiburon, California.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- California Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Study and teaching -- California Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fiber artists -- California -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Susan Cummins Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Palo Alto Arts Center 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
California College of Arts and Crafts (San Francisco, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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