Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with James Melchert

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.melche91
Creators:
Melchert, Jim, 1930-
Jones, Mady
Dates:
1991 Apr. 4-5
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
90 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of James Melchert conducted in Oakland, Calif., 1991 Apr.4-5, by Mady Jones, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Melchert discusses his background; attending the University of Chicago for his MFA in painting; discovering his interest in clay; studying under Peter Voulkos at the Bray Foundation and following him to Berkeley in the Decorative Arts Dept.; artists at Berkeley at the time; teaching ceramics at the San Francisco Art Institute; the art scene in San Francisco; working for the National Endowment for the Arts; moving to Rome to work for the American Academy in Rome; and his future plans. Among the many artists and administrators he recalls are Rudy Autio, Millard Sheets, Bob Arneson, Stephen de Staebler, Jacques Schnier, Peter Selz, Bruce Connor, Bruce Nauman, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, Susan Peterson, Fred Martin, Ron Nagle, Grace Morley, and Carlos Villa.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Jim Melchert (1930- ) is a sculptor, teacher, and art administrator of Oakland, Calif. Chairman, Ceramics Dept., San Francisco Art Institute, 1961-1964. Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, 1965-1976. Federal grants chairman of the visual arts for the National Endowment of the Arts in the late 1970s.

Administration

Sponsor
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. Funding for this interview provided by the Lannan Foundation.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 38 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Ceramics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- California -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- California -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Decorative arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
San Francisco Art Institute -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of California, Berkeley -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Endowment for the Arts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Academy in Rome Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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