Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Michael W. Monroe

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.monroe18
Creators:
Monroe, Michael W.
Herman, Lloyd E.
Dates:
2018 January 22-March 1
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
8 Items
sound files (3 hr., 59 min.) Audio
digital, wav
71 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview with Michael W. Monroe conducted 2018 January 22-March 1, by Lloyd Herman, for the Archives of American Art, at the home of Michael Monroe and at the home of Lloyd Herman, in Seattle, Washington.
Scope and Contents
Monroe speaks of his childhood in Racine, Wisconsin; his Danish immigrant community and early exposure to Danish design; early experiences of art-making; his art and teaching education at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee; experiences with Midwestern art museums in adolescence and young adulthood; his graduate art education at the Cranbrook Academy of Art; his work as gallery director at SUNY Oneonta in the early 1970s; his approach to evaluating and curating craftwork; his curatorial tenure and close collaboration with Herman at the Renwick Gallery; securing the Renwick's Albert Paley gates; his lifestyle in the Washington, DC area; the American craft movement's shift towards the marketplace, social media, and quick do-it-yourself methods; organizing the "Craft Multiples" traveling exhibition; the beginning of the Renwick's collections policy; organizing "Celebration: A World of Art and Ritual;" organizing the White House Collection of Crafts and its eventual transfer to the Clinton Presidential Library; his continued involvement with the craft world after retirement from the Renwick; his tenure as executive director of the Bellevue Arts Museum; his mentorship of young craft artists; and his sense of the past and future of American crafts. Monroe also recalls Sylvester Jerry, Cherry Barr Jerry, Robert Verizer, Robert Kidd, George Ortman, Julius Schmidt, Richard DeVore, Steve Frykholm, Jon Eric Riis, Arturo Sandoval, Gretchen Bellinger, Bernadette Monroe, Robert Arneson, David Gilhooly, William Harper, Wendell Castle, Françoise Grossen, Claire Zeisler, Sarah Booth Conroy, Sheila Hicks, Dale Chihuly, Arthur Mason, Jane Mason, Betty Ford, Joan Mondale, Rosalynn Carter, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Paul Gottlieb, Peter Joseph, Matthew Kangas, Mark Haley, Nora Atkinson, and others. Herman recalls Susan Mellon, Joshua Taylor, Paul Gardner, Charles Eldredge, Elizabeth Broun, Paul Smith, Rose Slivka, Diane Douglas, Janet Kardon, William Morris, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Michael W. Monroe (1940- ) is director emeritus of the Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington. Lloyd Herman (1936- ) is the founding director (emeritus) of the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. who resides in Seattle, Washington.

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
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


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The transcript and recording are open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
System Details
Recorded on Tascam DR-100MKII R00037

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- Washington (State) -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts -- Management Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Curators -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Curators -- Washington (State) -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bellevue Art Museum (Wash.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smithsonian American Art Museum. Renwick Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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