Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Gary L. Noffke

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.noffke10
Creators:
Noffke, Gary
Douglas, Mary F., 1956-
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
Dates:
2010 December 4-5
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
106 Pages
Transcript
4 Items
Sound recording: 4 sound files (4 hr., 49 min.)
digital, wav
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Gary L. Noffke conducted 2010 December 4 and 5, by Mary Douglas, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Noffke's home, in Farmington, Georgia.
Scope and Contents
Noffke speaks of growing up in Sullivan, Illinois; disliking school; the absence of formal art education before college and doing art on his own; his grandfather's farm; attending Eastern Illinois University to study painting, receiving a BS and MS in education with a major in art; what classes he took and his professors; his opinion about art programs in universities; the influence of the Vietnam draft; attending the University of Iowa and his introduction to metals; transferring to Southern Illinois University and his peers; learning techniques with metals; early metal work; working at Stetson University in Deland, Florida; working with colleagues and students and its influence on work; experimenting with different techniques; transition from graduate school to professional life; developing different methods for metal work, and motivations; how the notion of form and function has changed in design, especially regarding metal work and artists; the dynamics of working with students throughout the years; discusses in detail individual works and his approaches and anecdotes; his attraction to rings, simple hardware, and traditional, ancient forms; other teaching jobs before landing at the University of Georgia; building his house and studio; working in the Italy program at Cortona; his experiences at Cranbrook, Michigan and Summervale, Colorado; current and past exhibitions including the National Ring Shows; entering competitions; how the hand-made motif is important in his work; the connotation of labels of craft artist; his casual approach to the art market and formalities in the art world. Noffke also recalls Garret DeRuiter, Brent Kington, Elliot Pujol, May Lee Hu, Marci Zelmanoff, Dickie Nettles, Robert Ebendorf, Gary Erbe, Phil Fike, Bill Brown, Evon Streetman, Lane Coulter, Sue Wilde, Lydia Norell, Fred Messersmith, Tom Gingras, Charles Loloma, Fritz Dreisbach, Barry Merrit, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Gary L. Noffke (1943- ) is a goldsmith in Farmington, Georgia. Mary Douglas (1956- ) is a curator and artist in Statesville, North Carolina.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
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 on 4 SD memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 49 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Metal-work Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brown, William J. (William Joseph), 1923-1992 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coulter, Lane, 1944- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
DeRuiter, Garret Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dreisbach, Fritz Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ebendorf, Robert, 1938- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Erbe, Gary T., 1944- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fike, Phillip G., 1927-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gingras, Toms Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hu, Mary Lee, 1943- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kington, L. Brent (Louis Brent), 1934-2013 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Loloma, Charles, 1921- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Merrit, Barry Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Messersmith, Fred Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nettles, Dickie Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Norell, Lydia Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pujol, Elliot Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Streetman, Evon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wilde, Sue Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Zelmanoff, Marci Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cranbrook Academy of Art Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Eastern Illinois University -- 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
Southern Illinois University (System) -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stetson University -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Iowa -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Ring Show Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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