Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Peter Rodriguez

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.rodrig04
Creators:
Rodriguez, Peter, 1926-
Wagner, Nora
Dates:
2004 October 23-24
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
32 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Peter Rodriguez conducted 2004 October 23-24, by Nora Wagner, for the Archives of American Art, in San Francisco, Calif.
Scope and Contents
Rodriguez speaks of his family background, early childhood and elementary art education; travels to Mexico, Alaska, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.; exhibitions he participated in as well as curated; joining Galería de la Raza; the founding of the Mexican Museum in San Francisco, grants received and support from the San Francisco community; artists Jesse Aguirre, Manuel Villamor, and Ester Hernandez; Ann Rockefeller Roberts and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection of Mexican Folkart, acquired by the Mexican Museum in 1985. Rodriquez also discusses the various art forms he works in, including, sculpture, tapestry, oil painting, acrylic painting, portraits of artists, and pen and ink drawings; a collection of chairs he made; his 1992 Retrospective at the Haggin Museum, in Stockton, Calif.; his creativity and color scheme for exhibitions; appointment as an Art Commissioner for the city of San Francisco, 1977-1986; the Rosa Covarrubias collection; the different locations of the Mexico Museum; current funding for a new building on Mission Street; the exhibition "Lo del Corazon"; and his own hopes for the future of the Mexican Museum. Rodriguez also recalls Rufino Tamayo, Adriana Williams, Lauro Lopez, Chucho Reyes Ferreira, Rupert Garcia, Alfredo Arreguin, Candelario Medrano, Terrey Dickey, Bea Carrillo, and Tomás Ybarra-Frausto.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Peter Rodriguez (1926- ) is the founder and former director of the Mexican Museum, in San Francisco, Calif. Nora Wagner (1938- ) is a program director at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, Calif.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview provided by the Goldsmith Foundation. 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.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript available on line
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
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 14 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 34 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Philosophy Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Garcia, Rupert, 1941- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hernandez, Ester, 1944- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Williams, Adriana, 1933- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reyes Ferreira, Jesus Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ybarra-Frausto, Tomás, 1938- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dickey, Terry P. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Galería de la Raza (San Francisco, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexican Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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