Archives of American Art

A Finding aid to the Willem Volkersz Interviews, 1975-1985, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.volkwill
Creators:
Volkersz, Willem
Dates:
1975-1985
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2.6 Linear feet
Repository:
The Willem Voklersz interviews measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1975-1985. The collection consists of twenty-nine sound cassettes containing thirty-one interviews of folk artists conducted by Volkersz for a personal research project, a monologue, and readings by Volkersz of notes on individual artists. Subjects include folk artists such as Howard Finster, Jesse Howard, and St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin). Also found are thirty-seven transcripts of the recordings.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Willem Voklersz interviews measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1975-1985. The collection consists of twenty-nine sound cassettes containing thirty-one interviews of folk artists conducted by Volkersz for a personal research project, a monologue, and readings by Volkersz of notes on individual artists. Subjects include folk artists such as Howard Finster, Jesse Howard, and St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin). Also found are thirty-seven transcripts of the recordings.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as one series.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Willem Volkersz is a teacher, collector, and sculptor of Bozeman, Montana, who was born in Holland and came to the United States following World War II. He completed his education at the University of Washington in 1965, and completed a Masters of Fine Art at Mills College in 1967.
Volkersz began researching and collecting work by visionary and naive artists while a professor at the Kansas City Art Institute. His collection is now at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and the Missoula Art Museum, in Missoula, Montana.

Administration

Author
Ricky Gomez
Sponsor
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Sound recordings of the Willem Volkersz interviews were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1986 by Willem Volkersz, who made them primarily for his own use as a researcher, collector and teacher of folk art. They were transcribed in 1989 for the Archives of American Art by Toni Reineke.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Ricky Gomez in 2020.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcripts of interviews are available on the Archives of American Art's website.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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
Willem Volkersz interviews, 1975-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institute.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Folk artists -- United States Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- Montana -- Bozeman Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collectors -- Montana -- Bozeman Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- Montana -- Bozeman Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Finster, Howard, 1916-2001 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Howard, Jesse, 1885-1983 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
St. EOM, 1908-1986 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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