Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Betty Woodman

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.woodma03
Creators:
Woodman, Betty, 1930-2018
Perreault, John, 1937-2015
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
Dates:
2003 April 22 and 29
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
5 Items
Sound recording: 5 sound files (2 hr., 55 min.)
digital wav
69 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Betty Woodman conducted 2003 April 22 and 29, by John Perreault, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in New York, New York.
Scope and Contents
Woodman speaks of frequent moves with her family during her childhood; her father's woodworking skills; gaining an interest in arts and crafts at four when she made a tablecloth with crayon drawings; attending summer camps, including Girl Scout Camp, where she participated in arts and crafts activities; being the first girl to take shop in her middle school; making model airplanes for air raid wardens during World War II; her interest in making functional objects; her introduction to clay and hand-building in high school; attending the School for American Craftsmen in New York City; collaborating with fellow students; her early desire to be a "craftsperson and not an artist"; her work with silk-screen fabric for The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia and glass at CIRVA in Marseille, France; teaching at the University of Colorado and the City of Boulder Recreation Department; working at the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch, Holland, and the Bellagio Study Center in Italy; her studios in New York, Colorado, and Italy; her travels to India, The Netherlands, and Mexico; living in New Mexico, New York, Colorado, and Italy; her business Roadrunner Pottery in New Mexico with partner Elenita Brown; collaborative projects with Joyce Kozloff, Cynthia Carlson, Bud Shark, Judith Solodkin, and her husband George Woodman; developing a following in New York; how being a woman has affected her work and how she enjoys working with other women artists; the change of market for American crafts; Italian, Greek, and Etruscan influences; teaching experiences; the importance of getting reviews in art magazines; and the strong support from her husband George, a painter. Betty Woodman recalls Lynn Feelyn, Olan Wassen, Bernard Leach, Peter Voulkos, Shoji Hamada, Bob Kushner, Richard Serra, Wayne Higby, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Betty Woodman (1930-2018) was a ceramist from New York, New York. John Perreault (1937- ) is an independent critic and curator from New York, New York.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. 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.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 55 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Airplanes -- Models Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ceramics -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Decorative arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glass art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Screen process printing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
World War, 1939-1945 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Boulder (Colo.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
India -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexico -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Netherlands -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists' studios Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women ceramicists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Handicraft Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brown, Elenita Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carlson, Cynthia, 1942- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hamada, Shōji, 1894-1978 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Higby, Wayne Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kozloff, Joyce Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kushner, Robert, 1949- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Leach, Bernard, 1887-1979 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Serra, Richard, 1938- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shark, Bud Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Woodman, George, 1932- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bellagio Study and Conference Center Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Centre internationale de recherche sur le verre et les arts plastiques (Marseille, France) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Europees Keramisch Werkcentrum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fabric Workshop Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Girl Scouts of the United States of America 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
School for American Crafts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Colorado -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Boulder (Colo.).. Parks & Recreation Department Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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