Oral history interview with Paulus Berensohn
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 SD memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 13 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Berensohn, Paulus
label: Interviewer
content: Shapiro, Mark, 1955-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Bennington College -- Students
label: Names
content: Columbia University -- Students
label: Names
content: Goddard College -- Students
label: Names
content: Juilliard School -- Students
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: New York Philharmonic
label: Names
content: Pendle Hill (School : Wallingford, Pa.) -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Penland School of Crafts -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Swarthmore College -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Yale University -- Students
label: Names
content: Anderson, Ian, 1947-
label: Names
content: Bennion, Joseph W., 1952-
label: Names
content: Brown, Carolyn
label: Names
content: Brown, William J. (William Joseph), 1923-1992
label: Names
content: Callahan, Harry M.
label: Names
content: Charlip, Remy
label: Names
content: Cowles, Fleur
label: Names
content: Cunningham, Merce
label: Names
content: Dunn, Robert G.
label: Names
content: Ekman, June
label: Names
content: Garfinkel, Ron
label: Names
content: Graham, Martha
label: Names
content: Karnes, Karen, 1925-2016
label: Names
content: Kokis, George
label: Names
content: Mendes, Jerry
label: Names
content: Oliver, Mary, 1935-
label: Names
content: Peterson, Mary
label: Names
content: Pieser, Jane
label: Names
content: Raine, Yvonne
label: Names
content: Richards, Mary Caroline
label: Names
content: Stanford, Verne
label: Names
content: Stannard, Ann
label: Names
content: Supree, Burton
label: Names
content: Takaezu, Toshiko
label: Names
content: Williams, Gerald, 1926-2014
place: label: Place
content: Australia -- Description and Travel
topic: label: Topic
content: Artists' books
label: Topic
content: Ceramicists -- North Carolina -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Communal living
label: Topic
content: Dance -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Diaries -- Authorship
label: Topic
content: Dyslexia
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Poets -- North Carolina -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Ceramics
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Berensohn, Paulus
label: Interviewer
content: Shapiro, Mark, 1955-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Paulus Berensohn (1933-2017) was a poet, ceramic artist, dancer, and educator in Penland, North Carolina. Mark Shapiro (1955- ) is executive director of Lumina Art Gallery, in New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 60 Pages (Transcript)
label: Extent
content: 7 Items (Sound recording: 7 sound files (4 hr., 13 min.), digital, wav)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2009 March 20-21
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.berens09
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Paulus Berensohn conducted 2009 March 20-21, by Mark Shapiro, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Berensohn's home and studio, in Penland, North Carolina.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Berensohn speaks of growing up in New York City and his family; his brother Lorin Bernsohn, cellist with the New York Philharmonic; his problems with dyslexia as a child and yet his interest in reading and learning; an early interest in dance and the lack of support he received from his family; his admittance into Yale University, from where he quickly removed himself to attend Goddard College in Vermont; after Goddard attending Columbia University, Juilliard, and Bennington College while studying dance; studying under both Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham; his relationship with M.C. Richards; his first teaching job at Pendle Hill in Pennsylvania that lead to teaching at Swarthmore College for four years; his want to become a production potter while living on a farm in rural Pennsylvania where he created an artist commune; working with pinched pots and moving to Penland, North Carolina to teach workshops at the Penland School of Crafts; his book, "Finding Your Way With Clay," which started as a journaling and teaching project while at Penland; his interest in book art via his interest in journaling; the importance of clay as a healing material that connects humanity and the earth and his role as an advocate for clay; his work in and travels to Australia; recent photography projects and his busy and active schedule. Berensohn also recalls Remy Charlip, June Ekman, Fleur Cowles, John Cage, Robert Dunn, Yvonne Rainer, Carolyn Brown, Mary Oliver, Karen Karnes, Burt Supree, Toshiko Takaezu, Ann Stannard, Gerry Williams, George Kokis, Joe Bennion, Bill Brown, Jane Pieser, Ron Garfinkel, Jenny Mendes, Ian Anderson, Verne Stanford, Meg Peterson, and others.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds the papers of Paulus Berensohn.