Oral history interview with Paul Stankard
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 32 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Stankard, Paul, 1943-
label: Interviewer
content: Heller, Doug, 1946-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Heller Gallery
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Penland School of Handicrafts -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Pilchuck Glass Center (Stanwood, Wash.) -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Eisch, Erwin, 1927-
label: Names
content: Hollister, Paul M., 1918-2004
label: Names
content: Labino, Dominick
label: Names
content: Littleton, Harvey K.
label: Names
content: Patti, Tom
label: Names
content: Peiser, Mark, 1938-
topic: label: Topic
content: Paperweights
label: Topic
content: Dyslexia
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Glass art
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: Stankard, Paul, 1943-
label: Interviewer
content: Heller, Doug, 1946-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Paul Stankard (1943- ) is a studio glass artist of Mantua, N.J. Doug Heller (1946- ) is a gallery owner and director of the Heller Gallery, New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 64 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2006 June 9-August 20
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.stanka06
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available on line.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Paul Stankard conducted 2006 June 9 and August 20, by Doug Heller, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the Heller Gallery, in New York, N.Y.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Stankard speaks of his family heritage and growing up in rural Massachusetts; attending Catholic school in North Attelboro, Massachusetts; his struggle with undiagnosed dyslexia throughout school; studying scientific glassblowing at Salem County Vocational Technical Institute; working in the scientific glass industry and feeling creatively stifled by its monotony; being intrigued by the flameworking of Charles Kaziun and Francis Whittemore, who both worked from the scientific glassblowing tradition; the satisfaction he felt from early experiments in making paperweights; the decision to leave his industry job to focus on flameworking and paperweight making; the secretive nature of the paperweight world; his early representation by paperweight dealers including Jack Feingold; experiences with Heller Gallery and Habatat Gallery; teaching experiences at Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, and Salem Community College; travels to Singapore, Japan, and Scotland; his involvement as a founding member of Creative Glass Center of America; his induction into the American Craft Council College of Fellows; the differences between the studio glass and paperweight fields in the 1960s and 1970s; working with his three daughters at Stankard Studio; the spirituality of his work; being influenced by Walt Whitman, Morris Graves, Robert Grant, and Edward Hopper; and being an enthused art collector. Stankard also recalls Harvey Littleton, Dominic Labino, Reese Paley, Mark Peiser, Erwin Eisch, Paul Hollister, Tom Patti, and others.