Oral history interview with Frances Senska
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 46 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Senska, Frances, 1914-2009
label: Interviewer
content: Forbes, Donna, 1929-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Archie Bray Foundation -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
topic: label: Occupation
content: Educators -- Bozeman -- Montana
label: Topic
content: Ceramicists -- Montana -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Women educators
label: Topic
content: Women artists
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: Senska, Frances, 1914-2009
label: Interviewer
content: Forbes, Donna, 1929-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Frances Senska (1914-2009) was a ceramicist and educator in Bozeman, Montana. Donna Forbes (1929- ) is the director of the Yellowstone Art Center, in Billings, Montana.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 28 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2001 April 16
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.senska01
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Frances Senska conducted 2001 April 16, by Donna Forbes, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
label: Scope and Contents
content: The interview took place in Senska's home and studio Bozeman, Montana. Senska speaks of her childhood in Africa and her exposure to African culture, specifically the pottery; immigrating to the United States, attending high school in Iowa City, Iowa, and completing both her BA and MA at the University of Iowa; joining the Navy; her interests in art and specifically how they developed into ceramics; her instructors; her teaching experience; the establishment of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana; the community of artists in Montana; how function is the most important aspect of her pottery; clay-digging expeditions; the design of her house and studio; how she listens to African music when she throws clay; the influence of craft magazines; the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts [NCECA]; honorary awards and degrees she has received; and changes in the ceramics world over the past fifty years. Senska recalls Peter Voulkos, Rudy Autio, Trude Guermonprez, Henry Meloy, Jun Kaneko, Maija Grotell, Branson Stevenson and others.