Oral history interview with James Wentzy
name: label: Interviewee
content: Wentzy, James
label: Interviewer
content: Carr, C.
label: Names
content: ACT UP (Organization)
label: Names
content: ACT UP New York (Organization)
label: Names
content: Southern Illinois University (System) -- Students
label: Names
content: Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project
label: Names
content: Arena, Tony
label: Names
content: Brown, Arch
label: Names
content: Buckingham, David
label: Names
content: Carlomusto, Jean
label: Names
content: Dee, James, 1950-
label: Names
content: Ellis, Darrel
label: Names
content: Farber, Robert, 1948-1995
label: Names
content: Heiss, Alanna
label: Names
content: Maletta, Lou
label: Names
content: Moore, Patrick, 1962-
label: Names
content: Santinire, Vincent
label: Names
content: Schnabel, John
label: Names
content: Tam, Ho, 1962-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Cinematographers
label: Topic
content: AIDS activists
label: Topic
content: AIDS (Disease) and the arts
label: Topic
content: Artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Motion pictures -- Production and direction -- Study and teaching
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: Wentzy, James
label: Interviewer
content: Carr, C.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: James Wentzy (1952- ) is a cinematographer, documentary filmmaker, and artist in New York, New York. Cynthia Carr (1950- ) is a writer in New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 12 Items (Sound recording: 15 sound files (5 hr., 13 min.), digital, wav)
label: Extent
content: 164 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2017 January 23-March 31
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.wentzy17
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview with James Wentzy, conducted 2017 January 23-March 31, by Cynthia Carr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Wentzy's home and studio in New York, New York.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Wentzy speaks of his childhood in South Dakota; studying filmmaking at Southern Illinois University; moving to New York and shooting commercial films in the late 1970s; working and homesteading in the photography studio of James Dee; the beginning of the AIDS crisis; being diagnosed with HIV in 1990; his participation in and extensive documentation of ACT UP meetings, actions, and demonstrations; his place in the genealogy of AIDS activism; and his body of film and television work. Wentzy also recalls Darrel Ellis, Alanna Heiss, Arch Brown, James Dee, Robert Farber, Ho Tam, John Schnabel, Patrick Moore, Lou Maletta, Tony Arena, Vincent Satinire, David Buckingham, Jean Carlomusto, and others.