Oral history interview with Carolyn Mazloomi
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 16 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 33 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Mazloomi, Carolyn
label: Interviewer
content: Cubbs, Joanne
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Women of Colour Quilters Network
label: Names
content: Adkins, Minnie, 1934-
label: Names
content: Benberry, Cuesta
label: Names
content: Cargo, Robert T.
label: Names
content: Connell, Martha Stamm
label: Names
content: Freeman, Roland L., 1936-
label: Names
content: Hill, Lauryn
label: Names
content: Johnson, Nkosi, 1989-2001
label: Names
content: Miller, Edjohnetta
label: Names
content: Sisto, Penny
label: Names
content: Wilson, Marie
topic: label: Occupation
content: Quiltmakers -- Ohio
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Baltimore album quilts
label: Topic
content: African American artists
label: Topic
content: African American quiltmakers
label: Topic
content: African American art -- African influences
label: Topic
content: Women textile designers
label: Topic
content: Quilting
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: Mazloomi, Carolyn
label: Interviewer
content: Cubbs, Joanne
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Carolyn Mazloomi (1948- ) is a quilt maker from West Chester, Ohio.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 16 Items (Sound recording: 16 sound files (4 hr., 33 min.), digital, wav)
label: Extent
content: 56 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2002 September 17-30
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.mazloo02
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 online.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Carolyn Mazloomi conducted 2002 September 17 and 30, by Joanne Cubbs, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in West Chester, Ohio. Mazloomi speaks of growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a family of self-taught artists; the positive influence of her aunt and teacher Dr. Carter; the generation of African American quilt-makers who followed a gap in quilt-making post-slavery; she describes her previous career as an aeronautical engineer and her transition to quilt-making; how she identifies herself as a craftsperson, not an artist; her experience with Baltimore album and Appalachian quilts; learning to quilt; the Women of Color Quilter's Network and its economic and social development programs; her book, "Spirits of the Cloth"; the positive and negative aspects of travel; the false generalizations of African American quilts in academic circles; the importance of gender, race, and ethnicity in her work; her connection to "praise songs"; she discusses functional vs. nonfunctional quilts; the market for "hand-crafted" quilts; agents and galleries; she describes her working environment; adopting the use of a sewing machine in her work; the importance of community; her technique; her accomplishment of placing African-American quilts in the Renwick Gallery; the influence of magazines, including "Raw Vision;" her aversion to commissions; expanding her use of materials and technology; her exhibitions; her role as an advocate and dealer; finding inspiration in black and white linocuts and her use of color in quilts; and making a connection with her audience. Mazloomi also recalls Marie Wilson, Cuesta Benberry, Edjohnetta Miller, Roland Freeman, Robert Cargo, Martha Connell, Penny Sisto, Minnie Adkins, Nkosi Johnson, and Lauryn Hill.