Oral history interview with Robert Levin
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 14 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Levin, Robert, 1948-
label: Interviewer
content: Byrd, Joan Falconer
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Denison University -- Students
label: Names
content: Glass Art Society
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Penland School of Crafts -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Pilchuck School -- Students
label: Names
content: Southern Illinois University (System) -- Students
label: Names
content: Bernstein, William, 1945-
label: Names
content: Brown, William J. (William Joseph), 1923-1992
label: Names
content: Dreisbach, Fritz
label: Names
content: Handler, Audrey
label: Names
content: Levin, Robert, 1948-
label: Names
content: Littleton, Harvey K.
label: Names
content: Peiser, Mark, 1938-
label: Names
content: Ritter, Richard Q.
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- North Carolina
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Glass artists -- North Carolina -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Jewish art
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: Levin, Robert, 1948-
label: Interviewer
content: Byrd, Joan Falconer
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Robert Levin (1948- ) is a glass artist from Burnsville, North Carolina. Joan Falconer Byrd (1939- ) is a professor in the art department, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina.
function: label: Function
content: Artists' studios
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 32 Pages (Transcript)
label: Extent
content: 3 Items (Sound recordings: 3 sound files (3 hr., 14 min.), digital, wav)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2004 December 11
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.levin04
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 Robert Levin conducted 2004 December 11, by Joan Byrd, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Burnsville, North Carolina.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Levin speaks of growing up in Dundalk, Maryland; participating in theater in high school; attending Denison University; becoming interested in ceramics and glass; attending graduate school at Southern Illinois University; working as an assistant to Fritz Dreisbach at Pilchuck Glass School; teaching at Penland School of Crafts; becoming resident glass artist at Penland; influential artists; moving to Celo; the North Carolina craft community; the element of play in his work; mixing glass colors; keeping variety in his work; the process of making sculptural and functional pieces; the influence of nature and other cultures on his work; including political and social statements in his work; making mixed-media pieces; working on commission; making Judaica pieces; the glass blowing process; being part of an international glass tradition; participating in the Glass Art Society; the reasons he enjoys teaching; attending GAS conferences; participating in regional art organizations; his home studio and the equipment he uses; how his working process has changed; designing a series of awards; his interest in music and guitar; the qualities of glass; and the importance of intuitiveness in creating his pieces. Levin also recalls Audrey Handler, Bill Boysen, Bill Brown, Richard Ritter, Bill Bernstein, Mark Peiser, Harvey Littleton, and others.