Oral history interview with Michael James
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 6 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 35 min.
name: label: Creator
content: James, Michael, 1949-
label: Interviewer
content: Harris, Patricia, 1949-
label: Interviewer
content: Lyon, David, 1949-
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
topic: label: Occupation
content: Quiltmakers -- United States
label: Topic
content: Fiber artists -- Nebraska -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art -- Economic aspects
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Textile crafts
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: Creator
content: James, Michael, 1949-
label: Interviewer
content: Harris, Patricia, 1949-
label: Interviewer
content: Lyon, David, 1949-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Michael James (1949- ) is a fiber artist from Lincoln, Nebraska. Patricia Harris and David Lyon are art critics from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 91 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2003 January 4-5
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.james03
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 Michael James conducted 2003 January 4-5, by Patricia Harris and David Lyon, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
label: Scope and Contents
content: James speaks of his childhood in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in a large Catholic French-Canadian family; his parochial school experience; the early influence of French language and textiles; his undergraduate studies at Southeastern Massachusetts University and graduate studies at Rochester Institute of Technology in painting and printmaking; his first exposure to the craft world; transitioning from painting to quilts while starting a family; his first teaching jobs and shift to self employment; he discusses his books Quiltmaker's Handbook I and II; being male in the women's world of quiltmaking; he comments on the importance of fiber as a means of expression; his artistic influences; his 1990 residency in Switzerland; creating fabrics by hand-painting and digital printing; representational imagery in his work and themes; commissions; the impact of religion, spirituality, mortality, politics and social issues on his quilts; his working environment in Somerset, Massachusetts, and Lincoln, Nebraska; teaching at the University of Nebraska, and the International Quilt Study Center there; his wife Judy and her art; quiltmakers inside and outside academia; the value of quilts as "art"; crafts schools; his involvement in national and regional craft organizations; his early exhibitions; his relationships with dealers; the state of the art market; the lack of critical reception in the quiltmaking field; his own writings; how American fiber arts rank on an international scale; and new uses of technology in his work. He also recalls Jon Gnagy, Donald Krueger, Susan Russo, Faith Ringgold, Mickey Lawler, Ulysses Dietz, Robert and Ardis James, Florence Dionne, Lois Martin, Diane Itter, Hilda Raz, and others.