Oral history interview with Jackie Ferrara
name: label: Interviewee
content: Ferrara, Jackie
label: Interviewer
content: Berman, Avis
label: Creator
content: United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project
label: Names
content: Michigan State University -- Students
label: Names
content: United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project
label: Names
content: Wayne State University -- Students
label: Names
content: Addams, Charles, 1912-1988
label: Names
content: Andre, Carl, 1935-
label: Names
content: Beauchamp, Robert, 1923-
label: Names
content: Bellamy, Richard
label: Names
content: DeLap, Tony, 1927-2019
label: Names
content: Eisenhauer, Lette
label: Names
content: Ferrara, Don
label: Names
content: Forst, Miles, 1923-
label: Names
content: Frank, Mary, 1933-
label: Names
content: Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011
label: Names
content: Gallo, Frank, 1933-
label: Names
content: Graves, Nancy Stevenson, 1940-1995
label: Names
content: Gross, Sally
label: Names
content: Hesse, Eva, 1936-1970
label: Names
content: Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966
label: Names
content: Judd, Donald, 1928-1994
label: Names
content: LeWitt, Sol, 1928-2007
label: Names
content: Marcus, Marcia, 1928-
label: Names
content: Motherwell, Robert
label: Names
content: Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-
label: Names
content: Protetch, Max
label: Names
content: Rockburne, Dorothea
label: Names
content: Rosenquist, James, 1933-
label: Names
content: Samaras, Lucas, 1936-
label: Names
content: Smithson, Robert
topic: label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Draftsmen (artists) -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
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: Ferrara, Jackie
label: Interviewer
content: Berman, Avis
label: Creator
content: United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Jackie Ferrara (1929- ) is a sculptor. Ferrara works with the built environment in her designs for courtyards and architectural structures.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Items (Sound recording: 3 sound files (5 hr., 12 min.), digital, WMA files)
label: Extent
content: 115 Pages (Transcript)
phystech: label: System Details
content: Originally recorded on 1 compact disc (2 5/8 inches).
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2009 January 16-February 13
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.ferrar09
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 is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Jackie Ferrara conducted 2009 January 16-February 13, by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art's U.S. General Services Administration, Design Excellence and the Arts oral history project, at the Ferrara's home, in New York, New York.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Ferrara speaks of growing up in Detroit, Michigan; her early interest in mathematics and its ever present role in her work; attending Michigan State University for one year; taking fashion drawing classes at Wayne State University and her supposed lack of drawing skills; an early interest in pottery and leather making; moving to New York City in 1951 on a night train from Detroit; working at the Henry Street Playhouse and its influential role on her art; her relationship with Robert Beauchamp and her friendship with many artists in Provincetown, Massachusetts; early works, including the cotton batting works and the rope works, most of which were destroyed; her dislike of traveling and her use of imagination for inspiration; participating in the performances and happenings of Claes Oldenburg; her friendship with Robert Smithson and his influence on her later works; working with Max Protetch; never teaching art because she herself did not attend art school; her creation process of her wood and stone pieces, including their conception in early drawings; having a positive attitude towards her pieces being rebuilt because of decay; quickly moving into public art in the late 1970s, early 1980s; living and working in the same loft in New York for over 40 years; the helpful role the women's movement played in her successful career though she did not participate; receiving art grants to enable her to work for a year or two without having to find an odd job to support herself; various public art projects around the country, how they came to be, creating the works and their significance to her. Ferrara also recalls Charlotte Tokayer, Don Ferrara, Alvin Nikolai, Richard Bellamy, Mary and Paul Frank, Miles and Barbara Forst, Sally Gross, Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Nat Halprin, Lucas Samara, Letty Lou Eisenhauer, James Rosenquist, Marcia Marcus, Charles Addams, Eva Hesse, Frank Gallo, Tony DeLap, Dorothea Rockburne, Time Doyle, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Nancy Graves, Marty Greenbaum, Abe Sachs, Mel Bochner, Jan Groover, Alice Aycock, Alice Adams, Jackie Windsor, Scott Burton, Siah Armajani, Michelle Stuart, Lucy Lippard, Zaha Hadid, Max Hutcinson, Andrea Blum, and others.