June Schwarcz papers
name: label: Creator
content: Schwarcz, June, 1918-2015
label: Names
content: Austin, Carole
label: Names
content: Di Mare, Dominic, 1932-
label: Names
content: Slemmons, Kiff
label: Names
content: Solberg, Ramona
label: Names
content: Stocksdale, Kay Sekimachi
topic: label: Occupation
content: Enamelers -- California
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: American studio craft movement
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The June Schwarcz papers were donated in 2001 and 2013 by June Schwarcz.
creator: label: Creator
content: Schwarcz, June, 1918-2015
setName: label: See more items in
content: June Schwarcz papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of enameler June Schwarcz measure 7.6 linear feet and date from 1932 to 2014. The collection comprises biographical material including an interview, correspondence, gallery files, professional files documenting Schwarcz's activities outside of her work with galleries including files for her exhibition June Schwarcz: Forty Years/Forty Pieces, project and travel notebooks, personal business records, and printed materials. Also found are photographic materials including photographs, slides, and digital photographs of Schwarcz, works of art, exhibitions, events, and friends including Merry Renk, Kay Sekimachi, and Dominic di Mare.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: June Schwarcz (1918-2015), a long-time resident of Sausalito, California, was one of the preeminent contemporary enamelers in the United States. 

Schwarcz was born in Denver, Colorado to Percy and Mary Morris. From 1939 to 1941, she studied industrial design at Pratt Institute. Soon after graduating she married Leroy Schwarcz, an engineer, and the couple moved to Baltimore, Maryland and had two children, Carl and Kim. The family lived in Brazil in the early 1950s before returning to Denver in 1954 for a brief period. While in Denver, Schwarcz learned about enameling through the books of Kenneth Bates. She acquired her first kiln and began creating enamels. Looking to nature for inspiration, she began enameling readymade copper vessels and soon began hammering her own bowls. Eventually she developed a signature method of drawing paper patterns and creating pieces from a lightweight, flexible copper foil that was amenable to folding and sewing like textiles. The work was then immersed into an electroforming bath for several days. The resulting enameled or oxidized vessels represented a unique development in enamel-on-metal technique, one that distinguished her among her fellow American craft artists. 

Schwarcz died in 2015 in Sausalito, California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1932-2014
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.schwjune
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Drawings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1932-2012 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1956-2014 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Gallery Files, 1964-2012 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Series 4: Professional Files, 1953-2013 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)

Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1956-2013 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 5-6)

Series 6: Printed Materials, 1956-2011 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)

Series 7: Photographic Materials, circa 1935-2013 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 7-9)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2022.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of enameler June Schwarcz measure 7.6 linear feet and date from 1932 to 2014. The collection comprises biographical material including an interview, correspondence, gallery files, professional files documenting Schwarcz's activities outside of her work with galleries including files for her exhibition June Schwarcz: Forty Years/Forty Pieces, project and travel notebooks, personal business records, and printed materials. Also found are photographic materials including photographs, slides, and digital photographs of Schwarcz, works of art, exhibitions, events, and friends. 


Biographical materials include datebooks, resumes, a transcript of an interview with Nancy Sarvis and "Visit with June" digital recordings, a photograph album and handmade book commemorating Schwarcz's 90th birthday, and a book of poems written by Schwarcz as a teenager. Correspondence is with Carole Austin, Dominic and Margaret di Mare, Bob Ebendorf, Deborah Krupenia, Forrest Merrill, Hal Nelson and Bernard Jazzar, Sarah Perkins, Brigitte Peterhans, Kay Sekimachi, Kiff Slemmons, Ramona Solberg, Paul Soldner, and others. Gallery files consist of correspondence, exhibition forms and related material, and a digital recording of an interview with Schwarz and images of works of art. Professional files document Schwarcz's activities outside of her work with galleries including files for her exhibition June Schwarcz: Forty Years/Forty Pieces, memberships, notebooks for projects and travel, and supply and procedure files. Also found are personal business records consisting of financial and legal records including several ledgers and record books with pricing and inventory information; printed materials that include catalogs and announcements for Schwarcz's exhibitions, clippings, and other material related to the craft community; and photographic materials containing photographs, slides, and born-digital material of Schwarcz, works of art, exhibitions, and snapshots of events and friends including Merry Renk, Kay Sekimachi, and Dominic di Mare.

Throughout the collection, but particularly in correspondence and photographic materials, researchers may find notes that were handwritten onto items by Schwarcz describing events depicted and relationships to people who appear in the collection. Schwarcz also developed an inventory numbering system for her artworks. Inventory numbers are referenced throughout the collection. Information on which works of art correspond to each inventory number can be found in the ledgers and record books in Series 5.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of June Schwarcz conducted January 21, 2001 by Arline M. Fisch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Schwarcz's home and studio, Sausalito, California.