Oral history interview with Chunghi Choo
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded 5 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 27 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 22 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Choo, Chunghi
label: Interviewer
content: Milosch, Jane
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Cranbrook Academy of Art -- Students
label: Names
content: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Ihwa Yŏja Taehakkyo
label: Names
content: Museum für Kunsthandwerk Frankfurt am Main
label: Names
content: Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Penland School of Handicrafts -- Students
label: Names
content: University of Iowa -- Faculty
label: Names
content: University of Northern Iowa
label: Names
content: Victoria and Albert Museum
label: Names
content: Bush, Cody
label: Names
content: Chateauvert, Jocelyn
label: Names
content: Fujio, Yuho
label: Names
content: Grotell, Maija
label: Names
content: Kao, Ruth
label: Names
content: Kaufman, Glen
label: Names
content: Larsen, Jack Lenor
label: Names
content: Lechtzin, Stanley, 1936-
label: Names
content: Lee, Sang-Bong
label: Names
content: Mayer-VanderMey, Sandra
label: Names
content: McFadden, David Revere
label: Names
content: Merkel-Hess, Mary
label: Names
content: Park, No Soo
label: Names
content: Raab, Rosanne
label: Names
content: Saarinen, Loja
label: Names
content: Smith, Paul J.
label: Names
content: Thomas, Richard C., 1917-1988
label: Names
content: Yeun, Kee-ho
place: label: Place
content: Korea (South) -- History -- April Revolution, 1960
topic: label: Occupation
content: Metal-workers -- Iowa -- Iowa City
label: Occupation
content: Jewelers -- Iowa -- Iowa City
label: Occupation
content: Textile designers -- Iowa -- Iowa City
label: Occupation
content: Mixed-media artists -- Iowa -- Iowa City
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Metal-work
label: Topic
content: Jewelers -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Asian American art
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Korean War, 1950-1953
label: Topic
content: Korean American art
label: Topic
content: Korean American Artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American jewelers
label: Topic
content: Asian American metal-workers
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women textile artists
label: Topic
content: Jewelry making
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: Choo, Chunghi
label: Interviewer
content: Milosch, Jane
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Chunghi Choo (1938- ) is a Korean American educator, metalsmith, jeweler, and textile and mixed media artist based in Iowa City, Iowa. Interviewer Jane Milosch is a curator from Silver Spring, Maryland.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 75 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2007 July 30-2008 July 26
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.choo07
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 Chunghi Choo conducted 2007 July 30-2008 July 26, by Jane Milosch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's home, in Iowa City, Iowa.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Choo speaks of establishing the Metalsmithing and Jewelry program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City; the elaborate equipment, tools, and safety protection used in the studio; her experience teaching silent metalforming at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine; participating in international workshops and seminars in Korea; the extensive world traveling she does with her husband, Dr. Charles Read, including destinations in Scandinavia, Thailand, Austria, Italy, and South Africa, among others; the house she designed in Iowa City; her love of the city and being surrounded by treasured friends, a supportive university, and beautiful environments; an interest in creative cooking and appreciation for diverse dishes from all around the world; her childhood and young adulthood in Inchon, Korea; growing up with an appreciation for beautiful art objects and classical music; an early interest and talent in drawing; attending Ewha Women's University as generations of women in her family had previously; experiences during the Korean War and April 19 Revolution in 1961; coming to the United States in 1961 as a student; studying English, ceramics, enameling, and stone cutting for one semester at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C.; attending Cranbrook Art Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and studying metalsmithing with Richard Thomas, ceramics with Maija Grotell, and weaving with Glen Kaufman; living with Mrs. Loja Saarinen during her three and a half years at Cranbrook; teaching general craft at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Rapids from 1965-1968; pioneering the mixed-media studies with her students at UNI; accepting the challenge to build a metalsmithing and jewelry program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1968; learning and teaching electroforming; the development of the electro-appliqué technique; extensive donor support and fundraising for the Metalsmithing and Jewelry program and its students; finding inspiration in nature, East Asian calligraphy, classical music, and travel; her long friendship with Jack Lenor Larsen and the great influence he has had on her work; being represented in major art museums and institutions world-wide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Museum fur Kunsthandwerk in Frankfurt, Germany, and many others; the joy she has when her students succeed and surpass her; and plans for future work, writing projects, and travel. Choo also speaks of the 2008 flooding of Iowa City and the state of Iowa during which her studio was severely damaged and many things were lost. Choo also recalls Park, No Soo; Lee, Sang Bong; Ruth Kao; Stanley Lechtzin; Yuho Fujio; David McFadden; Paul J. Smith; Rosanne Raab; Cody Bush; Jocelyn Chateauvert; Mary Merkel Hess; Sandra Mayer-VanderMey; Kee-ho Yeun, and others.