Oral history interview with David Shaner
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 5 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Shaner, David, 1934-
label: Interviewer
content: Williams, Gerald, 1926-2014
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Archie Bray Foundation
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
topic: label: Occupation
content: Ceramicists -- Montana -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Ceramics -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Ceramics
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: Shaner, David, 1934-
label: Interviewer
content: Williams, Gerald, 1926-2014
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: David Shaner (1934-2002) was a ceramist from Bigfork, Montana. Gerry Williams (1926-) is a ceramist and editor of Studio Potter from Goffstown, N.H.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 34 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2001 June 17
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.shaner01
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of David Shaner conducted 2001 June 17, by Gerald Williams, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Shaner's home in Bigfork, Montana.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Shaner speaks of his childhood in Pennsylvania and his parents background as pre-Revolutionary German-Swiss immigrants; his love of gardening; travels to the southwest United States, as well as Mexico and Peru; the appeal of the teapot; the spiritual aspect of making a bowl; how American craft has changed during his lifetime; his work at the Archie Bray Foundation; his education and his own teaching experiences; his "Saturday job" with Robert Turner; periodicals and their impact on the American craft movement; the calming effect of classical music while he worked; the construction of his studio space and equipment; the enthusiasm his family has for pottery and the arts in general; his involvement in the environmental movement and membership to the Sierra Club; his political views; the simplicity of his work; his opinion of writing in the field of pottery; his views on technology, especially within the field of pottery; his first one-man show; his opinion of other artists, especially those who are not "ordinary"; being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and its impact upon him; and the last few pieces he did before closing his studio. Shaner also recalls Kenneth Ferguson, Daniel Rhodes, John Wood, Peter Voulkos, Val Cushing, Ted Randall, Charles Harder and others.