Ralph Bacerra papers
name: label: Creator
content: Bacerra, Ralph, 1938-2008
label: Names
content: Chouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Otis Art Institute
label: Names
content: Heino, Vivika, 1910-1995
label: Names
content: Moore, Eudorah M.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Ceramicists -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Filipino American artists
label: Topic
content: American studio craft movement
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Ralph Bacerra papers were donated in 2003 by Ralph Bacerra, in 2016 by Cindy Bass, Bacerra's niece and executor, and in 2017 by Jo Lauria Fargo on behalf of Bass as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
creator: label: Creator
content: Bacerra, Ralph, 1938-2008
setName: label: See more items in
content: Ralph Bacerra papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Los Angeles ceramic artist and educator Ralph Bacerra measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1957 to 2015. The collection documents Bacerra's career through correspondence, professional activity files including teaching files from Chouinard Art Institute and Otis Art Institute, exhibition files, writings and notes including the artist's ceramic formulas and a diary, artwork including sketchbooks and drawings, photographs including images of Bacerra and his work, and printed material relating to Bacerra's career.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Ralph Bacerra (1938-2008) was a ceramic artist and educator in Los Angeles, California. 

Born to a Filipino father and mother from Montana, Bacerra grew up on a farm in Garden Grove, California where his parents settled before he was born. Bacerra began studying art in high school and later went onto study commercial art and ceramics with Bill Payne at Orange Coast Junior College. Bacerra planned on continuing his commercial art studies when he enrolled in Chouinard Art Institute, now the California Institute of the Arts, but changed his major to ceramics after taking a class with Vivika Heino, who became his mentor. Heino and her husband Otto were respected figures in the  ceramics field. In 1959, on a road trip from Los Angeles to New Hampshire, Heino introduced Bacerra to prominent artists across the country. 

After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bacerra joined the Army and served for two years. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he began teaching at Chouinard. Heino, who headed the ceramics department at the time, left the school to teach at the Rhode Island School of Design, leaving the department in the hands of Bacerra and John Fassbinder. A few years later, Bacerra became the department head. In 1971, when Chouinard became the California Institute of Art, the ceramics department was discontinued. Over the next decade, Bacerra focused on studio work and travel to Asia, and the influence of Japanese Imari and celadon can be seen in Bacerra's work. Bacerra also did commercial work for the Induction Stove Corporation and developed an advanced ceramics technique using electromagnetic induction. From 1983 to 1997, Bacerra taught at the Otis Art Institute. After retiring, he devoted his time to studio work. 

Bacerra's work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. In 1998, he was awarded honorary membership by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. 

Bacerra died in Eagle Rock, California in 2008.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.4 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1957-2015
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.baceralp
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 6 series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1959-2002 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Professional Activity Files, 1959-2013 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 1, 4, OV 5)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1957-circa 1990s (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 4: Artwork, circa 1959-circa 1970s (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 1, 4)

Series 5: Photographic Material, 1958-2001 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 2-4)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1958-2015 (0.4 linear feet; Box 4, OV 5)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2021.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Los Angeles ceramic artist and educator Ralph Bacerra measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1957 to 2015. The collection comprises correspondence with the Decorative Arts Council, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Theo Portnoy Gallery, and others; professional activity files including teaching files from Chouinard Art School and Otis College of Art, exhibition files, and a file for his National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts award. Also found are writings and notes containing ceramic formulas, Bacerra's student notes, and a diary record of his road trip with Vivika Heino in 1959; artwork consisting of sketchbooks and drawings from Chouinard, the Shoji Hamada workshop at the University of Southern California, and other sketches of ceramic designs; photographic materials of Bacerra and his work, personal photographs, Asian art, sculptures, and travel; and printed materials relating to Bacerra's career.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of Ralph Bacerra conducted on April 7-19, 2004 by Frank Lloyd, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Los Angeles, California.