Oral history interview with Paul J. Smith
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 6 secure digital memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 17 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Smith, Paul J.
label: Interviewer
content: Herman, Lloyd E.
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: American Crafts Council. Museum of Contemporary Crafts
label: Names
content: American Craftsmen's Council
label: Names
content: Museum of Arts and Design (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
topic: label: Topic
content: Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
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: Smith, Paul J.
label: Interviewer
content: Herman, Lloyd E.
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Paul J. Smith (1931- ) is Director Emeritus of the American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design) in New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 61 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2010 April 19-20
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.smith10
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 Paul J. Smith conducted 2010 April 19 and 20, by Lloyd E. Herman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Smith's home, in New York, N.Y.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Smith recalls his childhood; attending the Art Institute of Buffalo; working in display at the Flint & Kent department store in Buffalo; his interest in "hobby crafts" and greater exploration of jewelry and wood; exhibiting; joining the staff of the American Craftsmen's Council; becoming director of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts; developing the museum's program and international focus; organizing the "Objects: USA" exhibition in 1969; developing the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (in 1979 renamed the American Craft Museum); the 30th anniversary exhibition, "Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical," in 1986; becoming director emeritus; the "Craft Today USA" tour, 1989-1993; developing a consulting service; serving as guest curator; special projects; interest in photography; the current DIY movement as a continuum of the past.