Oral history interview with Val Laigo
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 48 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Laigo, Val M., 1930-1992
label: Interviewer
content: Lau, Alan Chong
label: Interviewer
content: Nakane, Kazuko
label: Names
content: Charles and Emma Frye Art Museum
label: Names
content: Foster/White Gallery
label: Names
content: Mexico City College -- Students
label: Names
content: Northwest Asian American Project
label: Names
content: Seattle University -- Students
label: Names
content: University of Washington -- Students
label: Names
content: Bennett, Doug
label: Names
content: Callahan, Kenneth, 1905-1986
label: Names
content: Chong, Fay
label: Names
content: Dusanne, Zoe, 1884-1977
label: Names
content: Horiuchi, Paul, 1906-
label: Names
content: Jones, Quincy, 1933-2024
label: Names
content: Katayama, Mits
label: Names
content: Nordness, Lee
label: Names
content: Okada, Frank S. (Frank Sumio), 1931-2000
label: Names
content: Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949
label: Names
content: Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973
label: Names
content: Ritchie, Bill
label: Names
content: Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957
label: Names
content: Siqueiros, David Alfaro, 1896-1974
label: Names
content: Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991
label: Names
content: Voorhees, Clark G. (Clark Greenwood), 1871-1933
label: Names
content: Washington, James W., Jr. (1908-2000)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
label: Topic
content: Asian American art
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Computer Art
label: Topic
content: Filipino American art
label: Topic
content: Filipino American artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American painters
label: Topic
content: Asian American muralists
label: Topic
content: Muralists -- Mexico
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: Laigo, Val M., 1930-1992
label: Interviewer
content: Lau, Alan Chong
label: Interviewer
content: Nakane, Kazuko
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Val Laigo (1930-1992) was a Filipino American painter based in Seattle, Washington. Val Laigo was born in Naguilian, La Union, in the Phillipines. His family moved to the United States in 1931 and to Seattle in 1941. Laigo's full name Valeriano Emerenciano Montante Laigo.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 42 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1989 July 12
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.laigo89
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 Val Laigo conducted 1989 July 12, by Alan Lau and Kazuko Nakane, for the Archives of American Art Northwest Asian American Project, in Laigo's home, Seattle, Wash.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Laigo speaks of learning how to paint at age eleven with watercolors; growing up with a heart condition known as Eisenmenger's Complex; teaching at Highline High School and creating a wolverine as the school's mascot; the inclusion of his life story in a Filipino oral history project; singing for an orchestra called the Gentlemen of Rhythm, at the Filipino Catholic Youth Activities events and other venues; Doug Bennett as an influence in composition and design; being a student at Seattle University and joining Art Equity in approximately 1951; remembering his painting, "Madonna" being shown at the Seattle Art Museum; his first show at the People's Furniture Store and later with Fay Chong at the Hathaway House; Zoe Dusanne became his agent; his introduction to the MacPaint software program and his first piece of computer art; his desire to study Mexican muralists, Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, David Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo and becoming at student at Mexico City College; his life in Mexico with the woman who would become his wife; the strong influence of Nick Damascus on his painting; how his palette changed to brighter colors after living in Mexico; his health crisis there that lead him to abandon his work towards a master's degree and return to Seattle in 1959; having to start over from the beginning at the University of Washington; Tommy Kwazume hiring him at Boing as an artist in 1960; Lee Nordness and the RCA Victor album cover; his negative experience with Margaret Reed while showing at the Panaca Gallery; his exhibit at the Frye Art Museum in 1969 and criticism by Clark Voorhees; his Mexican experience having influenced his vigor and scale; the Lost Generation series; his comment about Picasso not being able to paint; encouragement from his family to pursue art training; the murder of his father in 1936; his mother's success as a new painter; and his work, "Dilemma of the Atom" featured on the cover of an RCA Victor record album. Laigo also recalls Perry Acker, Foster White Gallery, David Mendoza, Fred Mendoza, Tom Tooley, Ray Sadirius, Quincy Jones, Oscar Holden's Orchestra, Fred Cordova, Mits Katayama, Rudy Bundis, Kal Chin, Paul Horiuchi, James Washington, Dick Kirsten, Frank Okada, John Matsudaira, Walter Froelich, Bill Ritchie, John Counts, Don Fenton, Kenneth Callahan, Fred Run, Barry Ferrell, Ken Harms, Andrew Chin, Ben Dar, Ruth Mora, and others.