Oral history interview with Wayne Higby
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 55 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Higby, Wayne
label: Interviewer
content: McInnes, Mary, 1956-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Alfred University -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Archie Bray Foundation
label: Names
content: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Helen Drutt Gallery
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Rhode Island School of Design -- Faculty
label: Names
content: University of Colorado (Boulder campus) -- Students
label: Names
content: University of Michigan -- Students
label: Names
content: University of Nebraska -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Bauer, Fred
label: Names
content: Cushing, Val M.
label: Names
content: Ferguson, Ken, 1928-2004
label: Names
content: McKinnell, James
label: Names
content: McKinnell, Nan
label: Names
content: Merritt, Francis Sumner, 1913-2000
label: Names
content: Motherwell, Robert
label: Names
content: Neri, Manuel, 1930-
label: Names
content: Randall, Theodore, 1914-1985
label: Names
content: Shaner, David, 1934-
label: Names
content: Soldner, Paul
label: Names
content: Turner, Robert Chapman, 1913-2005
label: Names
content: Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002
label: Names
content: Woodman, Betty, 1930-2018
place: label: Place
content: Africa -- description and travel
label: Place
content: Asia -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: China -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: Colorado -- description and travel
label: Place
content: Europe -- description and travel
topic: label: Topic
content: Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Ceramics -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Educators -- New York (State) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Pottery, Minoan
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: Higby, Wayne
label: Interviewer
content: McInnes, Mary, 1956-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Wayne Higby (1943- ) is a ceramicist from Alfred Station, New York. Mary McInnes is a professor from Alfred, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 9 Items (Sound recording: 9 sound files (4 hr., 55 min.), digital, wav)
label: Extent
content: 66 Pages (Transcript)
phystech: label: System Details
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound discs.
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2005 April 12-14
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.higby05
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Wayne Higby conducted 2005 April 12-14, by Mary McInnes, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Alfred Station, New York. Higby speaks of growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado; choosing to go to University of Colorado, Boulder; traveling to Europe, Asia, and Africa; being influenced by Minoan pottery; working for ceramicist Betty Woodman; deciding to become a teacher; getting a graduate degree at the University of Michigan; working at Archie Bray Foundation; teaching at the University of Nebraska and Rhode Island School of Design; having his first one person art show and exhibiting nationally; teaching at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; the influence of landscape on his work; how the craft market has changed during his career; working with the Helen Drutt Gallery; writing about craft and the need for critical dialogue in craft publications; being inspired by Asian art; learning ceramics from Jim and Nan McKinnell, and the influence of other teachers on his career; getting hired at Alfred University; the challenges and benefits of teaching at Alfred; his colleagues at Alfred; making functional art and using the vessel form; his teaching philosophy; putting ceramics in a larger art context; his current project; his studio practice; themes in his artwork; choosing to work in porcelain; lecturing and touring in China; being interested in landscape painting; the public response to his work; and recently being awarded several honors. Higby also recalls Manuel Neri, Peter Voulkos, Paul Soldner, Fred Bauer, David Shaner, Francis Merritt, Ted Randall, Bob Turner, Val Cushing, Kenneth Ferguson, Robert Motherwell, and others.