Oral history interview with Jack Earl
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 32 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Earl, Jack
label: Interviewer
content: Milosch, Jane
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Bluffton College (Bluffton, Ohio) -- Students
label: Names
content: John Michael Kohler Arts Center
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: The Ohio State University -- Students
label: Names
content: Toledo School of Art and Design -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Virginia Commonwealth University -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Arneson, Robert, 1930-1992
label: Names
content: Atherton, Carlton
label: Names
content: Bacerra, Ralph, 1938-2008
label: Names
content: Bogatay, Paul
label: Names
content: Fetzer, Margaret
label: Names
content: Friley, Gene
label: Names
content: Keland, Karen
label: Names
content: Kerrigan, Tom
label: Names
content: Kottler, Howard, 1930-1989
label: Names
content: LaDousa, Tom
label: Names
content: Littlefield, Edgar
label: Names
content: Lugenbuhl, Darvin
label: Names
content: Schuman, Norm
label: Names
content: Shaw, Richard, 1941 Sept. 12-
label: Names
content: Smith, Paul J.
label: Names
content: Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002
place: label: Place
content: Ohio -- Description and Travel
topic: label: Topic
content: Ceramicists -- Ohio -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
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: Earl, Jack
label: Interviewer
content: Milosch, Jane
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Jack Earl (1934- ) is a ceramic artist from Lakeview, Ohio. Jane Milosch is a curator from Silver Spring, Maryland.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 5 Items (Sound recording: 5 sound files (4 hr., 32 min.), digital, 2 5/8 in.)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2007 June 19-20
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.earl07
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
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 Jack Earl conducted 2007 June 19-20, by Jane Milosch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's home and studio, in Lakeview, Ohio.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Earl speaks of his childhood in Uniopolis, Ohio; using his father's tools in the garage to make toys; developing a long-lasting friendship with his high school art teacher; studying art at Bluffton College and learning to make pottery; learning to read in college and getting a minor in English; getting married while in college; graduating from Bluffton College and getting a job teaching at a local high school; teaching high school art for ten years in New Breman, Ohio; attending a graduate program at Ohio State University and earning a Master's in Ceramic Art; being influenced by professor Paul Bogatay while in graduate school; working at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center over one winter break; teaching at Toledo School of Art and Design following graduation from Ohio State University; learning to make European porcelain; beginning to apply oil paint to his ceramic pieces; copying imagery from European masterpieces; feeling uninspired by Virginia culture after moving there to teach at Virginia Commonwealth University; moving back to Ohio and enjoying the proximity of his children and grandchildren there; his belief that his artwork reflects his life; the greater market for ceramic artwork now compared to when he began working; continuing ceramic tradition by incorporating humor into his work; the importance of his family and Ohio culture to his work; writing a book with Karen Keland to promote crafts, especially ceramics; being much more interested in making things than in his teaching; the versatility of clay as a material; and his work habits. Earl recalls Darvin Lugenbuhl, Paul Bogatay, Carlton Atherton, Edgar Littlefield, Gene Friley, Margaret Fetzer, Howard Kottler, Robert Arneson, Tom LaDousa, Norm Schuman, Peter Voulkos, Paul Smith, Karen Keland, Tom Kerrigan, Ralph Bacerra, Richard Shaw, and others.