Oral history interview with James Melchert
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 38 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Melchert, Jim, 1930-
label: Interviewer
content: Jones, Mady
label: Names
content: American Academy in Rome
label: Names
content: National Endowment for the Arts
label: Names
content: San Francisco Art Institute -- Faculty
label: Names
content: University of California, Berkeley -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002
topic: label: Occupation
content: Artists -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area
label: Topic
content: Ceramics
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area
label: Topic
content: Arts administrators -- California -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Sculptors -- California -- 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. Funding for this interview provided by the Lannan Foundation.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Melchert, Jim, 1930-
label: Interviewer
content: Jones, Mady
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Jim Melchert (1930- ) is a sculptor, teacher, and art administrator of Oakland, Calif. Chairman, Ceramics Dept., San Francisco Art Institute, 1961-1964. Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, 1965-1976. Federal grants chairman of the visual arts for the National Endowment of the Arts in the late 1970s.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 90 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1991 Apr. 4-5
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.melche91
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 James Melchert conducted in Oakland, Calif., 1991 Apr.4-5, by Mady Jones, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Melchert discusses his background; attending the University of Chicago for his MFA in painting; discovering his interest in clay; studying under Peter Voulkos at the Bray Foundation and following him to Berkeley in the Decorative Arts Dept.; artists at Berkeley at the time; teaching ceramics at the San Francisco Art Institute; the art scene in San Francisco; working for the National Endowment for the Arts; moving to Rome to work for the American Academy in Rome; and his future plans. Among the many artists and administrators he recalls are Rudy Autio, Millard Sheets, Bob Arneson, Stephen de Staebler, Jacques Schnier, Peter Selz, Bruce Connor, Bruce Nauman, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, Susan Peterson, Fred Martin, Ron Nagle, Grace Morley, and Carlos Villa.