Oral history interview with Robert Chapman Turner
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 digital audio tapes. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 23 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Turner, Robert Chapman, 1913-2005
label: Interviewer
content: Carney, Margaret, 1949-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (U.S.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Ceramicists -- Maryland -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Quakers
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: World War, 1939-1945 -- Conscientious objectors
label: Topic
content: Ceramics
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: Turner, Robert Chapman, 1913-2005
label: Interviewer
content: Carney, Margaret, 1949-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Robert Turner (1913-2005) was a ceramic artist from Alfred, N.Y. and Sandy Spring, Maryland. Margaret Carney (1949- ) is the director of the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in Alfred, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 48 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2001 June 11
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.turner01
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 Robert Turner conducted 2001 June 11, by Margaret Carney, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Smithsonian Productions, in Washington, D.C.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Turner speaks of his childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.; his father's business, Turner Concrete (now called Turner Construction); drawing classes; attending the George School for a post-graduate year before attending Swarthmore College, where his major was economics; the importance of Quakerism in his life and work; traveling throughout Europe and the Southwestern United States; his marriage to Sue, their trip to Europe during the outbreak of World War II and the difficulty of coming home to America; his involvement in war activities as a conscientious objector; the transition after the war ended into a "different reality"; visiting the different schools of craft, including Penland, Alfred, and Haystack; attending Alfred University, the teachers and students there during his years there; his relationships with other students, such as Ted Randall and Bill Schickel; teaching at Black Mountain College immediately after his graduation from Alfred; his admiration of Marguerite Wildenhain; his involvement in the first Super Mud phenomenon in 1966; how African culture fits into his work; the collaborative effort at Penland; the establishment of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), and his experience as the third president of the group; his "retirement" since 1979; the types of materials he uses; the awards he has received; galleries and exhibitions in which he has exhibited; and recollections of Bill Brown, founder of the Penland School of Crafts. Turner also recalls Josie Adams, Charles Harder, Kurt Ekdahl, Marion Fosdick, Bill Pitney, Jessie Shefrin, and others.