Oral history interview with Ken Shores
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Shores, Kenneth, 1928-
label: Interviewer
content: Riedel, Mija, 1958-
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
topic: 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: Shores, Kenneth, 1928-
label: Interviewer
content: Riedel, Mija, 1958-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Ken Shores (1928- ) is an artist and teacher from Portland, Oregon. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a curator and writer from San Francisco, California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Items (sound discs (7 hr.), digital, 2 5/8 in.)
label: Extent
content: 127 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2007 November 13-14
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.shores07
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 Ken Shores conducted 2007 November 13-14, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Shores' home and studio, in Portland, Oregon.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Shores speaks of growing up during the Depression; working with clay in high school; collecting art at a young age; working part-time to pay for college; his introduction to religious philosophy; being drafted to Germany and touring Europe; going back to college for studio art; summer classes at Pond Farm; teaching during graduate school; his lack of interest in the technical aspects of clay; working for various studios and galleries; incorporating different techniques and materials into his work; creating works based on architecture; South American influences; becoming a regional representative for the ACC; teaching art at a private school; his profiles in magazines; traveling and collecting in India; the impact of his changing spirituality on his work; the importance of a positive attitude toward life; spiritually influential books; and his working process. Shores also recalls Isabel Schmier, Brian Connley, Victoria Avakian, Maud Kerns, Louis Bunce, Darren Pierce, Vivian Wilkenson, Max Nixon, Antonio Prieto, Kay McNab, Sue Cooley, Paul Soldner, Beatrice Wood, Trude Guermonfrez, Mary McFadden, Patrick Lennon, Mrs. Vanderbilt Webb, Don Foster, Marguerite Wildenhain, and others.