Modern Art and Oral History in the United States: A Revolution Remembered

Author(s): Richard Candida Smith

Source: The Journal of American History, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Sep., 1991), pp. 598-606
Published by: Organization of American Historians
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ModernArtand Oral History
in the UnitedStates:
A RevolutionRemembered

RichardCandida Smith

In 1943artdealerPaulRosenberg learnedthedistressing newsthata majorcollection

ofmodernart,includingworksbypaintersrepresented inhisprestigious Manhattan
gallery,wouldbe soldat auction,mostlikelyat pricessignificantly belowthevalues
Rosenberg had established.He wasmostconcernedabout the fateofthe Georges
Braquepaintingsbecausehe had a sizableinvestment inBraque'swork.He sacrificed
severalAmericanmodernist paintingsat below-market pricesto obtainquickcash
forpurchasing the Braque workbeforeit wentto the auctionblock.Max Weber,
one ofthe Americanpainterswhosepriceswereslashed,feltbetrayed."He didn't
lifta fingerto protectme,"Weberrecalled,"and thatwasthewordhe used when
he invitedme to join his gallery-he would be myprotector." Weberbrokewith
Rosenberg ina well-publicized
and acrimonious dispute."French pricesandprestige
had to be maintainedat anycost;consequently reductionof Americanpriceswas
themorepracticaland profitable [course]forhim."As longas Americanmodernism
wasinstitutionallyconnectedto Frenchart,he concluded,Americanpaintershad
littlelikelihoodof securingeithera public or respect.'
In thissameperiod,MarkRothkoand Clyfford Stillbegantellingcolleaguesand
students thatAmericanpaintershad nothing to learn fromtheEuropeanmoderns.
Clay Spohn,a studentof FernandLUger's in the 1920s,remembered thathe was
shockedwhenhe first heardtheirargument. Then,witha profoundsenseofrelease,
he embracedit. He surveyed nearlytwenty yearsofwork,bothas a muralistin the
FederalArtProjectand as an independent modernist, and concludedthathislessons
in Parishad led himto strive
foran idealized,elegantperfection at thecostofspon-

RichardCindida Smithis principaleditorin the Oral HistoryProgram,University of California,Los Angeles,

andexecutive oftheOralHistory
secretary Association.He iscurrently engagedina studyofavant-gardemovements
in Californiafrom1925 to 1970.
I wouldliketothankBettyBlum,ArtInstitute ofChicago;NancyDean, CornellUniversity ManuscriptsLibrary;
RonaldGrele,Oral HistoryResearchOffice,ColumbiaUniversity; MaygeneDaniels and AnneRitchie,National
GalleryofArt;RobertF. Brown,Paul Karlstrom, MaggieNelson,and BarbaraWilson,Archives ofAmericanArt,
Smithsonian and SharonZane,MuseumofModernArt,fortheirtimeinproviding
Institution; mewithinformation
on theirprograms and thearts.Specialthanksto TeresaBarnettand
and insightsintothepracticeof oralhistory
Dale Treleven, Oral HistoryProgram,University of California,Los Angeles,fortheiradvice.

ofMaxWeber,"interview
1 "The Reminiscences pp. 471-74(Oral History
byCarolS. Gruber,1958,transcript,
New York).
ColumbiaUniversity,
ResearchOffice,ButlerLibrary,

598 The Journalof AmericanHistory September1991

 Oral History 599

taneity.He foundthathissketches weremorecompelling and satisfyingvisualstate-

mentsthanthe finishedpieces. He came to value rawnessand immediacyovera
refined formalcoherence."The thingsI wanttopaint,"he decided,were"thethings
thatI experiencenot withmyeyesbut withmywholebeing."2
The triumphin themid-1940s ofwhatwe nowlooselycallabstract expressionism
wastheproductofa generation ofartists
painfully confronting theirrelationtotradi-
tion.Artiststorethemselves awayfromold loyaltiesand gropedtowardnewways
ofconceptualizing theirwork.The revolution in theAmericanartworldwentwell
beyondshiftsin aestheticpreferences. The triumphofabstract, experimental styles
coincidedwitha phenomenalgrowth in materialsupportforthevisualarts.Sixty-
sevenpercentofall Americanmuseumsand 93 percentofcorporate collectionswere
foundedafter1940.The numberofgalleriesinNewYorkCityrepresenting contem-
poraryarttripledbetween1949and 1977,and thatgrowth wasmatchedbyan even
largerincreasein thenumberofone-artist exhibitions.Bythemid-1970smuseum
attendance surpassedadmissions to athleticevents,and in the1980census,overone
millionAmericansidentified theiroccupationas artist,a 67 percentincreasefrom
the previouscensus.3
The experience oftheseprofoundbut recentchangeshas been documentedex-
tensively in oralhistoryinterviews conductedin all partsof the country. Existing
collections countersuperficial
impressions thatcontemporary artwasa concernonly
in New Yorkand a fewmajorurbancenters.Oral sourcesallowus to see thatthe
transformation of the artswas a nationalprocessand that,indeed,the growthof
artsinstitutionswasevenmoredramaticoutsideNewYork.In thisessayI willreview
majorcollectionsrelatingto the visualartsand considerin moredetailwhatoral
sourceshaveto sayabout thenationaldimensionsofthepostwarrevolution in the
arts.I willconcludewitha discussion oftheinteraction ofaesthetic and institutional
factorsrevealedin oral sources.

MajorOral HistoryCollectionsin the VisualArts

With nearlythreethousandoral historyinterviews in itscatalog,the Archivesof

AmericanArt,a divisionofthe Smithsonian Institution,has assembledthesingle
relatedto thevisualartsin the UnitedStates.The
largestcollectionof interviews
wereconductedin the1940s,butthearchives
earliestinterviews beganinterviewing
in earnestin 1958witha projectto collectthememoriesofpioneersofAmerican
modernism.In 1961a nationalconference on oralhistoryand the artssponsored
bythearchives surveyed theneedsand possibilities
ofsustainedinterview-basedre-

2 "Tape-Recorded InterviewwithClaySpohnat His Studioin GrandStreet,New YorkCity,"interview byPaul

Cummings, pp. 75-78, 83 (Archivesof AmericanArt,Smithsonian
Jan.9, Feb. 5, 1976,transcript, Institution,
Washington, D.C.).
fromDiana Crane,The Transformation
3 Statistics oftheAvant-Garde:TheNew YorkArt World,1940-1985
(Chicago,1987),4-6. Fora discussionoftheburgeoning ofthevisualarts,see ColinEisler,"American
popularity
ArtHistory:God Shed His Graceon Thee,or the Good, theTrue,and theBeautifulthroughtheBicentennial,"
Artnews,75 (May 1976), 64-73.
600 TheJournal
ofAmerican
History September
1991

searchprojects.An immediateresultofthe conference wasa projectthatcollected

morethanthreehundredinterviews on New Deal federalartsprograms. Laterar-
chivesundertakings, fundedbygrantsfromstateartscouncils,haveexaminedre-
gionaldevelopments in Americanart.Recentprojectshaverecordedtheexperiences
ofwomenand nonwhiteartists.The archives' mostrecentprojectfocuseson artists
in midcareer.4
Strongregionally focusedcollections can be foundat CaliforniaStateUniversity,
LongBeach;ClaremontGraduateSchool;ColumbiaUniversity; theMarylandHis-
toricalSociety;theBerkeley and Los AngelescampusesoftheUniversity ofCalifor-
nia; and theUniversity ofWashington.5 The largestcompilationofinterviews with
African-American artistsis at the Hatch-BillopsCollectionin New YorkCity.The
ChicagoHistoricalSocietyand theChicagooffice oftheArchives ofAmericanArt,
housedat and staffed bytheArtInstitute ofChicago,havefocusedon interviewing
Chicago'sblackartists,withemphasison the influential social realistschoolthat
flourished in thatcity'sblackcommunity in the 1930sand 1940s.The Oral History
Program attheUniversity ofCalifornia,LosAngeles(UCLA), recently begana series
on African-American artistsand galleryownersafternotingthattheblackcontribu-
tionto California's culturallifewasvirtually ignoredin thenumerousand extensive
collectionsdealingwiththestate'sart.The southern CaliforniaofficeoftheArchives
Art
of American has ongoingprojectsinterviewing Latinoartists and keyfigures
in the development of the women'sartmovementin the 1970s.Interviews at the
Hubbell TradingPost,Ganado,Arizona,areprobablythesinglelargestcollection
in theUnitedStatesrelatingto nativeAmericanarts.The Hubbell interviews focus
on Navahoweavingand othercrafts, the influencesan expandingmarkethad on
designand productiontechniques,and the interaction of Navaho and European-
Americanartistswho have settledin Arizona.
The NationalGalleryof Artand the Museumof ModernArthave begunoral
historyprojectsto documenttheirinstitutional Theseefforts
histories.6 deepenthe
historicalrecordbyaddinginformation on debatesand compromises behinddeci-
sions,oftenrecordedonlyin the mostperfunctory mannerin boardminutes.An
important goal of the NationalGalleryprojectis to open institutional policiesto
internalanalysisbyproviding staff
members withmoredetailedhistories ofthedeci-
sionsand personalities thatshapedtheircurrent Importanttopics
responsibilities.

see The Card Catalogof the Oral HistoryCollectionsof theArchivesof

4For a partiallistingof interviews,
AmericanArt (Wilmington,1984). Fora discussionof oral historycollectionson the federalarts,writers, and
theaterprojects,see RoyRosenzweigand BarbaraMelosh,"Government and the Arts:VoicesfromtheNew Deal
Era,"Journalof AmericanHistory,77 (Sept. 1990), 596-608.
5 Forinformation and catalogsof collections,contactthe Oral HistoryArchives,CaliforniaStateUniversity,
LongBeach;theOral HistoryProgram,ClaremontGraduateSchool,Claremont,California;theOral HistoryRe-
ColumbiaUniversity,
searchOffice, New York;theReference Division,Library,MarylandHistoricalSociety, Balti-
more;theRegionalOral HistoryOffice,University of California,Berkeley;the Oral HistoryProgram,University
LosAngeles;and theManuscripts
ofCalifornia, Collection,University University
Libraries, ofWashington, Seattle.
Thisessayconsiders onlyarchivaloralhistory butpublishedinterviews
collections, area mainstay ofartjournalism.
6 The NationalGallery also housesa collectionofinterviewspertaining to the IndexofAmericanDesigr. The
RussellLynesCollectionin theArchives ofAmericanArt,Smithsonian Institution,containsthirty-twointerviews
conductedbyLynesforRussellLynes,Good Old Modern:An IntimatePortraitof the Museumof ModernArt
(New York,1973).
 OralHistory 601

formuseum-related interviews includetheinfluence collectors havehad on museum

policies,as wellas thechangesbroughtaboutbytheincreasing professionalization
of museumpractice.In 1940 veryfewcurators had advanceddegrees;by 1990 an
M.A.,ifnota Ph.D.,had becomea prerequisite foremployment. Museumhistories
can revealhowcurators assertedtheirrightsto shapeexhibitions aroundtheirper-
sonalcriticalperspectives.In relatedseries,theGettyArtHistoryInformation Pro-
gramhas used oralhistory to examinetheworking methodology ofarthistorians,
whilethe GettyCenterfortheHistoryofArtand the Humanitiesand theUCLA
Oral HistoryProgramhaveinitiateda jointprojectinvestigating the development
ofconsensualstandardsin education,research, exhibition, and publicationin the
arthistoricalfield.7Interaction ofartistand curatoris also a focusin thecollection
of interviews on the developmentof photography as a fineart at the Centerfor
CreativePhotography at the University of Arizona.

Oral Sourcesas Evidence

Oralhistory collections havethrown a widenetacrossthefieldofpractice.Not only

artistsbut also thoseinvolvedin collecting,interpreting, selling,and promoting
arthave been interviewed. Followingmoregeneralsocial interestin genderand
multicultural issues,oralhistorians havecollectedinterviews withwomenand non-
whiteartists.Oral historyin the arts,fromits earlydaysin the 1940s,has been
concernedwithexpandingthe definition of whatis significant.The regionaland
localorientation ofmostoralhistory projectspromotedefforts to show,in thewords
of one interviewer,thatwhilehercommunity mightnothavewitnessedanything
as exciting
as thebirthofimpressionism, itwasnevermiredin theDarkAgeseither.8
As a result,a substantial majority oforalhistoryinterviews in thevisualartshave
been withartists, critics,and exhibitors outsideNew YorkCity.Eventhe Archives
of AmericanArthas taped approximately two-thirdsof itsinterviewswithfigures
fromoutsidethe New Yorkarea. The pictureof modernartfoundin interviews
is considerably differentfromthatpresentedin mostsurveys of twentieth-century
Americanart.Few interviewees attainedinternationalprominence, but theyhad
fullcareersas practicing artistsand teachers.Oral historycollectionsgivea sense
of the varietyof experienceand the attitudesprevalentamongthe rankand file
of professional artistsat varioustimesin thiscentury.
Notsurprisingly, regionallybasedartists areobsessedwiththeNewYorkartscene,
thecenterwheresuccessisultimately determined.The choicenotto be at thecenter
hastobe explainedandshownnottobe primafacieevidenceoffailure.LorserFeitel-
son,whorelocatedto Los Angelesin 1927afterhavinglivedin NewYorkand Paris,
suggestedin a 1964interview howartistsmustnegotiatetheirrelationship to New
York.He recalledthathe dislikedhisnewhome"violently inthebeginning, because

7CompletetranscriptsformostoftheinterviewsconductedforMarilynSchmitt,ed., Object,Image,Inquiry:
TheArtHistorianat Work(Santa Monica,1988)areavailableat theDepartmentofSpecialCollections,theGetty
Centerforthe Historyof Art and the Humanities,Santa Monica,California.
8 Betty
BlumoftheArtInstitute November1990.
ofChicagodiscussedthiswithmein a telephoneconversation,
602 TheJournal
ofAmerican
History September
1991

therewasno artappreciation."
Withinsixmonths,he foundhimselfhappyto be
in California
becausetherewasn'tanyartappreciation
therefore
theartist
hadtopaintforonly
oneperson, Therewasnoonetowrite
himself. abouthisart;nooneevertoshow
hisart;nooneevertobuyhisart;therefore
ifhewantedtopaintitwasonlybecause
he himselffeltitmustbe done.Andtherefore
he wasgoingtopaintforitsown
sakeand thenhe woulddo honestwork.That'swhatI likedaboutit.9
Yet Feitelson'sinterview also detailsthe yearshe spentfighting to build a public
formodernartandtointegrate theWestCoastintotheinternational artcommunity.
Itwasnotso muchisolationhe wantedas a chancetoparticipate, effected
byexpand-
ing the boundariesof the artworld.
Max Weberexpressedsimilarfeelingsabout theprovincialqualityofNew York
beforeWorldWarII. The cityhad beenthe"NorthPole in modernart,"he noted,
uninterested in local talent.In his case, the hegemoniccenterwas Paris,and the
interviewbristleswithindignationat themonopolyEuropeantastehad achieved.
"Eventhird-rate foreignartists comehereand arewelcomedand shownpreference,
whilenativetalentis allowedtostruggle and shiftforitself.It hasbecomea national
customofthisyoung,wealthycountry to neglectand starveitsownartists."10 Cer-
tainlyWeber'srecollections exaggerated the isolationof Americanmodernists in
pre-World WarII NewYork,whileFeitelson's accountofLosAngeles'sculturalback-
wardnesswas morestereotypical thanaccurate.The motifsof isolationand back-
wardnesswerenarrative strategiesbothmen adoptedto explainrelatively modest
commercial successwhilesimultaneously sublatinganyhintoffailurein a senseof
freedomto be innovative. Frequently the responseto thedominanceofNew York
takestheformofasserting a uniquequalitytotheartofa region,butthecelebration
ofregionalcultures,iftoo prominently a jointgoal ofinterviewer and interviewee,
can obscureconsideration in interviews of importantnationalpatternsthathelp
explainaspectsofartistic developments since1940.11Whensimilarpatterns ofexpla-
nationappearin interviews fromCalifornia, Illinois,Texas,Massachusetts,
and New
York,theensemblesuggeststhatparticularist traditions
havebeen partof a larger
nationalpatterninvolving theintegration and articulation ofan artinfrastructure
stretchingacrossthe country.
Primary to theexpansionofthearts,butlittleunderstoodbyindividualswithin
the profession, weregovernment initiatives,bothfederaland state,thatprovided
stableincomesto artistswithinthe contextof the expansionof highereducation
in the postwaryears.12 Oral testimony revealsthe centralroleof the "nationalde-

9 "Tape-Recorded InterviewwithMr.LorserFeitelson,May 12, 1964,"interviewbyBettyLochrieHoag, tran-

script,p. 11 (Archivesof AmericanArt).
10"Reminiscences of Max Weber,"77, 330.
11Fora discussionoftherelationship
ofregionalmarkets toNew York,see Crane,Transformation oftheAvant-
Garde,130-36.
reviewofdirectgovernment
12 Fora historical supportfortheartsin theUnitedStates,see KevinV. Mulcahy,
"Government and theArtsin theUnitedStates,"in ThePatronState:Government and theArtsin Europe,North
America,andjapan, ed. MiltonC. Cummings, Jr.,and RichardS. Katz (New York,1987), 311-32.
 Oral History 603

fense"welfare stateincreating newartscommunities inall partsoftheUnitedStates

after1945.
ConnorEverts,the son ofa longshoreman, recalledin his interview thathad it
notbeenfortheGI Bill,he wouldprobablyneverhaveentertained theidea ofgoing
to artschool.Beforehisdischarge fromthenavyin 1947,he had notthoughtabout
beingan artist,but thefreedomveterans' benefitsgavehimpromptedhimto take
a plungeand discover ifhe had talent.He foundthatmostofthemenin hisclasses
werealso dischargedveterans,manylike him actingon spur-of-the-moment im-
pulses.1'Lee Mullicanexpressed a keythemeofhisgeneration whenhe recalledthat
the sacrificesarmyserviceimposedupon him had convincedhim thathe had to
do whathewantedtodo,tolivehislifeas a painter, regardless ofpracticaldifficulties.
in
Nor wouldhe compromise termsof styleor content. Representational painting
did not speak to his emotionalneeds, so he pursuedhis interests in surrealist-
inspiredabstraction.14The influxofveterans intoartschoolsaffected womenin art
as well.The GI Bill disproportionately favoredmen,and thepercentage ofwomen
artistsdeclined drastically.An aggressive"macho" aesthetic,validated formanyby
the sufferings of the waryears,prevailedin the postwarperiod,an aestheticthat
depreciatedtheworkofmanywomenwhohad establishedthemselves before1945.
The GI Bill allowedforexpansionof artschoolsand forthe trainingof much
largernumbersofstudents, manyofwhomdeclaredthemselves artistsevenifthey
werenot sureof how theywould earntheirliving.HowardWarshawrecalledthe
tenyearsafterthewaras a periodof greatexcitement and hope. Artschoolswere
packed.Nationalmagazinessuch as Time,Look, and Fortunefeaturedthe work
oftheyounger generation. The acclaimforabstractexpressionism stimulatedhope
and further in
experiment gestureand actionpainting.15 Stillmost couldnotmake
a living.The expansionofthe numberof artistshad been fasterthanthemarket,
itselfexpandingwithpostwarprosperity, could absorb.ConnorEverts,aftercom-
pletinghiseducationwitha yearabroadin Londonin 1951,followedin hisfather's
footstepsand wentto workas a longshoreman.16
The NationalDefenseEducationActand otherstateand federallegislationsup-
portinguniversity educationhelpedtakeEvertsoffthedocksand puthimin a class-
room.By 1960 he had a job teachingin the rapidlyexpandingCaliforniastate
university system.Employment in artdepartments in stateand privateschoolsin
everypartof the countryprovidedmanyartistswithstableincomesand timeto
pursuepersonalworkwitha minimumofovertinterference. The importance ofaca-
demicemployment to the dailylifeof mostpracticingartistsraisesa questionof
howacademiccultureand organizational patternshavereplicated themselves within

13 "Los AngelesArtCommunity: GroupPortrait, ConnorEverts," interviewsessionsbyRobinPalanker, Jan.

12, 19,Feb. 2, March8, 15,April5, May24, 1976,interview sessionbySylviaTidwell,Dec. 14, 1982,transcript,
p. 74 (Oral HistoryProgram,Universityof California,Los Angeles).
14 "Los AngelesArtCommunity: Group Portrait,Lee Mullican,"interview byJoannPhillips,Jan. 8, 16, 23,
pp. 17-18,27-28, 36-37, ibid.
Feb. 20, 1976,transcript,
15 "LosAngelesArtCommunity: GroupPortrait,HowardWarshaw," interviewbySusanEinstein,Jan.28,March
pp. 15-33, 84, ibid.
18, May 7, June 30, 1976,transcript,
16 "Los AngelesArtCommunity: Group Portrait,ConnorEverts,"52.
604 The Journalof AmericanHistory September1991

e_._..
_~~~
... .......
_.-__.
...............
......
............
~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..
_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~
~~~
~~~~~
~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_ ......_... i........
. .. | .....

JohnOutterbridge in frontof WindowwithBall (mixedmedia, 1991),

Pasadena,California,May 1991.Photographby KatherineP. Smith.
CourtesyKatherineP Smith.

thearts.Interviewsgivetantalizing hintsthatthepeer-review processhas extended

itselfintoexhibitionand grant-making fields,previouslyadministered throughju-
ries.Equallyinterestingto trackwouldbe howthe emergenceof an independent
women'sartwaslinked,notonlyideologically but structurally,
to thedevelopment
ofwomen'sstudies.Anotherareaforinvestigation wouldbe howmuseums,increas-
inglystaffedbyuniversity-credentialedcurators,becamenoncommercial exhibition
forumsparticularly suitedto the needs of school-basedteachers.
Eventhoughtheinfluence ofpublicpolicyis clearlyvisiblein oralhistories,
most
intervieweesdo notperceivethattheirliveshavebeen fundamentally affectedby
a panoplyof government programs, perhapsbecausethe programshave become
thegroundofa "normal"lifeformanyartists.African-American artists,whohave
in
beenunderrepresentedtheclassroom, havemoreclearlyperceivedand described
bothpositiveand negative,on theirlivesand theirart,ofgovernment
the effects,
programs notdirectlyrelatedto art.Fromthemidsixties to theend oftheseventies,
 Oral History 605

E~~~~~~~~~~.
no. ...n ....

t... .. ..... .

.... .......

WindowwithBall (detail). Photographby KatherineP. Smith.

CourtesyKatherineP Smith.

OfficeofEqual Opportunity and Comprehensive Employment Training Actfunds

werevitalto thebirthofindependent African-American JohnOut-
artsinstitutions.
terbridge,a LosAngeles-basedassemblageand environmentalartist,recalledeight
blackartsorganizationsfunctioningin duringthoseyears.When
California,
Watts,
theReaganadministration decimatedfederalpovertyprograms,Watts'sartgroups
vanished;theywereonlypartiallyreplacedbya morelimitedcity-fundedprogram.'7
Interviewsoftenrevealsurprisingconnections,whichwould otherwisebe invisible
visualartstradi-
Whenaskediftherewasan African-American
orpurelyspeculative.
his work,
tionthathad influenced JohnOutterbridgebeganspeakingofhischild-
he
hood in NorthCarolina.Ratherthanfocusingon drawingsor wood carvings,
recalled the women and childrenof his familymaking soap. Images piled on top

17 JohnOutterbridgeinterviewbyRichardCindida Smith,1989-1990,transcript Pro-

in process(Oral History
gram,Universityof California,Los Angeles).
606 History
ofAmerican
TheJournal 1991
September

ofeachother:bigblackcast-iron potsbubblingon thestove,grandmothers teaching

thechildrento stirin one directiononlyso thesoap wouldnotweaken,refreshing
smellsthatfilledthe house,translucent barsslicedand stackedto dry."The way
itwasstacked,"Outterbridge remembered, "itusedtolooklikebuildings, verybeau-
forms
tifularchitectural - thewaythelightusedto shinethrough them."In describ-
ingtheseimages,he providedsourcesforvisualthemesthatreappearin hislargely
nonobjective environments and assemblages. He alsorevealedhisvisionoftheplace
ofartin African-American culture.His people did notproduce"art,"butlivedtheir
dailyliveswithan "expressive He feltthisremainedafterthemigration
spirit." north
and west.He knewpeoplein southcentralLos Angeles,wherehe worksas director
oftheWattsTowers ArtsCenter,whotreatedtheirfront yardswithan artist's sensibil-
ity.Bythathe did notmeanmerelyelaboratelandscaping or flowerbeds.He cited
as an examplea driveway with"theoldestCadillacin theworldstackedup on blocks
and [theowner]wouldn'tmoveit foranything," had indeedsurrounded the relic
withobjects."If I could takethatfrontyardand transfer it would
it to a gallery,
be a mostsuccessful workofart.We [African-American artists]canonlymimicthat
attitude.The personwho relishesthatyard,he's the artist.We'rejust reacting."18
Withthecollapseofstableinstitutional supportat thebeginningofthe 1980s,
the opportunities forAfrican-American artiststo exploreand promotethe visual
ramificationsoftheirculturaltradition weresharplycurtailed.In part,thedebate
overapplyingto the black aestheticstandardsdevelopedin "mainstream" art
schools,galleries,and museumsreflects the differences betweentwokindsof art
institutions.
Government policiesin the 1960sand 1970sfostered thedevelopment
ofa network of"alternative" artsgroupsmorerooted in localcommunities, commit-
tedto expandingtheboundariesoftheartworldbycontinuing theprocessofopen-
ing up participation.These groupswereprofessional and committedto standards
ofquality,buttherootsoftheiraestheticpreferences weredetachedfromtheethos
ofself-reflexive
autonomy prevalent in theinstitutionsthatemergedafter1940.Had
thepoliciespracticedduringtheWaron Poverty been continued,that"alternative"
visionwouldhavedeepenedwithexperienceand the presentcontoursof cultural
lifein the United Stateswould be considerably different.
Practicesof artinstitutions in the UnitedStateshave been powerfully affected
bygovernment policies(and cash,orlackofit),evenpoliciesostensibly havingnoth-
ingto do withart.A complexinteraction ofbureaucratic practice,fundingsources,
employment patterns, intellectual and aestheticpreferences, and individualtalent
led to particularpatternsforthe distribution ofrewards.A studyof ideologyand
cultureexpressedin interviews uncoversthevarious,sometimescontradictory, self-
imagesthatartists mightadoptatgiventimesandplacesduringthiscentury. Beyond
biographical and sociologicaldetails,interviews providecluesto howcreative prac-
ticemediatessubjectivity, formalrequirements, and collective dispositions.Oralhis-
toryin thefineartscan helpunravelthewaysaestheticchoices,shapedbypersonal
and institutionalself-images, interactedwithotheraspectsofsocietyto createour
culturalinheritance.
18 Ibid