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        Delete Resource - Oral history interview with Tom Patti, 2010 January 18-19

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        Oral history interview with Tom Patti, 2010 January 18-19

        Source

        Archives of American Art

        OBJECT TYPE

        Archival materials Collection descriptions Sound recordings Interviews

        PLACE OF PUBLICATION, PRODUCTION, OR EXECUTION

        Florida

        PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

        77 Pages Transcript 6 Items Sound recording: 6 sound files (4 hr., 47 min.)

        GENERAL NOTE

        Originally recorded on 6 memory cards. Duration is 4 hr., 47 min.

        SUMMARY

        An interview of Tom Patti conducted 2010 January 18 and 19, by William Warmus, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Patti's residence, in Miami Beach, Florida.
        Patti talks about growing up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in a working-class neighborhood, and playing in and around the General Electric Corp. landfill, the major employer in the area; losing vision in one eye after a childhood accident; he recalls running with a tough crowd during high school and making homemade tattoos for his friends; his probation officer during high school, who encouraged his interest in art; meeting Norman Rockwell, who encouraged him to attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York; majoring in industrial design at Pratt, where he worked with Rowena Reed Kostellow; the idealism and social consciousness of the 1960s; exposure to the ideas of visionary architects such as Moshe Safdie and Buckminster Fuller; the New York art/social scene in the 1960s, including Max's Kansas City; meeting Marilyn Holtz, whom he later married; a trip to Colombia to discuss shelter development, and exposure to severe poverty; a resulting focus on people-centered shelter ideas; graduate work at Pratt, and the value of his studies in an academic environment; working with inflatable shelters, experimenting with different materials, including using glass; returning to the Berkshires in Massachusetts, working odd jobs, running a small glass school for children; becoming aware of the studio glass movement and attending a glassblowing workshop at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina, in 1971; continued work with glass, including Vitrolite and other scavenged materials; growing public recognition in the 1970s; an internship at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Manie, where he met Steve Feren, with whom he worked for several years; acquisition of work by the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, in 1976; first one-man gallery show in 1977; purchase of work by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York; series Solar Riser and the importance of a meditative/spiritual component of his work; setting up a studio in Plainfield, Massachusetts; first museum exhibition at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts; speaking at the World Crafts Council conference in Vienna in the late 1970s; continued travel and recognition in Europe in the 1980s; "Genic Doran Divider-Sentinel," (1982-84), commissioned sculpture for General Electric in Pittsfield, which led to his focus on laminated materials; early 1990s studio expansion to work on a larger scale; commission work with Cesar Pelli for Owens Corning Fiberglas in 1993; one-person show at Serge Lechazynski's gallery in Biot, France; travels in Europe and Israel; serving on the board of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; consulting work with the glass and materials industry; "Spectral-Luma Ellipse" (2000); "Spatial Boundary" (2001), commissioned by Ann and Graham Gund; continued smaller-scale work; designing the window for Sienna Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts, owned by his daughter; recent commissions including "Morton Square" in 2004, the Roosevelt Avenue Intermodal Station (2004), both in New York City, and "Miami Rain" (2009), Miami, Florida; and the importance of transparency, opacity, and translucency in his work. He also recalls Joseph Parriott, Sybil Moholy-Nagy, Rudolf Arnheim, Art Wood, Thomas Buechner, Doug Heller, Penelope Hunter-Stiebel, Laurie Wagman and Irvin Borowsky, and Malcolm Rogers.

        CITATION

        Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Tom Patti, 2010 January 18-19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

        FUNDING

        Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

        BIOGRAPHY NOTE

        Tom Patti (1943- ) is a glass artist, sculptor, and designer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Miami Beach, Florida.

        PROVENANCE

        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.

        LOCATION NOTE

        Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001

        NAMES

        Patti, Tom Arnheim, Rudolf Borowsky, Irvin J. Buechner, Thomas S. Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster) Gund, Ann Gund, Graham Heller, Doug Hunter-Stiebel, Penelope Kostellow, Rowena Reed Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl Parriott, Joseph Pelli, Cesar Rockwell, Norman Rogers, Malcolm J. (Malcolm Jennings) Safdie, Moshe Wagman, Laurie Wood, Art Corning Museum of Glass. General Electric Company George Walter Vincent Smith Museum Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation Penland School of Crafts Pratt Institute Sienna Gallery Warmus, William
        interviewee : Patti, Tom, 1943-
        interviewer : Warmus, William, 1953-
        Subject : Arnheim, Rudolf
        Subject : Borowsky, Irvin J.
        Subject : Buechner, Thomas S.
        Subject : Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster)
        Subject : Gund, Ann
        Subject : Gund, Graham
        Subject : Heller, Doug
        Subject : Hunter-Stiebel, Penelope
        Subject : Kostellow, Rowena Reed
        Subject : Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl
        Subject : Parriott, Joseph
        Subject : Pelli, Cesar
        Subject : Rockwell, Norman
        Subject : Rogers, Malcolm J. (Malcolm Jennings)
        Subject : Safdie, Moshe
        Subject : Wagman, Laurie
        Subject : Wood, Art
        Subject : Corning Museum of Glass.
        Subject : General Electric Company
        Subject : George Walter Vincent Smith Museum
        Subject : Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
        Subject : Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
        Subject : Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
        Subject : Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge
        Subject : Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation
        Subject : Penland School of Crafts
        Subject : Pratt Institute
        Subject : Sienna Gallery

        Keywords

        Designers -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Glass art -- Study and teaching Glass artists -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Sculptors -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Design, Industrial -- Study and teaching Glass blowing and working -- Study and teaching

        PLACES

        Colombia -- description and travel Europe -- description and travel Israel -- description and travel
        Place : Colombia -- description and travel Place : Europe -- description and travel Place : Israel -- description and travel

        LANGUAGES

        English


        Additional Resource Information
        Record Link : https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-tom-patti-15780 Record Id : AAADCD_oh_287761
        Record number : (DSI-AAA_CollID)15780 Record number : (DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)287761 Record number : AAA_collcode_patti10


        Record Information
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