Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with Paul J. Smith, 1990.Biographical NoteDirector Emeritus, American Craft Museum (now Museum of Arts & Design)
Scope and ContentsBorn 1931, childhood Bennington, NY; education: attended Art Institute of Buffalo and the School for American Craftsmen in Rochester, NY, 1987 awarded Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by the New School University, Parsons School of Design; career: work for the American Craftsmen's Council, Director American Craft Museum, juror in numerous international craft competitions, work with numerous foundations, work with numerous craft, art and design organizations; interview: early 1950s education and work with craft organizations, late 1950s joined the staff of the American Craftsmen's Council in NY, importance of Dave Campbell and Aileen Webb to the American craft movement and museum, assumed directorship of the American Craft Museum in 1963, process of designing exhibitions and building museum attendance, national craft work, movement of museum to new space in 1979 and 1986, changes in administration of museum through the 1980s, move to director emeritus, CRAFT TODAY: Poetry of the Physical, overview of craft art and enterprise.
SubjectsAccess ConditionsCopyright by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2010.
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