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Interviewee:
Berensohn, Paulus, 1933-2017  Search this
Interviewer:
Shapiro, Mark, 1955-  Search this
Subject:
Anderson, Ian  Search this
Bennion, Joseph W.  Search this
Brown, Carolyn  Search this
Brown, William J. (William Joseph)  Search this
Callahan, Harry M.  Search this
Charlip, Remy  Search this
Cowles, Fleur  Search this
Cunningham, Merce  Search this
Dunn, Robert G.  Search this
Ekman, June  Search this
Garfinkel, Ron  Search this
Graham, Martha  Search this
Karnes, Karen  Search this
Kokis, George  Search this
Mendes, Jerry  Search this
Oliver, Mary  Search this
Peterson, Mary  Search this
Pieser, Jane  Search this
Raine, Yvonne  Search this
Richards, Mary Caroline  Search this
Stanford, Verne  Search this
Stannard, Ann  Search this
Supree, Burton  Search this
Takaezu, Toshiko  Search this
Williams, Gerald  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Bennington College  Search this
Columbia University  Search this
Goddard College  Search this
Juilliard School  Search this
New York Philharmonic  Search this
Penland School of Crafts  Search this
Pendle Hill (School : Wallingford, Pa.)  Search this
Swarthmore College  Search this
Yale University  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
Australia -- description and travel
Place of publication, production, or execution:
North Carolina
Physical Description:
60 Pages, Transcript; 7 Items, Sound recording: 7 sound files (4 hr., 13 min.), digital, wav
General Note:
Originally recorded on 4 SD memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 13 min.
Summary:
An interview of Paulus Berensohn conducted 2009 March 20-21, by Mark Shapiro, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Berensohn's home and studio, in Penland, North Carolina.
Berensohn speaks of growing up in New York City and his family; his brother Lorin Bernsohn, cellist with the New York Philharmonic; his problems with dyslexia as a child and yet his interest in reading and learning; an early interest in dance and the lack of support he received from his family; his admittance into Yale University, from where he quickly removed himself to attend Goddard College in Vermont; after Goddard attending Columbia University, Juilliard, and Bennington College while studying dance; studying under both Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham; his relationship with M.C. Richards; his first teaching job at Pendle Hill in Pennsylvania that lead to teaching at Swarthmore College for four years; his want to become a production potter while living on a farm in rural Pennsylvania where he created an artist commune; working with pinched pots and moving to Penland, North Carolina to teach workshops at the Penland School of Crafts; his book, "Finding Your Way With Clay," which started as a journaling and teaching project while at Penland; his interest in book art via his interest in journaling; the importance of clay as a healing material that connects humanity and the earth and his role as an advocate for clay; his work in and travels to Australia; recent photography projects and his busy and active schedule. Berensohn also recalls Remy Charlip, June Ekman, Fleur Cowles, John Cage, Robert Dunn, Yvonne Rainer, Carolyn Brown, Mary Oliver, Karen Karnes, Burt Supree, Toshiko Takaezu, Ann Stannard, Gerry Williams, George Kokis, Joe Bennion, Bill Brown, Jane Pieser, Ron Garfinkel, Jenny Mendes, Ian Anderson, Verne Stanford, Meg Peterson, and others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Paulus Berensohn, 2009 March 20-21. 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.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the papers of Paulus Berensohn.
Biography Note:
Paulus Berensohn (1933-2017) was a poet, ceramic artist, dancer, and educator in Penland, North Carolina. Mark Shapiro (1955- ) is executive director of Lumina Art Gallery, in New York.
Language Note:
English .
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
Topic:
Artists' books  Search this
Ceramicists -- North Carolina -- Interviews  Search this
Communal living  Search this
Dance -- Study and teaching  Search this
Diaries -- Authorship  Search this
Dyslexia  Search this
Photography  Search this
Poets -- North Carolina -- Interviews  Search this
Ceramics  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)15906
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)296474
AAA_collcode_berens09
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_296474