Audio monologue by Martica Sawin on Parsons Paris, 1994 Apr 15
Scope and Contents
In this audio monologue, Martica Sawin recounts the details of restarting a Paris-based program for Parsons School of Design in 1981. Sawin relates the history of Parsons' original Paris school, the Paris Ateliers, during the 1920s and 1930s, and how Martin Canin approached her with the idea of re-establishing it around 1977. Following an investigative trip to Paris with Leland Bell, Sawin began to draw up a plan, including recruiting professors like Paul LeClerc, Ilan Alter, Allen Barber, Pia Kazan, Vicky Tiel, and Helene Lipstadt. Sawin also recalls her working relationship with Madeleine Fidell-Beaufort, who assisted her in planning the program on the Parisian end. Sawin breaks down the attendance and the activities of the first, second, and third years of the program, including their triumphs and challenges.
Dates
- 1994 Apr 15
Participant Biography
Martica Sawin is an art historian and writer. She graduated from the University of Iowa after attending Stanford University and the Sorbonne, and then became an executive secretary at MoMA, where she initiated the Art Lending Service. She became a freelance writer and then a professor at Hunter College, Columbia University, and eventually Parsons School of Design. In 1967, Sawin was appointed the Chair of the Department of Art History and Criticism of Art and Design at Parsons, where she remained a member of the faculty until 1995. She relaunched the school’s Parsons in Paris program, and served as curator of exhibitions in the Parsons' gallery. Sawin is the author of several monographs, including works on Wolf Kahn, Alan Gussow (included in this interview project), and Stephen Pace, in addition to scholarly essays on Surrealism.
Container Summary
02:32.59 duration; Includes PDF transcript