Collection Information
Size: 139 Pages, Transcript
Format: Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs.
Summary: An interview of Sande Webster conducted 1990 March 13-28, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project. Webster speaks of her background and education; her experiences working at the Berg Art Gallery, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania; opening the Wallnuts Gallery in Philadelphia, in 1969, with Meryl Aberman, Sari Robinson, and Denis Webster; the evolution of the gallery from its early years handling crafts, photographs, paintings and sculptures, and framing; changes in the gallery's exhibition philosophy over the years; the departure of the other partners which led to the change in name of the gallery to the Sande Webster Gallery; the opportunities for artists of color in Philadelphia, particularly through her gallery, and she describes the history and evolution of Recherché, a group of African-American artists who exhibit together to gain greater visibility for black artists, the commercial and critical response to the group, and to each of its members. She discusses the commercial and critical response to the group and each of its members. She comments upon the Philadelphia gallery scene and changes over the past twenty years.