Bob Banford and Kristin Qualls discuss Gordon Smith and talk about his relationship with the Kontes Brothers. Oral history interview with Bob Banford by Barb Elam, conducted via telephone, December 19, 2019, Bard Graduate Center. Oral history interview with Kristin Qualls by Catherine Whalen and Barb Elam, July 26, 2019, Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center. Clip length: 02:18.

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Clip 1: Bob Banford talks about Gordon Smith. Clip length: 00:16.

Bob Banford: Gordon, Gordon Smith. I used to make a joke when Gordon was starting. He had more dinners at my house than I did. I lived there with my parents and he used to come over and talk to my dad, and I’d be going out and doing something, and he’d have more dinners at my house than I did.

Time stamp: 00:18
Clip 2: Kristin Qualls talks about Gordon Smith and the Kontes Brothers. Clip length: 01:38.

Kristin Qualls: There’s always been this connection between Gordon Smith as I mentioned and the Kontes brothers [James and Nontas Kontes] and the Kontes brothers representing that, what I see is that continuum of the American glass tradition that starts in the factories and is based out of the factory work, because the—you know, the Kontes, they worked in a scientific glassblowing factory. I think they ended up owning it. And then I know it was sold off when they retired. But again, that continuum of they didn’t go to art school to learn this stuff. It was coming from this tradition of the guys working in the factory getting that end of day time to use the equipment and the glass in the furnaces to create their own works and that the Kontes represent that lineage that then Gordon came in on, again, having studied scientific glassblowing and then working at a scientific glassblowing company, and then sort of taking the skill set that they had developed and this incredible knowledge of the medium that they had from working with it every day and making these [laughs] crazy scientific apparatus and then say, ‘Oh, I can use this knowledge and the skill to express myself in a different way and create these paperweights and these little beautiful worlds.’ And so that to me is sort ofis, again, that lineage going from that factory system. Because that was where you could get the glass in the past before as all technology got cheaper, more efficient, and smaller, and then you could move it into a fine art studio, but again, that factory lineage of more like apprenticing the skills and then transferring it in your own time into a piece of art.

Time stamp: 01:59
Clip 3: Kristin Qualls discusses Gordon Smith’s interest in paperweights. Clip length: 00:19.

Kristin Qualls: And he’s another one that has a great story about coming here as a kid and seeing them make the paperweight, seeing Tony DePalma make a paperweight; and being like, ‘That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. How do I do that?’ And again, like getting involved with the glass and then working with the Kontes brothers [James and Nontas Kontest] and being like, ‘This is paperweights again,’ so that exposure from being in this area where it’s just all over.