Interviewee: Joan Wortis
Date of birth/age at interview: estimated early 1940s/estimated 38
Interviewer: Terry Convey
Interview date: June 1978
Interview location: Wortis home in New Hope
Interview length: 10 minutes
Time span discussed: 1970’s
Summary: This brief interview delivers good insights on quite a number of topics around the 1978 New Hope artist’s life.
Time markers:
00:00 – works on garments, concerned with touch, drape, fall of material
00:48 – lived in Lambertville, in New Hope 1 ½ years, needed a bigger home
02:10 – joined the Bucks County Arts Alliance to support artists, disappointed with the weak contact with other artists
03:00 – most of my sales through galleries, museum shops, and craft fairs including Phillips’ Mill shows
03:50 – New Jersey financial support for artists better
04:25 – Bucks County not home of serious craft people, more hobbyists
05:23 – comfortable with New York but prefer countryside
06:29 – New Hope artistic and performance scene disappointing, quality at the Playhouse appalling and expensive
07:54 – art instructor for children difficult to find, most in Philadelphia or New York City, no illusions that New Hope would be conducive to artists
08:45 – will remain in New Hope until our children finish school, then move to smaller home with larger studios
