For thirty years plus, Drew Stevens was the Distinguished Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison. At the time this interview was recorded, contributor gianofer fields was hopeful that she would have one last conversation with the distinguished Mr. Stevens.
Unfortunately, due to his retirement, it was her last. But if it has to be goodbye, it’s fitting that their final conversation was about Japanese printmaking, a subject near and dear to Steven’s heart. The exhibition they discuss was entitled, Watanabe: Japanese Print Envoy, and while it is no longer on display, the methods used to create the prints is still fascinating.
About the Host:
gianofer (JON nah fer) fields is an Art Historian and Material Culture contributor and curates the Radio Chipstone series. The project is hosted by the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and funded by the Chipstone Foundation; a decorative arts foundation whose mission is preserving and interpreting their collection, as well as stimulating research and education in the decorative arts. fields is also the host of Refrangible, a podcast about material culture, now available on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes or wherever else you get your podcasts.
About the Guest:
Andrew (Drew) Stevens retired as the Distinguished Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison in 2018. Stevens earned a BA and an MA in English from Iowa State University. He earned an MA in art history in 1988 from the University of Kansas and began work at the Chazen that same year. In 2016 Stevens earned the UW-Madison’s “distinguished” title, an honor granted to academic staff in recognition of extensive experience and advanced knowledge and skills.
Image: Kawase Hasui, Japanese, 1883–1957, The Hori River, Obama, from the series Souvenirs of Travel, First Series, Autumn 1920, color woodcut. Courtesy of Chazen Museum of Art, bequest of John H. Van Vleck, 1980.737.
This segment partially comes from the Radio Chipstone Archives of WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio. See here.
