Lloyd Eldred Herman (1936-2023) was an American arts administrator,

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

, writer, museum planner and acknowledged expert on contemporary

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

. He was known for being the founding Director of the

Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...

of the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

in Washington D.C., from 1971 to 1986. He was elected as an honorary fellow by the American Craft Council in 1988. Additionally he was an Honorary Lifetime Member of Northwest Designer Craftsmen, a member of the American Alliance of Museums, an honorary member of the American Society of Interior Designers, and a trustee of the Highline Historical Society. He was decorated in Belgium and Denmark for exhibitions that he organized in their countries. He died on January 2, 2023.

Early life and education

Lloyd Eldred Herman was an

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

native. He attended elementary and high school near Corvallis. After high school graduation in 1954, he enrolled at

Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

(now Oregon State University) in Corvallis, with the hopes of becoming an actor, or a teacher. His education was interrupted by two years active duty in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. On his return to Oregon, he enrolled as a junior at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in Eugene, majoring in speech and drama. He went to Washington D.C. to enroll in the acting program at

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

for his senior year. He was not accepted, instead enrolling at the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

, where he graduated with a BS degree in 1960.

Career

Smithsonian Institution

Lloyd Herman joined the staff of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

in 1966 as Administrative Officer to the Director of the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

, and began to develop a changing exhibition program for the galleries of the

Arts and Industries Building The Arts and Industries Building is the second oldest (after The Castle) of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Initially named the National Museum, it was built to provide the Smithsonian with its first proper facil ...

. As the Director of what was intended to become the Smithsonian Exhibition Hall, he began booking traveling exhibitions from museums and traveling exhibition services. That experience led him to propose a similar temporary exhibition program for the former Federal Court of Claims building, designed in 1859 by architect James Renwick as the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

that had been transferred to the Smithsonian. In 1968, Lloyd Herman developed a proposal for the “Renwick Design Centre” as a changing exhibition program for such exhibitions from various sources, to be administered as a component of the Exposition Hall programs. In 1970, he was hired to implement it as Administrator,

. He developed temporary exhibitions that would reflect the range that the

planned to embrace: architecture and design, contemporary and traditional craft, traditional decorative arts, plus ethnic and folk art from various countries. He subsequently became the first Director of the

, and from 1972 to 1986 presented over 100 exhibitions. Lloyd Herman retired from the

in 1986.

Museum planning

In 1988, Lloyd Herman began the directorship of the Cartright Gallery, a non-profit craft gallery in

Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, and planned its future as the Canadian Craft Museum. Working there for three years, he developed a space-use plan and an exhibition program. At the same time, he curated traveling shows for the

Whatcom Museum of History and Art The Whatcom Museum (housed in the Old City Hall, Lightcatcher building and Syre Education Center) was originally built in 1892 as the city hall for the former town of New Whatcom, before it was joined with surrounding towns to form Bellingham, Was ...

in Bellingham, WA. They included Into the Woods: Washington Wood Artists, Clearly Art: Pilchuck's Glass Legacy, and Trashformations: Recycled Materials in Contemporary American Art and Design, among others. In 1993 he was hired by

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

to plan a new museum on the Oregon Coast as part of the Thundering Seas Institute, a craft school component of the university's art department. Though advanced architectural planning and land acquisition at Agate Beach in

Newport, OR Newport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It was incorporated in 1882, though the name dates back to the establishment of a post office in 1868. Newport was named for Newport, Rhode Island. As of the 201 ...

, proceeded, the facility was never built. He joined the planning staff for the Museum of Glass in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

in 1998 as Acting Senior Curator, writing collection and exhibition policies, and advising on space planning for the facility prior to its construction.

Independent curator, and lecturer

Lloyd Herman continued to curate exhibitions on craft and design topics for the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...

, the

Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded o ...

, and various other museums and traveling exhibition services. He has lectured on American crafts throughout the United States, and numerous locations abroad. He has led craft tours to Bhutan, India, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, and Vietnam. He has lectured regularly on contemporary glass art for Elderhostel/Road Scholar programs in Seattle.

Publications

He co-authored the book, Thomas Mann, Metal Artist. Recent writing projects include books on glass artists Narcissus Quagliata and Josh Simpson. * * * *

References

External links

Lloyd E. Herman papers, 1961-2017
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Oral history interview with Lloyd E. Herman, 2010 Sept. 21

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

, Smithsonian Institution
Lloyd Herman Named Honorary Chair of the 2017 Smithsonian Craft Show
February 13, 2017, Smithsonian News Release {{DEFAULTSORT:Herman, Lloyd E. 1936 births Living people Oregon State University alumni People from Benton County, Oregon University of Oregon alumni American University alumni People from Washington, D.C. Writers from Corvallis, Oregon American curators