Eudorah Moore (June 15, 1918 – April 20, 2013) was an American

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 ...

and patron of the arts. She is regarded as revolutionizing California design, and for her advocacy of

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 ...

as an art form.

Biography

Moore ''née'' Morse was born on June 15, 1918 in Denver Colorado. She studied at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, graduating in 1940. The same year she married Anson Moore with whom she had 4 children. The couple moved to California in the early 1940s. She started her career at the Pasadena Arts Museum as a volunteer. In the early 1950s, Moore became the founding president of the Pasadena Art Alliance, which was organized to provide support to art institutions in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

, particularly the

Pasadena Art Museum The Norton Simon Museum is an art museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known as the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum and displays numerous sculptures on its grounds. Overview The Norton Sim ...

. By 1957 she was president of the board of the museum. Continuing her long-standing interest in crafts, in 1961 she took over the Museum’s series of California Design exhibitions, changing them from small, annual shows of furniture into "a blockbuster juried triennial" of virtually anything designed or made in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. From 1962 to 1977, Moore served as

of the Pasadena Arts Museum (now the

Norton Simon Museum The Norton Simon Museum is an art museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known as the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum and displays numerous sculptures on its grounds. Overview The Norton Sim ...

), located in

, California. She has been credited with turning the Pasadena Art Museum's annual ''California Design'' show into a "blockbuster juried triennial". Moore was crafts coordinator for the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

from 1978 to 1981. In 1973 Moore was honored by Smith College. In 1979 she received an honorary doctorate from the

California College of Arts and Crafts California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

. In 1980 Moore was made an honorary Fellow of the American Crafts Council. Moore died on April 20, 2013 in Pasadena, California.

Quotes

"The social as well as the physical climate of California in the 20th century has presented the ideal breeding ground for the new, and more broadly based wave of humane declaration, which we call the ''New Craftman's Movement''. With remnants of the do-it-yourself need of the frontier spirit still intact, and with the sense of individual worth and identity from that experience still within memory, there was little in subjugation or established pattern to overcome. Self-expression was in many ways the base of the culture."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Eudorah American art curators American women curators American designers 1918 births 2013 deaths People from Pasadena, California Culture of Pasadena, California National Endowment for the Arts 20th-century United States government officials 21st-century American people People associated with the Norton Simon Museum 20th-century American women 21st-century American women

Biography

Quotes

See also

References