Nationality
American
Artist Dates
1930-2010
Title of Work
Ardell Scartaccini 1
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Date of Work
ca. 1976
Medium
Super 8 film
Identification #
JSP-AS-76.001
Collection/Provenance
Art & Design Study Collection: James Smith Pierce Film Collection
Status
Stored: JSP.FAST.FILM BOX 2
Location
UND Art Collections Repository
Artist Bio
Born in Brooklyn, New York, James Smith Pierce received his PhD in art history from Harvard University. During his career as a professor, Pierce also became an accomplished artist, whose artworks were included in important exhibitions (including a show on land art at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC) and books on contemporary earthworks and site-specific sculpture. Pierce was also a photographer, exhibition curator, and art collector.
Additional Information
About Ardell Scartaccini:
Ardell Scartaccini was born Ardell Burkhart in 1927. She grew up in New Mexico where her father was a trapper and owned a trading post and general store. She married a miner named Eugene Scartaccini and together the couple moved to Golden, New Mexico in 1961. There they purchased a ⅓ acre property where they lived and raised several children. Ardell made a living working as a housekeeper for the nearby Lloyd Ranch.
In 1964 the Scartaccinis opened the Turquoise Trail Shop, which sold various curios, in a one-room schoolhouse on the property. She began decorating the property with glass bottles and various found objects such as wagon wheels, tree branches, and antlers. She would hang the bottles along fence posts and place them in foliage on the property.
The couple sold the property to Vassillos J. Mantas in 1986. He subsequently sold off most of the glass and collectables before selling the property again in 1996. The property was purchased by Fabrizio and Linda Berochia in 1998. After the couple learned about the property’s history, they began working to restore the garden, and added in their own sculptures. The couple later sold the property in 2016.
Condition
Very good.
Condition Notes
Digitally preserved, 2021.
Rights
Images and film are provided for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced in any form without written consent. ©University of North Dakota. All rights reserved.