George Masa's guest appearances

George Masa

The Modern Art Notes Podcast

Southern Appalachian Creature Feature

Smoky Mountain Air

Ted Olson

Dom Flemons

William Turner

Stephen Lyn Bales

Rocky Fork

Daddy Longlegs

David Brill

Paul Bonesteel

OwlTail

Rose B. Simpson

Episode No. 567 features artist Rose B. Simpson and author Brent Martin. The Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston is showing "Rose B. Simpson: Legacies," an exhibition of 14 sculptures Simpson has made over the last eight years. It was curated by Jeffrey De Blois and is on view through January 29, 2023. Rose B. Simpson is included in two other New England presentations: her Counterculture is installed at Field Farm, a Trustees property in Williamstown, Mass.; and in "Ceramics in the Expanded Field," at MASS MoCA. Counterculture was organized by Jamilee Lacy and will be on view through April 30, 2023. "Ceramics," which is up until early March 2023, was curated by Susan Cross. This fall The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia will feature  "Rose B. Simpson: Dream House." The exhibition opens October 7. Across ceramic sculpture, performance, installation, and more, Simpson's work addresses ideas as far ranging as resistance, apocalypse, spirituality, and automobile design. Museums such as the University of New Mexico Art Museum (Simpson lives in Santa Clara Pueblo), Nevada Museum of Art, the Savannah College of Art and Design's SCAD Museum of Art, and the Pomona College Museum of Art have all presented solo exhibitions of her work, and Simpson has been in group shows at the Henry Art Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Denver Museum of Art, and plenty more. Martin discusses his new book "George Masa's Wild Vision," which was recently published by Hub City Press. Masa was an Asheville, North Carolina-based photographer who had a significant impact on the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and on determining the Southern route of the Appalachian Trail, the two crown jewels of the eastern United States' natural infrastructure. Amazon and Indiebound offer the book for around $25.

Episode No. 567 features artist Rose B. Simpson and author Brent Martin. The Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston is showing <a href="https://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/rose-b-simpson-legacies" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Rose B. Simpson: Legacies,"</a> an exhibition of 14 sculptures Simpson has made over the last eight years. It was curated by Jeffrey De Blois and is on view through January 29, 2023. <a href="https://www.rosebsimpson.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rose B. Simpson</a> is included in two other New England presentations: her Counterculture is <a href="https://thetrustees.org/exhibit/counterculture/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">installed at Field Farm</a>, a Trustees property in Williamstown, Mass.; and in <a href="https://massmoca.org/event/ceramics-in-the-expanded-field/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Ceramics in the Expanded Field,"</a> at MASS MoCA. Counterculture was organized by Jamilee Lacy and will be on view through April 30, 2023. "Ceramics," which is up until early March 2023, was curated by Susan Cross. This fall The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia will feature <a href="https://fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/exhibition/rose-b-simpson-dream-house/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> "Rose B. Simpson: Dream House."</a> The exhibition opens October 7. Across ceramic sculpture, performance, installation, and more, Simpson's work addresses ideas as far ranging as resistance, apocalypse, spirituality, and automobile design. Museums such as the University of New Mexico Art Museum (Simpson lives in Santa Clara Pueblo), Nevada Museum of Art, the Savannah College of Art and Design's SCAD Museum of Art, and the Pomona College Museum of Art have all presented solo exhibitions of her work, and Simpson has been in group shows at the Henry Art Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Denver Museum of Art, and plenty more. Martin discusses his new book "George Masa's Wild Vision," which was recently published by Hub City Press. Masa was an Asheville, North Carolina-based photographer who had a significant impact on the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and on determining the Southern route of the Appalachian Trail, the two crown jewels of the eastern United States' natural infrastructure. <a href="https://amzn.to/3DqK04k" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781938235931" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Indiebound</a> offer the book for around $25.

Rose B. Simpson, George Masa

“Early 20th century hikers in the Great Smokies were likely to encounter a small Japanese man on the trail. He was 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed a little more than 100 pounds. He might have been burdened with a pack containing a heavy camera, tripod, and accompanying equipment. Or he might be pushing the front wheel of a bicycle connected to handlebars with an odometer attached, a cyclometer, that he used to measure trail mileages. Any conversation with this diminutive man would have entailed responses in broken English. And as likely as not, he would have been accompanied by men and women, his friends, who frequently hiked with him. Years later this same man received a letter written April 20, 1932, from the associate director of the National Park Service, Arno Cammerer, that stated in part, ‘You surely are the Great Smoky Mountains patriot…’”That's a short excerpt from Bill Hart's article about the enigmatic photographer who was born in Japan but came to America and gave his heart to the Great Smoky Mountains region. His name was George Masa, and Hart's article appeared along with a selection of Masa's photographs in one of our ‘missing issues’ of Smokies Life, Volume 2, #2. These missing issues are no longer in print but are available to view online at SmokiesInformation.org/MissingIssues. Our guests Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel are in the process of co-authoring a biography of George Masa. McCue is an independent writer and researcher, co-author of Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography, and collaborator on many Kephart projects. She is the former director of Mann Library at Cornell University.Paul Bonesteel is a filmmaker, director, and founder of Bonesteel Films, a production company based in Asheville, NC. His documentary film The Mystery of George Masa (available on Vimeo with promo code "Masa") explores the compelling story of the immigrant who came to the mountains of Western North Carolina, gained employment at the grand Grove Park Inn, connected with many of Asheville's most influential residents, and found his passion in photography and hiking with his friends in the Carolina Mountain Club. We spoke with McCue and Bonesteel on an online video chat while they were in their respective states of New York and North Carolina.A digitized collection of George Masa’s photographs can be found online in the virtual "North Carolina Room" of Buncombe County Library's website. 

“Early 20th century hikers in the Great Smokies were likely to encounter a small Japanese man on the trail. He was 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed a little more than 100 pounds. He might have been burdened with a pack containing a heavy camera, tripod, and accompanying equipment. Or he might be pushing the front wheel of a bicycle connected to handlebars with an odometer attached, a cyclometer, that he used to measure trail mileages. Any conversation with this diminutive man would have entailed responses in broken English. And as likely as not, he would have been accompanied by men and women, his friends, who frequently hiked with him. Years later this same man received a letter written April 20, 1932, from the associate director of the National Park Service, Arno Cammerer, that stated in part, ‘You surely are the Great Smoky Mountains patriot…’” That's a short excerpt from Bill Hart's article about the enigmatic photographer who was born in Japan but came to America and gave his heart to the Great Smoky Mountains region. His name was George Masa, and Hart's article appeared along with a selection of Masa's photographs in one of our ‘missing issues’ of Smokies Life, Volume 2, #2. These missing issues are no longer in print but are available to view online at <a href="http://SmokiesInformation.org/MissingIssues" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SmokiesInformation.org/MissingIssues</a>. Our guests Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel are in the process of co-authoring a biography of George Masa. McCue is an independent writer and researcher, co-author of <a href="https://www.smokiesinformation.org/catalog/product/view/id/1123/s/back-of-beyond/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography</a>, and collaborator on many Kephart projects. She is the former director of Mann Library at Cornell University.Paul Bonesteel is a filmmaker, director, and founder of Bonesteel Films, a production company based in Asheville, NC. His documentary film The Mystery of George Masa (available on <a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/15488" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vimeo</a> with promo code "Masa") explores the compelling story of the immigrant who came to the mountains of Western North Carolina, gained employment at the grand Grove Park Inn, connected with many of Asheville's most influential residents, and found his passion in photography and hiking with his friends in the Carolina Mountain Club. We spoke with McCue and Bonesteel on an online video chat while they were in their respective states of New York and North Carolina. A digitized collection of George Masa’s photographs can be found online in the virtual <a href="https://ncroom.buncombecounty.org/Presto/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=KE5DX0NvbGxlY3Rpb24uVHlwZT0oIkltYWdlIikp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"North Carolina Room"</a> of Buncombe County Library's website.

Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel Explore Photographer George Masa's Fascinating Life: A Smokies Life ‘Missing Issues’ Feature

Having studied a little photojournalism in college, photography has become a resurgent interest of mine and I was caught by a recent cover of the Mountain Xpress, Asheville’s alternative weekly newspaper. It has a striking image of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, taken by George Masa.