Identifier

UA 50.8

Dates

1997-2005

Extent

0.42 linear feet (1 document case) moving image materials

Abstract

The Helen J. Van Zante Endowment supported visiting professors on such subjects as housing, home furnishings, and household technology. This collection consists of material related to design forums and visiting artist professorships held at South Dakota State University in relation to the Van Zante Endowment in connection with the College of Family & Consumer Sciences and the Department of Visual Arts.

Historical Note

Dr. Helen Johnson Van Zante (1906-1990), a distinguished scientist and pioneering developer of the home microwave oven, grew up on a farm in Brookings County, SD. She attended South Dakota State College [SDSC] where she graduated with a degree in mathematics. Later, she pursued advanced graduate work in physics at Iowa State University, which was very unusual study for a woman in the 1930s, where she completed a doctor's degree. While at SDSC, she studied traditional studio arts with Professor Ada B. Caldwell, which led to a lifelong avocation as a painter of still life, landscape, and genre subjects. Dr. Van Zante bequeathed a collection of her paintings to the Department of Visual Arts following a retrospective exhibition in the Ritz Gallery in 1987.

Dr. Van Zante received an honorary doctorate from South Dakota State University in 1987. In 1989, Van Zante received recognition from the South Dakota Board of Regents as a Centennial Alumni. She also established the substantial Van Zante Endowment to support visiting professors on such subjects as housing, home furnishings, and household technology, which the Interior Design program in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences developed along with the Department of Visual Arts. This endowment supports the Van Zante Visiting Professorships in the Visual Arts and Design Forums in Interior Design at South Dakota State University. The visiting professorship brings artists to the university campus for annual design forums, allowing students the opportunity to learn first-hand from working artists.

Content Notes

This collection is composed of material related to design forums and visiting artist professorships held at South Dakota State University in relation to the Van Zante Endowment in connection with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the Department of Visual Arts.

This series includes information about design forums, a video featuring three interior designers who were guests at the 1997 Design Forum, biographies and student essays on some of the visiting artists, and a report of the 1998 Van Zante Visiting Professorships in the Visual Arts. Included in the Visiting Professorships in the Visual Arts material is correspondence between the Visual Arts department head and the artists who participated. Also included are five videos featuring visiting artists. One video is the work of Ron Stucki and features footage of winter sports and a torch relay runner for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

SDSU Archives and Special Collections

Follow this link for more information:

https://www.sdstate.edu/sdsu-archives-and-special-collections/university-archives

Language

English

Publisher

South Dakota State University Archives and Special Collections, Hilton M. Briggs Library, Brookings, South Dakota.

Rights

Copyright restrictions apply in different ways to different materials. Many of the documents and other historical materials in the Archives are in the public domain and may be reproduced and used in any way. There are other materials in the Archive carrying a copyright interest and must be used according to the provisions of Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The Archive issues a warning concerning copyright restrictions to every researcher who requests copies of documents. Although the copyright law is under constant redefinition in the courts, it is ultimately the responsibility of the researcher to properly use copyrighted material.

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