Ashley Bryan, Oral History

Ashley Bryan participates in an oral history with Liza Zapol. Bryan shares how he was always inspired to draw, and learned early on not to be ashamed of drawing any subject that interested him. Bryan then formally studied drawing at Cooper Union and later spoke about his experiences of the second world war, which took him from Boston to the docks in Glasgow, Scotland. In Scotland, Bryan spoke about attending the Glasgow School Of Art with the permission of the battalion commander. Bryan reminisced about the fact that there were several war artists who he met at Skowhegan when he attended as a participant in 1946, but they did not talk about war or their experiences. Instead, they depicted these experiences in their art work, especially through fresco. Bryan shares how Skowhegan taught him that everything that happens in art happens contemporaneously—from photo realism, to abstract ideas—is all current. Bryan reflects on the fact that after World War II, there was a break down of France as the center of all cultures, and how this shifted to New York. Bryan feels that the artwork seen globally now comes from things that happen in the U.S., whether that is Pop art, installations, experiments in scale and size, or deteriorating art. Bryan also feels the downside of this, stating that now there is an intense pressure artists feel which is about making it before one’s thirties, something that had never been a part of art when Bryan was coming of age as an artist. For Bryan—in his time–it was always about practice, work, and continuing to grow. Bryan states that there isn’t an age in history where young people aren’t meeting challenges of how they describe their lives, and that the step between zero and one is greater than one and a thousand. Once the artist, person and mind, make that first step, they can build on that and take further steps. Bryan hopes that Skowhegan continues to be an open environment and students can work in whatever is going on currently if that’s what they are after, and that they continue to be understood, directed, and worked with. For Bryan, this is something that he has also observed, stating that the students are working much more openly than when he was a participant there. Bryan believes that artists have to find their own way, find a way to overcome obstacles, and always keep a sketchbook with them. It is important that artists find the courage to realize that no one or anything can stop them if they are doing something creative or constructive. It’s important that artists always undertake things that are difficult, because it will teach them that the things which are challenging and not easy are what will lead to their growth. Artists will realize that they can and must live their lives for themselves.

Bryan ends his oral history with Zapol by stating that if Skowhegan ever calls on him, he will always step in to do what he can and contribute to Skowhegan because of what it gave him. Without Skowhegan, Bryan could not have realized some of the depths of himself. The gift of going to Skowhegan has continued to shape Bryan as an artist, and for that he is humbly grateful. Bryan will always carry the lives and meanings of people who are no longer here that he associates with Skowhegan.