Steven Bostwick was interviewed by David Bosserman on July 7, 1996. He earned an art degree in printmaking, and he and his wife moved to Washington, DC, from Massachusetts in 1991. Bostwick worked for a year and four months in the Library of Congress's Exhibits Office, and through this job he heard about the Festival of American Folklife. He has worked at the Festival of American Folklife for three seasons as a member of the crew. Bostwick was also employed at the Smithsonian in the Cabinet Shop of the Freer and Sackler Galleries. When not working for the Festival, Bostwick does the lighting for industrial videos. This interview discusses Bostwick's first visit to the Smithsonian in 1963, his attendance at the Hirshhorn's Inaugural exhibition in 1974, his job at the Library of Congress, how he got his job at the Festival, the duration of his employment for the Festival, his job at the Freer and Sackler Galleries and why he left, comments on the differences in programming at the different Festivals, the relationship of crew members to one another, his technical recommendations for future Festivals, memories of the Festivals, his comments on the Working at the Smithsonian exhibit at the 1996 Festival of American Folklife, getting jobs at the Smithsonian by accident, and his plans for working at future Festivals.

Object Details

See more items in: Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews; Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews / Interviews

Collection Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9594, Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews