James Yale January 31, 1947 – August 18, 2023
For this week’s discovery for “Rediscovered Art” by James Yale on jamesyale.com, we go to the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. It is the first time that I have ever seen the bust James created of Fay Jones, but that was not the only discovery for this week’s post. What took my breath away waiting for me, laid out on a table in the special collections library, were the working sketches of the session with Fay that reflect their friendship and James’ admiration for Fay. How I wish I could’ve been a dragonfly on the pond to overhear their stories of art, architecture, nature, and war and peace. The last two weeks before Fay left planet Earth, he knocked on James’ door and said, ‘Jim, saddle up, let’s go see Cooper Chapel.”
In my sleuthing each week, I am beginning to understand more about James’ preparation and composition for each creation and James’ mastery in breathing life and soul into his art.
A special thanks to Michelle Parks, communications director at the school of architecture, who set this all in motion and agreed to be interviewed, and for opening the door for us to meet Casiday Long in special collections and Catherine Wallack, architectural archivist. And thanks to my partner Melanie Myers for filming the interview.
Oh, and one more thing; when the Fay Jones bust was donated to the School of architecture by Bill Underwood, James sent a letter about their friendship. It hasn’t been uncovered…yet! Stay tuned!
– Charlotte Buchanan Yale
(click to view full images)
