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Creator:

Joan Decker

Date range:

1930-1979

Call number:

AG198

Abstract: 

Joan Decker [Sortini] (1935-2012) was a teacher in the Industrial Arts Department at Perkins and a member of the Teacher Training class of 1957-1958. She also worked as the Museum curator, designing monthly exhibits. This collection includes notes from Decker about objectives and assessment for art education, announcements of monthly Museum exhibits, and information about different art mediums. 

Extent:

0.25 linear feet, 1 half-size manuscript box

Language:

English

Processed by:

Susanna Coit, 2022

Processing notes:

Materials were removed from the original housing. Photographs of the original housing, a binder, are included in the collection. 

Biographical/Historical note:

Joan Decker [Sortini] (1935-2012) was born in Flint, Michigan on March 30, 1935. At Perkins, Decker was a teacher in the Industrial Arts Department and a member of the Teacher Training class of 1957-1958. She worked as the Museum curator, designing monthly exhibits highlighting topics such as “Nature at Perkins,” “Raw Materials,” and featuring student artwork. In 1962, she served on a committee that organized special Chapel programs and an international Museum exhibit called “The Common Market at Perkins” to celebrate “International Week at Perkins.” 

Decker attended Wellesley College and earned an MFA from Boston University before coming to teach at Perkins. For the Teacher Training program, she wrote a course paper titled “Plastic art and blindness” and another paper, “Upper elementary shop program.” At Boston University, her 1959 thesis was titled “Creative art experiences for elementary age blind children.” After Perkins, she moved to California and was the founding director of the Merced County Multicultural Arts Center from 1986-2006. She died on October 19, 2012. 

Sources of information:

Decker, Joan. “Creative art experiences for elementary age blind children.” Boston University, 1959. Available online at Boston University.

Decker, Joan. “Plastic art and blindness.” 1958.

Decker, Joan. “Upper elementary shop program.” Perkins School for the Blind, 1958.

“International Week at Perkins.” The Lantern, Vol. XXXII, June 1962. Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown MA. Available on the Internet Archive.

“Joan Decker Santorini Obituary.” Denver Post, Nov. 4, 2012. Available online.

“The Children’s Museum – A Plea.” The Lantern, Vol. XXXI, Sept. 1961. Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown MA. Available on the Internet Archive.

Restrictions:

None.

Copyright:

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Perkins School for the Blind, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright. 

Credit line/Citation:

AG198 Joan Decker papers. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Scope and contents:

The collection contains notes related to Joan Decker’s work as a teacher in the Industrial Arts Department and as curator of the Museum at Perkins. Included are handwritten notes about objectives and assessment for art students, articles about art mediums, and an instruction booklet. Announcements of monthly exhibits in the Museum are also included. 

Arrangement:

B1:F1 = Box 1: Folder 1

The collection is arranged in one series, as it was arranged in the original housing. 

Container list: 

Box: 1 Series 1: 

B1:F1: Original Housing

B1:F2: Art in the Elementary School objectives, assessment, 1954

B1:F3: Letter to William Heisler from Charles Winchell, July 2, 1979 (copy)

B1:F4: Exhibit of the Month announcements, 1958-1960

B1:F5: “Modeling with Permoplast and Amaco Craft Clays,” undated

B1:F6: “Enamelling” by Gertrude S. Twinchell, 1930

B1:F7: “Soap Art Decorative and Inexpensive,” undated

Related collections:

Photo of Joan Decker (1960) in Perkins Archives Flickr album.

AG49 Perkins Teacher Training Program photographs, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA.

Provenance:

Unknown

Subject headings:

Perkins School for the Blind.

Perkins School for the Blind–History.

Teachers of people who are blind.

Tactile art.

Art teachers.

Explore more resources from the Archives

Learn more about our collections, including digitized materials, and resources related to the history of Perkins School for the Blind and the history of education for people with blindness or deafblindness.