Paul Ryan (1943-2013), Frank Gillette (1941- ), and Ira Schneider (1939-2022) were video artists and founding members of the Raindance Corporation, now the Raindance Foundation. The three artists met through mutual professional connections in New York City in the late 1960s. Operating out of an apartment, these and other founding members created the Raindance Corporation in 1969. Using the medium of video, the founders aimed to contrast the secretive tone of their contemporary political climate by producing films of the everyday for the alternative television movement, using techniques like subject interaction and audience feedback. Frank Gillette and Ira Schneider produced the corporation's first notable piece,
The three video interviews with Paul Ryan, Frank Gillette, and Ira Schneider measure 7.09 gigabytes and date to 1992. Conducted by John Giancola, a financial supporter of the Raindance Corporation, the interviews cover the timeline and evolving ethos of the organization.
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The collection was donated in 2010 by Frank Giancola.
Video interviews with Paul Ryan, Frank Gillette, and Ira Schneider, circa 1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Emma Eubank in 2023.
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
The three video interviews with Paul Ryan, Frank Gillette, and Ira Schneider, conducted by John Giancola, cover the timeline and evolving ethos of the organization.
Paul Ryan comments on the initial meetings of the founders, the organization's relationship to Watergate and the "vunerability and responsibility" that Raindance members held for their subjects.
Frank Gillette comments on Raindance's funding, its attempts to push back against visual media decentralization, and his separation from Raindance's later years.
Ira Schneider discusses his early introduction to film, the alternative television movement, and the creation of Raindance's journal