Marcia Russell Chamberlain was born in San Diego, California April 13, 1926 to structural steel engineer Marshall B. Chamberlain and Dorothy Taylor Chamberlain. Chamberlain attended H. Hoover High School from 1941 to 1944 and earned her diploma. From 1944 to 1949 she attended San Diego State College (B.A.). She then enrolled at the University of Southern California from 1944 to 1946 and at San Francisco State College again from 1949 to 1950 without earning another degree.

After receiving her B.A. degree she worked in Germany as a member of the Occupation Special Services. She attended Black Mountain College for the 1951 Summer Session. When she left Black Mountain, she obtained her M.F.A. with concentrations in metals and jewelry and in textiles. She worked for the American Crafts Council and other arts institutions in the San José, California area.

She was a Professor of Art at San José State University. In 1982 she was instrumental in the organization of the conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramics Arts, NCECA: San José 82 which focused on California ceramic artists.

She founded the Pacific States Craft Fair, a juried fair, as a fund-raiser for the American Craft Council. The fair was continued under the sponsorship of American Craft Enterprises. She co-authored a book Beyond Weaving and authored a second book Metal Jewelry Techniques.

Black Mountain College Project

Mary Emma Harris interviewed Marcia in 1998 and the transcript is available from Appalachian State University under The Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History collection.

Topics: Hearing about BMC – chiggers – Robert Motherwell – general ambience – deterioration of physical facility – weaving – BMC students – work program – baseball– parties – cross-country travel with M.C. Richards and David Tudor – BMC landscape – Peter Voulkos – post-BMC professional work

Courses Taken

Summer-term of 1951: Photography (Siskind-Callahan) Woodshop (Billings) Weaving (Oates)