Bill Steen
Bill Steen, Past President
You never want to limit yourself when it comes to art – it’s all human expression. Bill Steen
Imagine Emperor Kublai Khan, resplendent in imperial yellow robes with blue sequins, greeting you as you enter into a tented Caravanserai. That is how Alice Lowe (Past President and March/April interviewee) fondly remembers the costumed Bill Steen, as he collected passports and greeted guests at Society soiree during his tenure as President.
For my interview, Bill and Martha Steen warmly received me in their San Francisco penthouse with its spectacular view of the Marin Headlands. It was like walking into Nick and Nora Charles home with a private elevator! Since both Bill and Martha love Western and Eastern art, their home was lovingly arranged with beautiful objects from both worlds. Gracing the living room is a magnificent large golden Japanese obi. With his bright blue Scandinavian eyes shining, Mr. Steen began by introducing himself with a stack of journals that turned out to be the “fruit of a lifetime of his creative labor.”
Raised in Wisconsin, a graduate of Northwestern University, Bill Steen became a commissioned naval officer in the Second World War as Paymaster on the U.S.S. Flagstaff. The first job after his service was in Willamette, Illinois, with Montgomery Ward in sporting goods where he started a lifetime career of compiling information and collections. The very large Montgomery Wards catalogue familiar to me as a child was there in the stack. It was also in Willamette that he met the lovely Martha in Willamette nearly 50 years ago. He then went into his family’s business of making customized men’s suits. Ultimately, the haberdashery business was so lucrative that the company acquired several successful independently run stores in different major cities- Washington, D.C., Chicago and San Francisco. The San Franciscan store was the legendary Bullock and Jones directly on Union Square. As General Manage of the store, Bill began the very successful catalogue of men’s fashions—which continues today despite the sale of the brick and mortar business more than 35 years ago.
In Japan, where he and Martha lived in 1972, Bill began another catalog while he was General Chairman of the International University. Among the traditional arts of Japan listed in the catalog were flower arranging and basket weaving – and an article on “Man and the Computer in the Year 2000” – and that was 1972, quite prescient!
Perhaps it was that time in Japan sparked an interest in Asian art. But it was Phoebe McCoy whom he thanks for getting him involved in the Society for Asian Art. Bill came to know Phoebe through his acquaintance with Phoebe’s husband in the Young President’s Organization. This is an international chapter-driven non-profit organization made up of highly successful company presidents and CEO’s all under the age of 50 years of age from around the world. Phoebe knew that Bill was “good at running groups” so she shared her love of Asian art and culture with both Bill and Martha. Isn’t it good that they did? This interest in art was not new to them since both already had been involved with European art at the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums where Martha had been a docent and President of the Docent Council. And Bill was also involved with the Museum as founder of the American Decorative Arts Forum – a group that still meets once a month throughout the year.
“I loved being President of the Society for Asian Art, and I loved my Board.” Bill particularly remembers the contributions and help of Ms. Dodge who was Board secretary at the time. . He spoke fondly of working with Professors James Cahill and Katherine Field Caldwell, both of whom were SAA advisors. One of his goals as president was to assure that the Asian Museum remained totally independent from the Fine Arts Museum, especially important since at that point the Asian was housed in a wing of the old deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. During his presidency, Bill was the graphic designer of the 30th SAA’s Commemorative Anniversary Edition of Lotus Leaves, a compilation of the past essays. Lotus Leaves was one of the journals in that original stack.
Since his retirement as the SAA President, Martha and Bill have visited 70 countries! Even with this extensive travel, he has continued his involvement – and publishing -- in community projects. He created the FAM’s American Decorative Arts Forum’s “The Quarterly Review”. When they lived in Belvedere, Bill served for one year as foreman of the Marin County Grand Jury where he wrote The Marin County Grand Jury Final Report in 1979-1980. He realizes that both his entire professional career and personal life has been one of meeting printing deadlines. More than simply meeting deadlines, creating catalogues has provided a creative outlet in his life. He consistently integrated beauty and an artistic flair into all the catalogues whether it was an intentional choice of color, fonts or an images. This flair and use of his familiarity with art is evident in the Bullock and Jones catalogue which has an image of a dapper young man entitled “Boy with Dog”—a painting by the American artist Charles Christian Wahl {1818-1878} that is part of the deYoung Museum collection.
Mr. Steen‘s favorite object and gallery at the Asian Art Museum are the Japanese gallery and netsuke collection. In the Steen’s personal Asian art collection are extraordinary netsuke, woodblock prints, Japanese porcelain and Chinese export porcelain. Instead of simply keeping all of his collection in his suite, Mr. Steen has donated over 400 objects to beautify the hallways of their 13 floor building – literally sharing his collection with others. During the interview, we visited five thematically arranged floors. Both the paintings and signage were beautifully matted and framed. The didactics were lucid and educational- all carefully researched by Mr. Steen. The theme on the 11th floor was “China Trade” with beautiful paintings of sailing ships and harbor scenes. On the 8th floor, the theme was “Traditions of Japanese Art” with reproductions of Hiroshige’s Views of Edo. On the 7th floor was a visit to Egypt with an image of a beautiful sarcophagus that is first viewed when the elevator door opens. One flight down are delightful color photographs of evocative images of Armonk, New York’s seasonal change, by his dear deceased friend Ted Nierenberg from the Young President’s Days. Then another flight down are a series of Japanese wooden signs of businesses that no longer exist. Our visit concluded with the Steens looking forward to yet another trip—a month in Maine always highlighted by an annual family reunion.
What a wonderful visit I had with the Steens listening to the memories of their lives and involvement in art. Starting with his career as the Montgomery Ward catalogue creator to being designer of the Society’s 30th Commemorative Anniversary Edition of Lotus Leaves and presently as the curator of his art collection in his building, I wish Bill, and his lovely wife Martha, many more years of sharing knowledge and beauty with others. Thank you on behalf of today’s Society members.
Coral Reiff
Board Biographies
Society Board members work tirelessly to develop and present interesting educational opportunities for our members and Museum supporters. We hope you will get to know them and feel free to offer them your ideas, comments and even your help.
Susan McCabe, our President for the past two years, wears many hats around the Museum. A docent (class of 2004), Susan chairs the CSP committee of the Docent Council, is a storyteller and a member of the Volunteer Association Board. She lived many years in Hong Kong and London where she worked in technology for a number of high profile firms.
Vice President Annie Dorsey graduated from Wellesley College and has an M.A. in Gerontology from San Francisco State. Her “chequered career” includes publishing, advertising, travel, real estate, her own business, volunteer hospice work, and chairmanship of the Society Member Events Committee. She is an ardent student of Buddhist art, history and practice.
Vice President Linda Lei taught Mandarin and Chinese culture for over 20 years and is former Director of Mandarin Programs in the Piedmont Unified School District. An active supporter of the Museum, Linda graduated from the docent program (class of 2004) and enjoys teaching Chinese calligraphy and painting to school children. She co-chaired “Society Conversations” and will co-chair Arts of Asia this fall.
A true world traveler, Secretary Ehler Spliedt was born in Northern Germany, graduated from the Hamburg Hotel School and worked in Hamburg, Paris, Tokyo, Latin America, Europe, and Hong Kong. He and his wife Nazneen joined the Society in 1998. Nazneen served as President in 2006-2008. Ehler has ably handled the annual Soceity Book Sale for the last three years.
Ed Baer recently retired as Senior Vice President of Bank of America and began reviewing financial portfolios and investments for Society. During his career he lived in many Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, where he met and married Neaera, a Museum docent (class of 2004), and developed an interest in Asian art and history. He became our treasurer in 2009.
New to the Board this year, Geoff Dunn has volunteered for the Society at the Annual Book Sale and the Society Souk. He is a former attorney turned Asian antiques professional, dealing in Korean and Chinese works and specializing in Japanese antiques. He also volunteers in the Museum library and will take over responsibility for the Book Sale in the coming year.
A New Jersey native, Judy Fraschella earned an M.A. from SFSU and taught high school history, literature and writing, perfect credentials for becoming co-editor of the newsletter, chair of Literature and Culture and of Hospitality and a member of the Events Committee. An enthusiastic volunteer at the Info Desk, she served briefly as Administrative Assistant for Senator John Garamendi and recently lectured in Humanities at SFSU.
Emily Huang was born in Taiwan and came to the US at the age of nine. She holds an Architecture degree from MIT and is a founding partner of Huang Iboshi Architecture, Inc. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the Architectural Museum Guides, helping develop the architecture tours that introduced visitors to the Civic Center building. She is currently head of Public Relations for the SAA Board.
Mary S. Hunt is a docent (class of 1997) and maintains the docent web site. Holding a degree in Chemistry and Art History, she did research at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory before becoming involved in the Museum and the SAA, where she is a member of the Travel and Activities Committees. Her interests include the multiple impacts of maritime trade from the Mediterranean Sea through South and Southeast Asia.
A PhD and clinical psychologist, Phyllis Kempner’s love of art began at Vassar College. Initially a collector of contemporary art and president of SECA, an auxiliary of SFMOMA, she has become interested in Asian art, particularly Japanese ceramics and mingei. As chair of Study Groups, she and her committee have organized a series of fascinating study groups on topics from contemporary Indian art to tea to Caucasian rugs.
Susan Lai is originally from Taiwan. A graduate of Brown University with a degree in International Relations, her career includes executive roles in consumer goods. She first volunteered at the Asian Art Museum as an Architectural Guide. An active Docent (class of 2004), she chairs the School Programs Committee of Docent Council and represents the SAA Board on the Docent Training Planning Committee.
Jean MacDermid’s life-long interest in Asian art and culture grew from the fact that her grandmother was born and raised in China. Moving to San Francisco in l974, Jean completed docent training (class of l977) and toured until she moved to Singapore in l991 where she did "sourcing" for a retail shop. She maintains her connection to the AAM as a storyteller and served as chair to the SAA Advisers Committee.
A former Peace Corps volunteer in Korea and member of the Asian Art Commission and
Foundation, Don Meyer is co-founder of the Korean Art and Culture Committee and served as chair for many fundraisers. An attorney by trade, he lives in Berkeley with his wife Ginny, a docent (class of 1994) and storyteller, grows tomatoes and roses when the weather is good and cooks dinner when not traveling or attending meetings.
Bob Oaks is a docent (class of 2004), chair of the Art of War theme tour, and board member of the Society, for which he serves as editor of Lotus Leaves. He holds a B.A. from Stanford and a Ph.D. from USC in American history and has written two books and many articles and book reviews for professional journals. He had both academic and corporate careers before retiring in 2002.
Born in China, Anthony Pan grew up in Hong Kong and NYC. He studied the History and Sociology of China and Japan at Princeton and UC Berkeley and worked in Japan for eight years. After graduating Columbia Law School he practiced corporate law, then shifted to consulting with companies doing business in East Asia. He has co-authored a book entitled Culture Shock! Beijing. He represents Docent Council on the SAA Board.
Coral Reiff graduated from UC Berkeley in Art History and worked for the Berkeley Public Works Department. She graduated from Paralegal Studies at SFSU and is an AAM docent (class of 1997). Well-known for her videotaping, she is an active member of the Events committee, co-chaired the Bhutan Symposium and chairs First Thursday lectures. She writes for the docent website and Voices, the volunteer newsletter.
Merrill Randol Sherwin graduated from Harvard University in Fine Arts and from Stanford Law School. After practicing public interest law for 20 years, she became a docent at the Fine Arts Museums and later at the AAM where she has been a trustee for the past ten years. As chair of the Membership committee of SAA, she hopes to introduce younger generations of Asian art aficionados to the SAA.
Peter Sinton continues as co-chair of the Arts of Asia Lecture Series. Growing up in San Francisco, he graduated from U.C. Berkeley and Stanford, spent two years in the Peace Corps in Iran,a nd 30-plus years as a journalist at Time and Business Week and at the Chronicle as business editor and senior writer. Peter enjoys docenting, playing with sons and grandsons, traveling, beekeeping and collecting Japanese textiles and other “stuff”.
Paul Sonnenblick is immediate past treasurer of the SAA Board. He developed an interest in Asian art while living in Bangkok in the early ‘90s with his wife Barbara (docent class of 2004). An avid skier and excellent cook, Paul recently travelled to India with Barbara to attend a Hindi wedding ceremony between their son and his new wife.
Shelley Sorani graduated from Barnard College and holds an MBA from Kellogg. She has lived in Chicago, Champaign IL, Greenwich CT, Cleveland, Rome Italy (2x), Hong Kong and Santa Monica. She opted out of Marketing and PR to become a docent (class of 2004), chair of Theme Tours, storyteller, and past president of the Volunteer Association. She will co-edit the Society newsletter in the coming year.
Robert Speer holds a B.A. in Zoology and an M.A. in Art History from the University of Kansas. His real estate brokerage has specialized in residential and commercial "architectural and historical significant properties" since 1976. He is a Connoisseur's Council Member and one of the original donors for the New Asian Capital Campaign for the New Asian Project. He continues to serve as chair of the Travel committee.
Carolyn Young is a graduate of Vassar College and has been a docent at the Huntington Library in San Marino and the Asia Society as well as a backstage guide at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She is a member of the docent class of 1997, former member of Docent Council and co-chair of the Arts of Asia lecture series. This term she served on both the Literature and Culture and the Study Group committees.
Richard Heggie
PAST PRESIDENT INTERVIEW
from Coral Reiff
“I have very fond memories of my involvement with the Society for Asian Art. They include good people and fun times.” Richard Heggie
When Coral met with the former SAA President Richard Heggie at Café Asia for an interview, they discovered a mutual connection as U.C. Berkeley graduates. Over tea, Richard and Bea, his wife of 62 years, graciously shared their reminiscences in tandem to Coral’s inquiries.
Richard received his A.B. in 1944. Immediately after graduation, he joined the U.S Navy, serving as a communications officer aboard the Destroyer escort, U.S.S. Wileman in the Pacific. While on duty, “only one torpedo run was required” before the war ended in 1945. After returning to California, he completed his M.A. in International Affairs at U.C. Berkeley in 1948-- his thesis topic entitled “the Development of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia”. Also, in that eventful year, he and Bea were married. Fast forward 37 years, Mr. Heggie became Mayor Heggie in 1985--the very first mayor of Orinda after it was incorporated. While Mayor, he was instrumental in making medieval city of the Czech Republic –Tabor - Orinda’s Sister City.
In 1948, Mr. Heggie was elected a Vice President of the National Student Association and later served as Assistant Director of the World Affairs Council of Northern California. Although he had no previous experience in Asia, he was sent to Japan as a “student specialist” by the Committee for Free Asia, which became the Asia Foundation. He later worked for the Asia Foundation in Pakistan for two and a half years, Sri Lanka for three years, and India for two. He left the Foundation in 1971 and became Executive Director of the World Affairs Council until 1983 when he retired.
Among his volunteer activities, Richard was President of the California Alumni Association and a Regent of the University of California. He has been President of the Japan Society and the recipient of a lifetime Achievement Award from the Japan Society. He has also served as President of the International Visitors Center, and the East Bay Division of the League of California Cities; as Vice President of the Chinese Culture Foundation and the Oakland Museum Association; and as Chair of the San Francisco Committee on Foreign Relations. He has also served on the California Shakespeare Festival Society Board.
Frequent travelers abroad, Richard and Bea’s have collected South Asian and Japanese art. One special memory was their unique experience to sail on the original Queen Mary.
Speaking about his tenure as President of the Society for Asian Art (1973-1975 Mr. Heggie spoke fondly of the first Society fundraising event after the Society succeeded in bringing the Brundage collection to San Francisco. This was a dinner chaired by Frank Stout at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. The event raised almost $11,000 for the AAM Library and established a fine precedent. Several years later during of Alice Lowe’s tenure as Society President, quite a memorable event occurred. At a fundraising dinner in a downtown hotel, supported by the Haas family as well as Marjorie Bissinger and other Society luminaries, a live elephant was a part of the festivities. (See Alice’s memories of the event below.)
Among Richard’s special memories of his tenure as Society President is working closely with members of our Advisory Council including legendary Dr. Katherine Field Caldwell, History Professor of Asian Art at Mills College. Mr. Heggie’s term also featured preparations for the Exhibition of Archeological Finds of the People’s Republic of China, the first major exhibition to travel outside of China since WWII. During the event he worked closely with George Fitch to place the hordes of visitors patiently waiting to enter the exhibit into seats generously provided by Cyril Magnin.
The Heggie’s have lived in the same house in Orinda for 50 years! They have 3 daughters and 2 grandchildren.
*****
Here’s what Alice remembered-- The Hyatt Regency was holding an Asian Circus event. The elephant trainer had assured the SAA folks that the animal was well-trained and would be fed early to avoid any accidents. At first, the elephant paraded majestically and slowly, but then did its’ business right in the middle of the dance floor! Most folks thought it was hysterically funny. Only one or two couples were so outraged that they left. The janitorial staff was unhappy and moaned that this was “not in their regular line of duty.” Alice said she gave them each a $25 tip for additional duties. She had it charged off against “unexpected expenses”. Obviously, this was an event unique in the history of the Society.
