ASU Art Museum Members-Only Opening Night Reception — “Clayblazers” and “Change Agent”
Museum members, join us at the ASU Art Museum for the joint opening reception of our new exhibitions, "Clayblazers: Women Artists of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s" and “Change Agent: June Wayne and the Tamarind Workshop.” Both of these exhibitions are a celebration of women artists from different media who were educators, mentors and masters of their craft and inspired future generations of artists. The reception will offer special demonstrations and viewings of the ASU Art Museum’s Jules Heller Print Study Room and Conservation Lab. Additional works will be on display from the collection, which ranges from Rembrandt to Warhol. Light refreshments provided.
If you are not currently a member of the museum but would like to become one to enjoy events like these, visit our webpage to become a member today!
With close to 100 artworks, “Clayblazers” celebrates women in the ceramics field during the mid-20th century, including legendary artists like Maija Grotell, Susan Peterson and Marguerite Wildenhain. All of the works in the exhibition are drawn from the ASU Art Museum’s ceramics collection of 3,800 objects, representing the full range of technique, aesthetic approaches and possibilities within the field. The exhibition also includes photographs and materials from the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center’s Susan Harnly Peterson and Studio Potter archives.
“Change Agent” highlights June Wayne’s legacy as an artist, printmaker, educator and activist. Wayne refused to follow a signature style, taking on a variety of themes such as personal history, modern science and social issues. Wayne was a catalyst for the revival of fine art lithography in the United States, a medium which had all but vanished by the 1950s. With a grant from the Ford Foundation, Wayne founded the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles in 1960. Along with prints by Wayne, this exhibition also features lithographs made at Tamarind by internationally known artists such as Ed Ruscha, Matsumi Kanemitsu and Fritz Scholder. All of the works in the exhibition are drawn from the ASU Art Museum’s Jules Heller Print Study Room, which houses a collection of 6,000 prints from throughout history and around the world.
These projects are funded and supported by the Windgate Charitable Foundation as part of the Windgate Contemporary Craft Initiative at the ASU Art Museum and the Evelyn Smith Exhibition Fund.