The City of Claremont has a rich history of art surrounding the Claremont Colleges, little of which is actively taught to students. We may pass by their artwork, or buildings named after them, but how often do we acknowledge how these early artists revolutionized art in our community? Our goal in curating this exhibit was to shed light on how the legacy of these legendary artists had a profound impact on the Claremont Colleges, and how Claremont has inspired both them and future artists to produce significant works of art.
Across generations, artists in Claremont have been inspired by the local community, spirituality, and connections to the natural world. We have paired historic artwork from Claremont Heritage's Special Collections and contemporary works by students from the Claremont Colleges to illustrate the shared roots of their practice. The Garner House, a historical site housing Claremont's early history, is the ideal location to demonstrate this interaction.
Our printmaking focus stems from traditions initiated at the Claremont Colleges, when a group of pioneering faculty members founded the Claremont College Press in 1946. Since then, students have engaged in their own innovative pursuits of printmaking, and the Claremont Colleges keep inspiring the local community to flourish.
RePrinting Claremont exhibits multiple forms of printmaking: serigraph, lithograph, etching, collagraph, and monoprint. The variety of these techniques aims to reflect the diversity of our art community. Throughout the show, you can observe the process in its entirety: from first prints to printing materials such as artist tools, print blocks, and the printmaking press. We have chosen to showcase some prints in diptychs to demonstrate how printmaking, as an art form, inhabits a long process of repetition, reiteration, and layering.
This art medium also allows for easier reproduction processes and enables widespread distribution of imagery and information. To further illuminate this
process, we also welcome visitors to view excerpts from former Scripps College Press director Kitty Maryatt's documentary Le Prose.
In curating the show, we sought to build a bridge of dialogue between the Claremont Colleges and our local community. The seating in the space is meant to evoke comfort and promote conversation with one another. We hope RePrinting Claremont sparks new connections and new perspectives of the past.
Our exhibition displays prints by essential members of Claremont's fundamental art community, including Karl Benjamin, Phil Dike, Phil Paradise, Susan Lautmann Hertel, Kitty Maryatt, and Millard Sheets.
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