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Art galleries to feature oral histories of renowned CGU artists  The stories, methodologies, and careers of seven of Southern California’s most influential and extraordinary artists will be explored in an oral history exhibition set to open at Claremont Graduate University (CGU’s) East and Peggy Phelps art galleries on Sept. 4. “In Their Own Words: Oral Histories of CGU Art” has been assembled from more than 30 hours of interviews with Mowry Baden, Karl Benjamin, Michael Brewster, John Frame, Ted Kerzie, Roland Reiss, and Connie Zehr — all of whom were students and/or faculty at CGU. The audio recordings and transcripts of the interviews reflect in-depth conversations with the artists about their lives and work, their time spent as students and teachers at Claremont Graduate University, emergence into the Los Angeles and international art scenes, and contributions to contemporary art. “These are legendary artists and we’re pulling the curtain back to reveal the experiences that shaped their remarkable careers,” said Jill Thayer, the CGU alumna and curatorial archivist who created the exhibition. “They’ve shared fascinating stories of struggle and success, of balancing teaching and a professional career. It’s a treasure of wisdom, especially for today’s emerging artists.” Thayer earned her PhD in cultural studies with emphasis in museum studies from CGU in 2011. After graduating, she launched the oral history project with the support of CGU’s School of Arts and Humanities. Though the post-doctoral project was originally slated to take a few months, Thayer became engrossed with the material, and ended up spending more than a year interviewing the artists, transcribing approximately 900 pages from her digital audio recordings, and curating the exhibition. The exhibition will feature selected audio clips and transcripts of the artist interviews. Multimedia displays about the artists, as well as their biographies, portraits, and samples of their work, will be on display in the galleries. Each of the featured artists has broken ground with their methodologies and in their respective genres. Benjamin as a master of color and shape, Reiss with plastics, and Brewster with spatial effects of sound. Zehr innovated with sand, Kerzie as a pioneer of process, Baden engaged the viewer in perceptual awareness, and Frame with sculpture and animation. The artists are collectively included in at least 56 major museum collections and 43 solo museum exhibitions. They have garnered more than 200 years of teaching experience and received 20 grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Frame’s work is included in the Smithsonian Collection and Kerzie has career documentation in the Smithsonian American Art Museum / National Portrait Gallery Library. Benjamin and Reiss have oral histories in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian. Reiss, Zehr, and Brewster have been included in the Whitney Biennial. The exhibition will include a special tribute to Benjamin, who died this July at the age of 86. Upon completion of the exhibition, the series will be included in Claremont Colleges Digital Library, CGU Oral History Library, and Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibition runs through September 21. The East and Peggy Phelps galleries are at 251 E. 10th Street in Claremont. Admission is free. An opening reception is set from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 4 and is open to the public. Jill is producing an Oral History of Claremont Graduate University art alumni/ae artists and Professors Emeritus Jill is producing an Oral History of Claremont Graduate University art alumni/ae artists and Professors Emeritus for CGU School of Arts and Humanities in a post-doctoral fellowship. The interviews of Karl Benjamin, Roland Reiss, Michael Brewster, John Frame, Connie Zehr, Ted Kerzie, and Mowry Baden will be included in CGU Oral History Library, Claremont Colleges Digital Archives, and Archives of American Art at The Smithsonian Institute. Jill is adjunct faculty at National University School of Business and Management teaching online curriculum in Global Marketing and Services Marketing. She lectures professional design seminars through universities nationally in the Certificate in Visual Communication and Web Design programs. Jill Thayer earns Ph.D. in Cultural Studies with emphasis in Museum Studies  Jill Thayer recently received her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies with emphasis in Museum Studies from Claremont Graduate University, specializing in the areas of Exhibition Theory, Contemporary Art History, Design Theory, and Visual Culture. Concurrently, she studied painting, installation, and digital media methodologies at CGU Art combining theory and practice in her scholarship. The curriculum included a transdisciplinary study at St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, UK in Global Strategy and Trade through the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. On receiving her doctorate, Jill was awarded a summer research project by the School of Arts & Humanities at Claremont Graduate University to collect and produce oral histories of CGS/CGU art alumni/ae for the university archives. The opportunity was informed by her dissertation, “Artist Emergence in Contemporary Culture: A Dialectic in Social and Material Conditions of Southern California Artists,” which explores interdisciplinary fields of discourse and examines how the art market, traditional and new media genres, and personal and professional support structures affect an artist’s path in today’s economic and socio-political environment. Jill continues her work locally in art and design for regional and global clientele, and is adjunct faculty at National University, La Jolla School of Business Management teaching online courses in marketing. She also lectures design seminars through California State Universities in the Certificate in Visual Communication and Web Design programs. Jill received a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies and Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Bakersfield; an Associate of Arts from Bakersfield College; and is a graduate of North High School. She has mentored hundreds of artists and, through her downtown gallery and design firm helped establish the local arts community prior to her doctoral pursuit and continuing professional endeavors. Thayer finishes work at Claremont After commuting from Bakersfield to Claremont for about seven years — plus additional studies at Oxford University in England — former art gallery owner Jill Thayer will be staying home for a while. Thayer received her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Museum Studies from Claremont Graduate University on May 14. Bakersfield will be her home base for the present, though she doesn’t plan to reopen the gallery she operated in the Fox Theater building from 1994 to 2009. “I enjoyed bringing multifaceted artists from around the world to the community for over 15 years,” she said. “I am grateful to the community for their support in my continued art and design work.” During the summer she’ll be working on an oral history project dealing with alumni of Claremont’s School of Arts and Humanities who have made their mark internationally. A graduate of North High School and Bakersfield College, Thayer received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cal State Bakersfield. Jill Thayer Galleries hosting its final exhibit Jill Thayer Galleries, a showcase for both regional and global artists at the Fox Theater since 1994, will close June 1. The gallery's last art opening was Friday and will be on display through May 30. Thayer, who will remain in Bakersfield and continue her graphic design business and artist representation as she pursues her doctorate and a career in teaching, elaborated on her decision and her gallery's legacy in an e-mail to The Californian: I am proud to have contributed to the cultural aesthetic of Bakersfield and privileged to have been a part of the Fox Theater for 15 years. It is with great respect of the Fox Foundation's committed efforts to historic preservation, the community's engagement, and our gifted artists that have made the gallery a significant and viable space. Thank you all for your support of my endeavors over the past decades. I look forward with great optimism and appreciate your ongoing support as I transition to new horizons and continue to be a part of the art community. In light of the country's economic crisis, foreign policy, the environment, and other matters of concern, the arts continue to reflect and elevate our culture to an awareness of who we are as people. There is a shift as well in how artists are emerging through media-based technologies and the influence of mass communication on these trends. I applaud the efforts of all in this emerging discourse. Joe Stevenson, retired business writer for The Californian, who has moved out of state, wrote Thayer when he learned of her plans to close the gallery: "As a former street walker in Bakersfield, I will miss looking in the windows of the gallery and hoping Jill will happen to be there. But I accept that Jill Thayer Artist deserves a broader canvas. The thing that I miss the most is Jill Thayer's friendship. One of the most treasured clips in my 'How's Business?' article was one where I had the honor of introducing her to readers of The Californian." |
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Louvre ©2005 Jill Thayer |
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