PRESSING DESTINY

Pressing Destiny: Washington University Printmakers Move West! is an investigation into the work of several Wash U Printmaking Alumni who followed their own pressing destiny to move west.  This portfolio is a rich sampling of how the westward journey of these artists manifests in the work and how a community that began in St. Louis over several decades, is now thriving up and down the west coast in universities, studios, and community centers.  The artists in this portfolio share a similar history of Washington University and west coast print traditions, yet their work finds an original and contemporary state of balance between the two.  These artists demonstrate a dynamic working balance between these two geographic and cultural forces.

This portfolio has an edition of 15, with a paper size of 22 x 28 inches and was organized by Kelda Martensen and Valerie Wallace.  If you are interested in exhibiting this contemporary print portfolio in your venue, or purchasing the portfolio, please contact Valerie Wallace at vwyellowpress@gmail.com or Kelda Martensen at kelda.martensen@gmail.com

Claire Cowie and Leo Berk

Claire Cowie works, resides and teaches in Seattle. She received a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis in 1997 and an MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle in 1999. She has taught numerous art and design classes at the University of  Washington, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Cornish College of the Arts, and Seattle Central Community College. She is represented by the James Harris Gallery, Seattle and the Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland. Recent awards include a Pollock-Krasner Grant and fellowships from Washington State Arts Commission, Artist Trust and the Behnke Foundation. Collections include Microsoft, Amgen Corporation, 4Culture, Tacoma Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, and Swedish Cancer Institute. Reviews have appeared in Art in America, Artforum, Artweek, and Los Angeles Times. Cowie is collaborating with Leo Berk for this project.

Leo Berk is an artist who works and resides in Seattle.  He is represented by the Lawrimore Project and has been included in solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally. Berk is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the 2010 Arts Innovator Award by Artist Trust. He is in the collections of the City of Seattle and the Tacoma Art Museum.  Berk has received numerous private and public commissions including Seattle Sound Transit, King County, the City of Shoreline, Vulcan Inc. and the University of Washington. Berk is collaborating with Claire Cowie for this project. leosaulberk.com

Kelda Martensen

Kelda Martensen, Curator, works, resides and teaches in the Seattle and greater Puget Sound region. She is currently an adjunct teaching artist at Tacoma School of the Arts and Central Washington University-Piece County; an artist mentor for Arts-Impact, a program that brings professional artists into the public schools; and teaches printmaking and 2-dimensional arts at Pratt Fine Arts, Moshier, and Sev Shoon Art Centers. Recent awards include the Larry Sommers Art Fellowship Merit Award, the Bell Cramer award in Printmaking, and residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts.  She received a BA from Willamette University in 2002 and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis in 2009. keldamartensen.com

Kacie Erin Smith

Kacie Erin Smith works and resides in San Francisco.  Smith teaches an after school program at the San Francisco Waldorf School. She is currently an Artist-In-Residence at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA and is a recent recipient of the Bell Cramer Award in Printmaking. She received a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis. kacieerinsmith.com

Valerie Wallace

Valerie Wallace, Curator,  received her BFA from Washington University in 2000, her MFA from Northern Illinois University in 2004, and taught printmaking at Portland State University for six years.  Wallace has exhibited widely across the United States. Her prints can be seen in several collections and she has organized and/or participated in over fifteen print portfolio exchanges.  She uses a variety of drawing and printmaking techniques to reflect upon American historical and current events in a satirical and thoughtfully critical way.  Each piece depicts an individual symbolically caught in a moment of time.  Wallace lives outside of Portland, Oregon with her husband, new baby girl, and two rescued pitbulls.  Visit her blog for the latest news about her work  http://www.vwyellowpress.com/?page_id=199

Kerri Parker

Kerri Parker works and resides in Los Angeles. Parker received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis. She currently owns her own line of fine jewelry found nation-wide in Bloomingdales and in numerous Los Angeles boutiques. Parker has been featured in the New York Times and numerous fashion magazines including Lucky and InStyle. Her jewelry is worn by celebrities including Drew Barrymore, Beyoncé Knowles, Rosario Dawson and Lucy Liu. kerriparker.com

Cassandra Simon

Cassandra Simon works and resides in Los Angeles.  Simon received a BFA from Cal State University Long Beach and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis.Simon exhibits widely across the nation including the Phil Slein Gallery in St. Louis and DIY gallery in Los Angeles. cassandrasimon.com

Yoshi Kitai

Yoshi Kitai works, resides and teaches in Portland, Oregon. Kitai received his BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2002 and his MFA in Printmaking and Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis in 2004. Kitai currently teaches printmaking for the Pacific Northwest College of Art. His work is in the Oregon Health Sciences University collection and the Vivan and Gordon Gilkey Center at the Portland Art Museum.

Don Olsen

Don Olsen works, resides and teaches in Portland, Oregon. Olsen teaches design at the Art Institute of Portland and is a freelance graphic artist and illustrator whose work in printmaking, illustration and book arts has been exhibited widely in the region.  Olsen received a BA from Willamette University and MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. donolsen.com

Emma Levitt

Emma Levitt works, resides and teaches in Seattle. Levitt is the recipient of the Seattle Print Arts and Pratt Fine Art Center Scholarship and a 4Culture individual artist project grant. Levitt received a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters in Education from the University of Washington.  emmajanelevitt.com

James B. Thompson

James B. Thompson earned his BA from Ripon College in Wisconsin in 1973 and his MFA degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1977.  Though a Professor of Art at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon since 1986, Thompson began his teaching career in 1976 at Washington University in St. Louis and has since served as art faculty at AHA-ILACA in London, England, National University of Ireland in Galway, Ireland, Ripon College, OSU-Cascades, University of Alaska, and Tokyo International University America. Thompson’s work has been featured at numerous international and nationally recognized museums and galleries throughout his career and is included in public and private collections throughout the United States and abroad. Thompson has received numerous awards, honors, fellowships, purchase prizes and grants as an artist and educator.  Thompson’s recent body of work was funded by the NEAAmerican Masterpieces/ WESTAF Visual Arts Exhibition Touring Grant program in support of the solo tour of his mid-career exhibition, James B. Thompson: The Vanishing Landscape to established venues throughout the western states region in 2011.  His current international solo show,James B. Thompson: The Visual Language of Ancient Scotland opened at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Oregon and traveled to The Orkney Museum in Orkney, Scotland UK for exhibition in 2010.www.willamette.edu/~jthompso/