California Society of Printmakers - Bay Printmakers Society

Bay Printmakers Society

In 1955 two graduate students from Oakland's California College of Arts and Crafts (now the California College of the Arts) were eager for exhibition opportunities. According to Jean Womack, former CSP historian, Mel Strawn (1929–) and Will Petersen (1928–1994) placed an ad in a national art magazine announcing themselves as the Bay Printmakers Society hosting a national exhibition. Work was to be sent to the address cited even though a location for the actual show had not yet been established. As the work poured in, Paul Mills, then director of the Oakland Museum of Art, provided the venue, and remained a strong supporter during the next five national exhibitions. The first exhibition was juried by John Paul Jones, respected printmaker from UCLA. The jurying took place at the home of Eldon Mills, friend of Mel Strawn, and an active supporter of Bay Printmakers; it was monitored/observed by Sabro Hasegawa, a visiting teacher from Japan at CCAC.

Charter members of the Bay Printmakers Society included artists Beth Van Hoesen (1926–2010 ), John Ihle (1925–2002), Karl Kasten (1916–2010 ), and Nathan Oliveira (1928–2010 ), Gordon Cook (1927–1985), Virginia Vandegrift, and art collector Eldon Mills. Their activities were focused exclusively on the national show. Between 1955-1960, Bay Printmakers generally had one person juries for their open national shows. After John Paul Jones, BPS jurors were printmaker Leonard Edmondson (1916–2002); poet Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972); and Director of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Ernst Gunter Troche (1909–1971).

Between 1959 and 1965 CSE created three person jury teams for their national open, juried, print exhibitions. These generally consisted of one artist member, one critic, and one museum curator. In 1959 the jurors were Ernest Freed, John Winkler, John LaPlante. In 1960 the jurors were by Doel Reed, E. Gunter Troche, and Raymond E. Lewis. Other CSE national annual jurors were: 1961 Gordon Cook; 1965 Wayne Thiebaud, Alan Lynch, and Moses Lasky.