The Faculty Gallery at Porter College, UC Santa Cruz, is exhibiting for the first time a stunning display of ten prints by ten renowned contemporary women artists. Entitled 10x10 : Ten Women Ten Prints, this is a rare opportunity to view this collection which was originally published in 1995 by the Berkeley Art Center and printed by Alliance Graphics.
The project was in honor of International Women's Day as well as the 75th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women's suffrage. The majority of the artists are women of color.
The stunning portfolio includes one print each from the artists, many internationally celebrated: Juana Alicia, Kim Anno, Claudia Bernardi, Mildred Howard, Hung Liu, Yolanda M. Lopez, Ruth Morgan, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Faith Ringgold, and Carrie Mae Weems. Hung Liu and Yolanda Lopez recently passed away 2021.
“I came across the 10x10 portfolio in the Sesnon's permanent collection last summer and was awed by the artists included,” said Louise Leong, museum manager and preparator, Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery. “I did not know we had these works by world-class artists and wanted them to be seen. The prints by Hung Liu and Yolanda Lopez had been framed and were included in an exhibition Spoken/Unspoken: Forms of Resistance at the Sesnon in 2018 which predated my start date, so I asked [former Sesnon director] Shelby Graham about the full portfolio and she told me that it predated her starting as director. She suspected it was a gift.”
Leong then contacted former Sesnon Gallery Director Andrea Hesse (1993-1995) to gain more information about the history of the pieces. Hesse shared that Bridget Barnes, who was the Sesnon Gallery director in 1996, ventured over to the Berkeley Art Center with Joyce Brodsky, who was then chair of the UCSC art department and had oversight of the gallery. “The portfolio was made available for purchase for an extremely modest sum so we purchased it with gallery funds,” said Barnes. “It was never exhibited because it was unframed."
Leong framed the remaining eight prints to match the Hung Liu and Yolanda Lopez framing. The Sesnon's Clare Wedding HAVC intern, Madison Garay, researched the portfolio and wrote the introduction text, resulting in this outstanding exhibition.
“The works of artists Hung Liu and Yolanda Lopez are focused on the lives and work of women of color, and at the same time represent the highest quality of aesthetic practices,” said UCSC Dean of the Arts, Celine Parreñas Shimizu. “Their works simultaneously represents their communities and advances techniques in printmaking knowledge. Both of these pioneering artists recently passed away which makes our access to them in our collection even more significant.”
The 10x10: Ten Women Ten Prints exhibition is at the Faculty Gallery through April 29, 2022. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 5pm. The gallery is located at Porter College, UCSC and is wheelchair accessible. Admission is free. Parking is free on weekends. Group tours are available by appointment (831) 459-3606. For more information, please visit: arts.ucsc.edu.