Art Department

Campus Center Gallery, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Hilo, Hawaiʻi, October 15, 2008-April 21, 2009

Contents

  • About the Exhibition
  • Juror's Statement
  • Juror's Awards
  • Purchase Awards
  • Works
  • Exhibition Location
  • Acknowledgement

About the Exhibition

The series of Pacific States National Print Exhibitions were initiated in 1982 as a regional juried exhibition featuring Hawaiʻi, Washington, Oregon, and California; becoming a national exhibition in 1985. The exhibitions are a cultural resource that provide a perspective from the national mainstream and are an important visual library for the instructional program of the Art Department. Since its inception, the jurors for the exhibition have been working artists and have included Lee Chesney, Bob Blackburn, Zarina Hashmi, Ken Kerslake, Hugh Merrill, Eileen Foti, Krishna Reddy, John Scott, and others.

The 2008 Pacific States Biennial National Exhibition was juried by Tomie Arai, a public artist who lives and works in New York City. Ms. Arai has painted murals with community groups on the Lower East Side and has designed permanent public works of art for the United States General Services Administration Art in Architecture Program, the Manhattan Transit Association, the New York City Board of Education, and others. Arai’s works are in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Avon Corporate Collection, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Japanese American National Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She has been a recipient of fellowships and grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, The Joan Mitchell Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.

Arai selected forty-five prints by thirty-seven artists from twenty-three states, including Hawaiʻi for the 2008 exhibition. She selected five artists for juror’s recognition awards; Andrew Blanchard, Spartanburg, South Carolina; Nichole Maury, Kalamazoo, Michigan; Chunwoo Nam, Indianapolis, Indiana; Thom O’Connor, Voorheesville, New York; and Marilee Salvador, Boomsbury, Pennsylvania.

Artists selected for Purchase Awards from the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts were Andrew Blanchard, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 2 awards; Nick Conbere, Minneapolis, Minnesota; William Hosterman, Coopersville, Michigan; Kristan Martincic, Bowling Green, Ohio; Julie Niskanen, Vermillion, South Dakota; Michelle Rozic, Nacogdoches, Texas; and Caroline Thorington, Bethesda, Maryland

Rosalyn Richards, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, received the Graphic Chemical and Ink Company of Villa Park, Illinois Purchase Award and Zach Stensen, Iowa City, Iowa received a Purchase Award from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Purchase awards will become part of the permanent collections of the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the Graphic Chemical and Ink Company, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, respectively

The Pacific States Biennial National Print Exhibition is made possible in part through funding and support from the Student Activities Council and the Campus Center, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.

Juror's Statement

I’d like to thank the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo for inviting me to serve as a juror for the 2008 Print Biennial. Now in its 24th year, the Biennial is a venue for printmakers from across the country. It was an honor to work with the Art Department on this year’s exhibition.

Since it’s inception in 1982, the Biennial has succeeded in striking a balance between work that is rooted in tradition and contemporary work that embraces innovation. Over the years, the practice of inviting outside jurors to curate the show has infused the process with diverse perspectives. Despite the obvious challenges, the issue of local-versus-mainstream has had little bearing on these juror’s choices. The process is blind and the final selection is based solely on the submitted image. It wasn’t until after the selection was made that I learned that work had been submitted from more than 23 states. When the prints were finally assembled, I was pleased to discover that while a wide array of artists and divergent styles were represented, the collective impact of the exhibition was undeniable.

As a printmaker, I have placed less of an emphasis on the formal aspects of printmaking than on its application and function. Unlike many younger artists who developed their love of printmaking as students in university printmaking departments, I learned how to etch and silkscreen from working alongside other artists in printshops like the Women’s Studio Workshop, The Printmaking Workshop, the Brandywine Workshop and the Lower East Side Printshop—all unconventional workspaces and printmaking centers for artists experimenting with the printed image. Because of my history in these shops, I’ve always made a strong connection between my art practice and a community of printmakers shaped by these not-for-profit workspaces.

The Print Biennial is more than a survey. It’s significance lies in its 26 year commitment to printmakers and its celebration of prints produced across two decades of American Art. At a time when printmaking as a genre, is threatened to be displaced by digital technology, a show if this caliber is more important than ever. The Biennial does more than connect printmakers across oceans and continents however; it keeps us informed and inspired. It was a privilege to see the work of so many fine artists and to become aware, in some cases for the very first time, of so many shops and studios that are actively producing quality work. I am grateful to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo for keeping printmaking alive; and for continuing to give printmakers one of the finest opportunities to share their work and talent.

—Tomie Arai, New York City

Juror's Awards

  • Andrew Blanchard, Fair-weather Family I
  • Nichole Maury, Untitled
  • Chunwoo Nam, Individual Space IV
  • Thom O'Connor, Through the Blinds
  • Marilee Salvator, Composition #14

Purchase Awards

Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Purchase Award

  • Andrew Blanchard, Fair-weather Family I and Fair-weather Family II
  • Nick Conbere, Footbridge
  • William Hosterman, Exchange
  • Kristan Martincic, From the Waist Down
  • Julie Niskanen, Rejuvenating Journey
  • Michelle Rozic, Germination 2
  • Caroline Thorington, Summer Celebration #5

**Graphic Chemical and Ink Company, Villa Park, Illinois Purchase Award

  • Rosalyn Richards, Time Shadow Graph

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Purchase

  • Zach Stensen, Coincidence or Coexistence

Works

Loading works from the exhibition…

Exhibition Location

The Campus Center Gallery is located on the third floor of the Campus Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. The Art Department Gallery is in Building 395, Manono Campus. An exhibition program will be available at the Campus Center information desk or through the Art Department. For more information regarding the exhibition, please contact the Art Department.

The exhibition opened October 15, 2008 and will be on display until April 21, 2009. For additional information, please contact Professor Michael Marshall, Gallery Committee Chair.

Acknowledgement

  • Wayne Miyamoto, Professor of Art, Department Chair, Project Director, Catalogue Editor
  • Michael Marshall, Professor of Art, Gallery Chair, Exhibition Preparation and Installation
  • Andrew Grabar, Associate Professor of Art, Website Coordinator and Digital Reproduction
  • Darin Igawa, Designer, Media Services, Catalogue Design

Gallery Committee, Student Volunteers:

  • Kyle Caliboso
  • Anne Catlin
  • Sung-Bum Kang
  • Gwendolyn Mathers
  • Mia Munekata
  • Kassy Patrick
  • Sebastian Ramirez
  • Eva Schmidtke
  • Noel Snodgrass-Neal
  • Kara Spaulding
  • Wen Tseng
  • Karrieanne Turvey
  • Joel M. Viernes
  • Patrick Warre

The exhibition would not be possible without the support of the art faculty, the Humanities Division Office, the Campus Center staff, and the Student Activities Council.