New Gallery Space for Kala

by Sylvia Solochek Walters

On August 2, the Kala Art Institute hosted a tribute to legendary East Bay artist and teacher, Karl Kasten, in its new expanded gallery space. The program drew an overflow crowd of Kasten’s friends, fans, ex-students, colleagues and loved ones. It was exactly the kind of public event the Kala Board envisioned when in Spring 2007, (and with great trepidation) we gave the go-ahead to the FEP—the Facility Expansion Project, an expansion of Kala’s original third floor space in Berkeley’s historic Heinz factory building at 1060 Heinz Ave. The new space, which is around the corner on San Pablo Ave. and fronts the street in the same building, opened coincidentally and joyfully on Kala’s 35th anniversary.
Printmakers in the Bay Area and beyond may be familiar with Kala’s history. It was founded in 1974 by Archana Horsting and Yuzo Nakano two years after the two friends met in Stanley William Hayter’s experimental print workshop, Atelier 17 in Paris. Located first in a San Francisco garage, Kala crossed the Bay, settling briefly in a Berkeley storefront before putting down permanent roots in the Heinz street location. Throughout their early migrations, Archana and Nakano maintained their original vision- to help individual artists develop their ideas by offering them unfettered access to the equipment and space they need to produce their work. That concept evolved from an initial 12 artists-in-residence in 1974 to the over one hundred regional, national and international artists now supported annually by the organization. It also currently includes competitive Fellowship awards programs, classes for adults and children and an Artists-in-Schools program. And, it serves as a venue for an ongoing program of Gallery Conversations connected to Kala’s exhibitions and for public events such as the Kasten tribute.

At first, understood as a resource for artists based in printmaking almost exclusively, Kala now also provides support for digital and video artists, photographers, and a variety of other artists such as those who might need space for installations or for special project development. The gallery program, long administered by Kala’s Director of Exhibitions and Public programs, the able Lauren Davis, offers eight exhibits annually with three of them devoted to the work of fellowship and resident artists.

Filed under: East Bay, Gallery, Interview, Berkeley, Gallery, kala, space

June Wayne: An Update

by Roberta Loach

“Zinc Mon Amour”, June Wayne, digital graphic print, scanned by David Coons and printed by Jack Duganne, 12”x12”, 200

Among our national treasures is June Wayne. She is a lady of many accomplishments. She may be best known for her founding of the Tamarind Institute of Printmaking in Los Angeles, Ca. in 1960 which gave the printmaking world all over the U.S. a much needed shot in the arm. In part because of June, California and many other prominent states across the nation have led the way in printmaking throughout the world. June has always been an artist first. Her love affair with lithography is well known especially for her many innovative techniques in the discipline. Her large sensitively done paintings have been exhibited, widely and after the Tamarind years, as she puts it, she ‘broke free’ and went to France to oversee the making of some of her paintings into large and very beautiful tapestries. Her writings on printmaking and many other subjects are well known for their pithy content which usually hits the mark like a bullseye, and I might add often with great humor. In the same spirit she has often been in demand as a lecturer for her ability to provoke people’s complacency and often dispense highly worthwhile knowledge and information. Moving right along nonstop we offer here some of her latest works: June’s adventure into political satire, “Sects In The City”, “Zinc Mon Amour,” a thought piercing digital print, and “Propeller” her newly found adventure with acrylic styrene painting.

Filed under: Interview, Interview, June Wayne, Roberta Loach

Dan Welden In Conversation

An Interview by Roberta Loach

“Soft Reflections”, Dan Welden, solarplate/vitreograph, 22" x 25"

RL: In your book “Printmaking In The Sun”, you mentioned that you developed the solarplate printmaking process in 1972. What brought you to this invention?
DW: Being a serious printmaker, with a specialty in stone lithography, I had to print everything and anything. I would use the skin of a chicken or an old license plate as a point of departure for my images. Stone was my first real love, although I had experience with intaglio for many years before that. I fell in love with the surface of the limestone, and the autographic nature of lithography. In 1970 my mentor in Munich, Kurt Lohwasser, showed me a polymer plate and said ‘try it.’ The first results were a bit boring. Years passed before I finally developed it to a further state.

Filed under: Interview, "Dan Whelden", Interview, Roberta Loach, solarplate