Tamarind Institute Exhibition at The Governor’s Gallery

Monday, 04 June 2007 22:04

Santa Fe, NM—The Governor’s Gallery is pleased to be presenting Tamarind Institute: Creation, Education, and Collaboration a small survey exhibition of lithographs published by Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The exhibit will include dozens of prints which illustrate the range of the lithographic process and the broad cross section of artists who have worked with the institute over the past few decades. For this exhibition an emphasis was placed on artwork produced at Tamarind Institute since the move to New Mexico and on artists who have lived or worked in New Mexico. On exhibition June 22 – September 2, 2007.

Included will be historically significant prints by Andrew Dasburg, Clinton Adams, and Garo Antresian as well as recently completed editions by Valerie Arber, Juane Quick to See Smith, and Johnnie Winona Ross. Tamarind Institute was founded in 1960 to preserve and establish fine art lithography in the United States. To accomplish this goal the institute set upon a mission to train master artisan printers, foster collaborative production between artists and printmakers, publish lithographs of outstanding technical and artistic merit, and to broaden the knowledge and prestige of fine art lithography.

Originally based in Los Angeles the institute moved to Albuquerque in 1970 to became a division of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico. Over the ensuing decades Tamarind has established a stalwart reputation for producing exquisite prints while also educating and training students as master collaborative printmakers. While based in New Mexico Tamarind Institute has worked extensively with artists and arts communities around the world to broaden knowledge of their mission and to produce projects with artists.

Background on the Tamarind Institute

Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Inc. (TLW) was founded in Los Angeles in 1960. It was fully funded by the Ford Foundation until it became affiliated with the University of New Mexico in 1970. The goals of Tamarind are to create a pool of master artisan-printers in the United States by training apprentices;

• to develop a group of American artists of diverse styles into masters of this medium;
• to habituate each artist and artisan to intimate collaboration so that each becomes responsive and stimulating to the other in the work situation encouraging both to experiment widely and extend the expressive potential of the medium;
• to stimulate new markets for the lithograph;
• to plan a format to guide the artisan in earning his living outside of subsidy or total dependence on the artist's pocket;
• to restore the prestige of lithography by actually creating a collection of extraordinary prints.

TLW moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where it became Tamarind Institute, a division of the College of Fine Arts of the University of New Mexico. Visit : www.unm.edu/~tamarind/aboutus.html

The Governor's Gallery is an outreach facility of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Department of Cultural Affairs. Clara Apodaca, former First Lady of New Mexico (1975-1978), founded the gallery in 1975. The Governor's Gallery presents an average of six exhibitions per year, including the annual Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. The exhibits are selected by the gallery curator in coordination with the Museum of Fine Arts and the Office of the First Lady. The Governor’s Gallery is located on the 4th floor of the State Capitol at the corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta in Santa Fe, NM. For more information call 505-476-5072 or visit www.mfasantafe.org