Viewing page 59 of 95
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
[[image - drawing]] Philip Pearlstein, Untitled, lithograph, 22" X 29", 1969 value of such a program. These few people supported the studio through gifts and subscriptions at a point well prior to the selection of its first artists. In its earlier stages, the department of visual arts aided Graphicstudio by providing space, positions, and minimal funds for supplies and equipment. As Graphicstudio grew, it conversely was able to aid the department in various ways, some of which included purchasing equipment, donating pieces of equipment which were by-proucts of its various projects, and occasionally renting studios for graduate students use. Similarly, funds were allocated to the Florida Center for the Arts for concerts and a number of other activities. Through the special generosity of a large gift by Mr. Gordon Gund, Graphicstudio's financial status was enhanced to a point where the daily of monthly fiscal crises were no longer present. Mr. Gund is an art collector who, up until that time, was primarily involved with early American works but who also had a particular interest in seeing the Tampa Bay community benefit form an influx of artists and art. In addition to the previously mentioned small gift from the National Endowment for the Arts, larger sums from the Endowment's Workshop Grant Program have provided sufficient funds so that Graphicstudio could be run year round without utilizing precious state summer positions for its staff. This also facilitated uninterrupted collaboration and glow of work. The combination of grants and gifts and the annual sale of subscriptions has built a sound financial base for the program. The program obviously requires extraordinary resources if production and experimentation are to continue unencumbered and unrestrained. For a while the dearth of litho stones and other critical equipment presented a sizable problem. Items such as litho stones are difficult to locate regardless of available financial resources. Fortuitously, Syracuse China COrporation in Syracuse, New York was changing from lithography to silkscreening as a way of producing oxide decals for design on their china. In 1968 Mr. Richard Besse, a vice president of Syracuse China, lent the studio two extraordinarily fine stones. In 1970 Syracuse China put up for sale an extensive number of equally fine large lithography stones, racks, automatic flatbed presses, and a host of other support material. Armed with prints from out first project by Philip Pearlstein, James Camp and I went to see Mr. Besse who, coincidentally, was on the board of the Everson Museum. Though his initial reaction was that Syracuse China should be paid for this equipment, further reflection and review of our program convinced him of the appropriateness of the corporation donating the equipment. Through his efforts the gift was made and this wealth of material helped Graphicstudio continue i its prescribed direction at a very critical stage of its development. In addition to myself as a director, the shop currently consists of a studio manager, Charles Ringness; two master printers, Paul Clinton and Julio Juristo; a curator, Michelle Juristo; one full-time assistant and one part-time assistant. Projects in the studio are organized by the director who negotiates and 12 ART JOURNAL, XXXIV/1
