Gardena High School alumni and the South Bay community can see the exhibition of paintings representing gifts from the GHS classes of 1946 to 1956 from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 on campus at 1301 W. 182nd St., Gardena.
Keynote presenter will be Susan M. Anderson, 20th Century California Art expert, who will introduce the Centennial Project.
Admission is free, but donations are welcomed.
Gardena High School alumni and the South Bay community can see the exhibition of paintings representing gifts from the GHS classes of 1946 to 1956 from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 on campus at 1301 W. 182nd St., Gardena.
Keynote presenter will be Susan M. Anderson, 20th Century California Art expert, who will introduce the Centennial Project.
Admission is free, but donations are welcomed.
In 2019, this remarkable collection, heralded for possessing exceptional examples of California Impressionists, will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
In preparation for The Art Collection’s Centennial Exhibition, Gardena High School Art Collection, Inc. a non-profit organization, is launching a fundraising campaign to support the 100th Anniversary Exhibit.
Funds will go toward a comprehensive publication, Abundant Living—The Gardena High School Art Collection 1919-1956 (working title).
Anderson is researching the publication, which will be a 162-page book showcasing the entire collection of paintings.
The book will explore the extraordinary story about how The Collection was acquired by GHS senior classes, and how it compares with the development of other high school collections across the U.S.
The GHS Collection has been heralded by art experts Jean Stein and Joan Irvine Smith for its “stunning quality and content.” This collection includes works by prominent painters of California Impressionism, including William Wendt, Edgar Payne, Hanson Duvall Puthuff, Jean Mannheim, Franz Bischoff, Maurice Braun, Alson Clark, and Marion Wachtel.
Previous project to protect and document The Collections have included Painted Light: California Impressionist Paintings from the Gardena High School Art Collections, (Jean Stein 1998). This book paired with the conservation and exhibition of 31 paintings, organized in 1999 by California State University, Dominguez Hills, that traveled to the Irvine Museum. The project included an educational outreach component underwritten by a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation.
After those exhibitions, the Autry National Center of the American West took 17 paintings on long-term loan, and has been featuring them intermittently in the museum galleries. The Autry National Center of the American West is currently featuring 10 paintings from the GHS art collection though mid-October 2016.
