June Wayne
Encyclopedia
June Claire Wayne was an American printmaker, designer, and educator. She founded the Tamarind Lithography Workshop
.
and raised by her mother, Dorothy Alice Kline, a single parent working as a traveling corset saleswoman. Wayne had aspirations to be an artist and dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen to pursue this goal. Although she did not have formal artistic training, she began painting and had her first exhibition in a Chicago-area gallery in 1935. Only seventeen at the time, Wayne exhibited her watercolors under the name June Claire. She exhibited work again the following year at the Palacio de Bellas Artes
in Mexico City
. By 1938, she was employed as an artist for the WPA
Easel Project in Chicago.
In 1939, Wayne moved to New York
, working as a designer of costume jewelry in the garment industry while continuing to paint at night and on weekends. In mid-1941, she married an Air Force flight surgeon and substituted his last name, Wayne, for Claire. Although the couple eventually divorced, "June Wayne" remained her professional identity. When Pearl Harbor
was attacked, she left New York for Los Angeles
and became certified in Production Illustration at Caltech, intending to work in the aircraft industry
. The technical instruction absorbed in her studies infiltrated her personal aesthetic, resulting in signature works of optical art, including "The Tunnel" and the Kafka series, starting in the mid 1940s. Instead of becoming an illustrator, however, she went back to Chicago to write for War Bond
shows at radio station WGN
, scripting several programs a day of music continuity and interviews with war heroes and movie stars. This experience helped develop her capabilities as a writer, which would later flower with influential essays on artist’s rights, art criticism, and feminism.
When World War II
ended, Wayne returned to Los Angeles and became an integral part of the California
art scene. Along with painting prolifically and exhibiting extensively, she took up lithography
at Lynton Kistler’s facility. By the mid-50s, she had become a familiar presence in Paris
, as well, collaborating with French master printer Marcel Durassier to produce, in 1958, a livre d’artiste on the love sonnets of John Donne
.
In 1959, W. MacNeil Lowry of the Ford Foundation
suggested to Wayne that she write a plan to revitalize the moribund art of lithography in the U.S. The result was the Tamarind Lithography Workshop (named for its street in Hollywood), which opened in 1960 with Wayne as its director and the Ford Foundation as its funder. She worked with artists such as Richard Diebenkorn
, Sam Francis
, Rufino Tamayo
, and Louise Nevelson.
By the end of the decade, Tamarind had become an international force in the printmaking arts. Feeling that she had fulfilled her mission, Wayne transferred directorship of the workshop to the University of New Mexico
where, as the Tamarind Institute, it continues today. Her own lithographs are widely recognized as masterpieces of the medium.
In 1970, Wayne turned to designing tapestries in France
. In them, as in the rest of her art, she expressed her fascination with the connections between art, science, and politics. Optics, the genetic code, stellar winds, magnetic fields, tsunamis, and temblors appeared in her work across assorted media, and were often expressed as metaphors for the human condition in series with such titles as Lemmings, Fables, Justice, and Love. On a more feminist (and personal) level, “The Dorothy Series” (twenty lithographs subtitled “A Documentary Film in Twenty Freeze Frames”) is a tribute to her mother, which includes a much-praised video narrated by Wayne herself.
Wayne was also involved in the Feminist Art Movement
in California in the 1970s. Perhaps her biggest contribution to the movement was in education, as Wayne taught a series of professionalization seminars entitled "Joan of Art" to young women artists beginning around 1971. Wayne's seminars covered various topics related to being a professional artist, such as pricing work and approaching galleries, and involved role-playing and discussion sessions. They also encouraged giving back to the feminist community since graduates of Wayne's seminars were required to then teach the seminars to other women. Artist Faith Wilding
wrote in 1977 that upon interviewing many of Wayne's former students, "all agreed that it had made a tremendous difference in their professional lives and careers, that in fact, it had been the turning point for some of them in making the step from amateur to professional."
June Wayne’s art is represented in many museum collections in the U.S. and abroad. She has received dozens of awards and several honorary doctorates. For several years she was a Visiting Professor of Research at the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper
. She died at her Tamarind Avenue studio in Hollywood on August 23, 2011 with her daughter Robin Claire Park and granddaughter Ariane Junah Claire by her side.
Tamarind Institute
Tamarind Institute is a lithography workshop created in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne on Tamarind Avenue in Los Angeles in 1960...
.
Life
Wayne was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and raised by her mother, Dorothy Alice Kline, a single parent working as a traveling corset saleswoman. Wayne had aspirations to be an artist and dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen to pursue this goal. Although she did not have formal artistic training, she began painting and had her first exhibition in a Chicago-area gallery in 1935. Only seventeen at the time, Wayne exhibited her watercolors under the name June Claire. She exhibited work again the following year at the Palacio de Bellas Artes
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is the most important cultural center in Mexico City as well as the rest of the country of Mexico...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. By 1938, she was employed as an artist for the WPA
WPA
- Agencies and organizations :*World Pool-Billiard Association*World Psychiatric Association- United States :*Washington Project for the Arts*Women's Prison Association...
Easel Project in Chicago.
In 1939, Wayne moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, working as a designer of costume jewelry in the garment industry while continuing to paint at night and on weekends. In mid-1941, she married an Air Force flight surgeon and substituted his last name, Wayne, for Claire. Although the couple eventually divorced, "June Wayne" remained her professional identity. When Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
was attacked, she left New York for Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and became certified in Production Illustration at Caltech, intending to work in the aircraft industry
Aircraft industry
The aircraft industry is the industry supporting aviation by building aircraft and manufacturing aircraft parts for their maintenance. This includes aircraft and parts used for civil aviation and military aviation. Most production is done pursuant to type certificates and Defense Standards issued...
. The technical instruction absorbed in her studies infiltrated her personal aesthetic, resulting in signature works of optical art, including "The Tunnel" and the Kafka series, starting in the mid 1940s. Instead of becoming an illustrator, however, she went back to Chicago to write for War Bond
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
shows at radio station WGN
WGN
WGN may refer to:*World's Greatest Newspaper, former slogan of the Chicago Tribune and the namesake for the WGN broadcasting outlets in Chicago, Illinois.** WGN , a radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States...
, scripting several programs a day of music continuity and interviews with war heroes and movie stars. This experience helped develop her capabilities as a writer, which would later flower with influential essays on artist’s rights, art criticism, and feminism.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ended, Wayne returned to Los Angeles and became an integral part of the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
art scene. Along with painting prolifically and exhibiting extensively, she took up lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
at Lynton Kistler’s facility. By the mid-50s, she had become a familiar presence in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, as well, collaborating with French master printer Marcel Durassier to produce, in 1958, a livre d’artiste on the love sonnets of John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
.
In 1959, W. MacNeil Lowry of the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
suggested to Wayne that she write a plan to revitalize the moribund art of lithography in the U.S. The result was the Tamarind Lithography Workshop (named for its street in Hollywood), which opened in 1960 with Wayne as its director and the Ford Foundation as its funder. She worked with artists such as Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn was a well-known 20th century American painter. His early work is associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim.-Biography:Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr...
, Sam Francis
Sam Francis
Samuel Lewis Francis was an American painter and printmaker.-Early life:...
, Rufino Tamayo
Rufino Tamayo
Rufino Tamayo was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico. Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, painting figurative abstraction with surrealist influences....
, and Louise Nevelson.
By the end of the decade, Tamarind had become an international force in the printmaking arts. Feeling that she had fulfilled her mission, Wayne transferred directorship of the workshop to the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
where, as the Tamarind Institute, it continues today. Her own lithographs are widely recognized as masterpieces of the medium.
In 1970, Wayne turned to designing tapestries in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In them, as in the rest of her art, she expressed her fascination with the connections between art, science, and politics. Optics, the genetic code, stellar winds, magnetic fields, tsunamis, and temblors appeared in her work across assorted media, and were often expressed as metaphors for the human condition in series with such titles as Lemmings, Fables, Justice, and Love. On a more feminist (and personal) level, “The Dorothy Series” (twenty lithographs subtitled “A Documentary Film in Twenty Freeze Frames”) is a tribute to her mother, which includes a much-praised video narrated by Wayne herself.
Wayne was also involved in the Feminist Art Movement
Feminist art movement
The feminist art movement refers to the efforts and accomplishments of feminists internationally to make art that reflects women's lives and experiences, as well as to change the foundation for the production and reception of contemporary art. It also sought to bring more visibility to women within...
in California in the 1970s. Perhaps her biggest contribution to the movement was in education, as Wayne taught a series of professionalization seminars entitled "Joan of Art" to young women artists beginning around 1971. Wayne's seminars covered various topics related to being a professional artist, such as pricing work and approaching galleries, and involved role-playing and discussion sessions. They also encouraged giving back to the feminist community since graduates of Wayne's seminars were required to then teach the seminars to other women. Artist Faith Wilding
Faith Wilding
Faith Wilding is a Paraguayan-American multidisciplinary artist, writer and educator, widely known for her contribution to the progressive development of feminist art.Faith Wilding immigrated to the United States from Paraguay in 1961...
wrote in 1977 that upon interviewing many of Wayne's former students, "all agreed that it had made a tremendous difference in their professional lives and careers, that in fact, it had been the turning point for some of them in making the step from amateur to professional."
June Wayne’s art is represented in many museum collections in the U.S. and abroad. She has received dozens of awards and several honorary doctorates. For several years she was a Visiting Professor of Research at the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
. She died at her Tamarind Avenue studio in Hollywood on August 23, 2011 with her daughter Robin Claire Park and granddaughter Ariane Junah Claire by her side.