Tamarind Lithography Workshop

Tamarind Lithography Workshop
Name	Tamarind Lithography Workshop
Formation	1960
Founder	June Wayne
Location	Los Angeles, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico
Type	Nonprofit, print workshop, training center
Focus	Lithography

Contents

Tamarind Lithography Workshop was founded in 1960 as a center for revival and innovation in fine art lithography, establishing links among artists, printmakers, museums, and galleries that reshaped printmaking practice in the United States and internationally. The Workshop became influential through partnerships with figures and institutions such as June Wayne, Josef Albers, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, and museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Its relocation and reorganization brought it into contact with University of New Mexico, National Endowment for the Arts, Guggenheim Foundation, and major collectors like Peggy Guggenheim and Saul Steinberg. The organization’s activity intersected with major movements and events including Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale.

History

June Wayne established the Workshop in Los Angeles in 1960 with assistance from figures such as Edwin Land, UCLA, National Gallery of Art, and patrons including Dorothy Geffen and members of the Packard family. In the 1960s the Workshop produced editions with David Hockney, Richard Diebenkorn, Lynn Davis, Richard Anuszkiewicz, and collaborations that connected to collectors like Charles and Jayne Wrightsman, Arne Glimcher, and institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. During the 1970s administrative transitions involved grants from the Ford Foundation, stewardship by leaders connected to Smithsonian Institution practices, and exchanges with international ateliers in Paris, Tokyo, and Mexico City. In 1970 the Workshop moved its primary operations to Albuquerque, aligning with the University of New Mexico and municipal cultural initiatives supported by the New Mexico Arts Division. Later decades saw partnerships and conservation projects with the Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and repositories including the National Gallery of Art and the Library of Congress.

The Workshop’s mission centered on training master printers and fostering artist-printer collaboration, engaging with artists such as Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler, Claes Oldenburg, Marisol Escobar, and institutions like the National Endowment for the Arts to sustain lithographic practice. Programs included residency fellowships sponsored by entities such as the Rockefeller Foundation, print edition projects commissioned by galleries like Pace Gallery, and technical seminars modeled on conservation practices at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its grant-supported initiatives connected to national arts policy debates involving the National Council on the Arts and advocacy networks including the College Art Association. The Workshop also administered certificate programs and advanced workshops that echoed pedagogies of Black Mountain College and studio cultures found at Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou.

Facilities combined traditional lithographic presses, chemical studios, and archival storage comparable to conservation labs at the Getty Conservation Institute and printing rooms at the Museum of Modern Art. Technical processes practiced included stone lithography, transfer lithography, and photographic plate techniques developed alongside practitioners from Kodak, Eastman Chemical Company, and university chemistry departments such as Caltech and Harvard University. The Workshop maintained specialized equipment like hand-operated lithography presses and electrochemical devices similar to labs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology while adhering to archival standards used by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Archives and Records Administration.

Educational work included apprenticeships, public programs, and collaborations with universities and museums such as University of New Mexico, UCLA, California Institute of the Arts, ArtCenter College of Design, Smithsonian Institution, Getty Research Institute, and the Museum of Modern Art. Outreach efforts extended to regional arts councils including the New Mexico Arts Division and national initiatives funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford Foundation, bringing workshops into partnerships with community organizations like Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and university galleries such as the University Art Museum (Albany).

The Workshop's legacy is evident in the revival of lithography as a fine art medium, the professionalization of print studios across the United States, and the training of master printers who went on to lead workshops at institutions such as Tate and university printshops at Yale School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design. Its model influenced commercial and artist-run studios worldwide, including ateliers in Paris, Tokyo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo, and it shaped curatorial practices at museums like the Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern. The organization's archival holdings and technical records inform conservation research undertaken by the Getty Conservation Institute and scholarly work across programs at Harvard University, Columbia University, and New York University.

Category:Printmaking studios