CENTER FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY ORGANIZES
LAURA VOLKERDING RETROSPECTIVE
The career of photographer Laura Volkerding (1939-1996) is examined in a
retrospective exhibition opening with a reception on Friday, May 29, 1998, 5
pm at the University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography.
Presenting more than one hundred black-and-white photographs, Crafting
Light: The Photography of Laura Volkerding pays homage to Volkerding, who
died over a year ago.
In the late 1970s, Volkerding was one of the photographers participating in
the important project Court House, which photographically documented
historic court house architecture across America. For several years
afterward she made panoramic photographs of the landscape. But upon seeing
a film that documented the casting of Rodin's great bronze work Gates of
Hell, Volkerding found the subject that would occupy her for more than a
decade. She began traveling to Europe to photograph in the Coubertin bronze
foundry and in the metal, wood, and stone workshops of the Compagnons du
Devoir, the craftsmen who devote their lives to repairing and restoring the
monuments and architectural masterpieces of France and Europe.
As Terence Pitts, the Director of the Center for Creative Photography and
curator of this exhibition, notes, The Compagnons have been in existence
since the Middle Ages, passing on their knowledge, skills, and tools to new
generations of artisans through a rigorous apprenticeship program. In the
work of the Compagnons, Laura Volkerding clearly discovered an enterprise
that matched her own passion for beauty, craftsmanship, and light.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Volkerding studied fine arts at the
University of Louisville and the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of
Technology, where she received a Master's degree in graphic design. She
began her artistic career making drawings, weavings, and prints, but
switched to photography in 1972 after a fire in her studio destroyed much of
her early work. From
1970 to 1979, she taught at the University of Chicago. In 1980 she became
senior lecturer in photography at Stanford University, where she taught
until her death.
Volkerding received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation, the Prix de Paris, and the Camargo Foundation in Cassis,
France. In 1996, the Center for Creative Photography published Volkerding's
book Solomon's Temple: The European Building-Crafts Legacy. Shortly before
her death, she donated her archive to the Center.
EVENTS
Opening Reception
Friday, May 29, 5-7 pm
Featuring performances by the Tucson Chapter
of the Gospel Music Workshop of America Choir
Reception compliments of Trader Joe's, Speedway at Wilmot
Gallery Talk
Thursday, June 4, 5:30 pm
Tools, Tradition, and an Artist's Work
Fred Borcherdt
A noted Tucson sculptor, Borcherdt is a graduate of the University of
Arizona and the Art Institute of Chicago and has taught sculpture at both
institutions.
Gallery Talk
Tuesday, June 23, 5:30 pm
The Conservation of the Mission Church at San Xavier del Bac
Leslie Ann Epperson
Producer/Director at KUAT-TV, Epperson will discuss the international and
local conservation effort at the mission church of San Xavier del Bac and
her observations as the producer of a recent documentary on that topic. Her
discussion will include video footage and explore the difference between
conservation and restoration.
Gallery Talk
Tuesday, July 14, 5:30 pm
Laura Volkerding
Terence Pitts
Exhibition Curator and Director, Center for Creative Photography, Pitts will
discuss the artist and her archive.
The exhibition continues through July 26, 1998. The Center is free and open
to the public Monday through Friday, 11 to 5; Sunday, noon to 5; and closed
on Saturday. Public pay parking is available in the Visitors' Section of the
Park Avenue Garage just north of Speedway, with direct pedestrian access via
the Speedway underpass to the Center's front door.
Located on the campus of The University of Arizona in Tucson, the Center for
Creative Photography is a unique research institution and museum housing a
collection of more than 60,000 fine prints, as well as photographers'
archives, galleries, a library, and research facilities. For public
information, call 520-621-7968. To learn more about membership,
exhibitions, and resources at the Center for Creative Photography, visit our
web site: http://www.ccp.arizona.edu/ccp.html