COLLECTIONS 2022 ACQUISITIONS

In 2022, the Museum accepted seventy-three artwork donations. The pieces vary in media and theme, and exemplify our commitment to diversifying our collection. Of particular interest is a gift of five abstracted vessels by the late artist Ruenell Foy Temps, presented by her husband, Clifford Temps. The donation increases the number of works by women artists to our growing collection of contemporary ceramics.

Temps was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She entered the University of California at Davis in 1958, using the experience to explore different artistic mediums. After taking time off to work as a full-time artist, she completed her bachelor of fine arts degree at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) in 1970, where she met renowned abstract ceramic artist, Peter Voulkos, the Professor of Ceramics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Upon graduation, Temps was initially accepted into the master of fine arts program at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her admittance, however, was revoked when the school learned she was a woman, as the department felt that an advanced degree would be wasted on a wife and mother. Recognizing her immense talent, Voulkos intervened and helped Temps enter the master of fine arts program at the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her degree with an emphasis in ceramics in 1971.

Temps’s works continued to evolve, with the artist exploring new building methods and surface treatments. She often focused on verticality, creating tall tubular structures. Several of the works donated to the Museum are nearly three feet in height, with one having a base over seventy inches in diameter. Famed California gallery owner, Jeffrey Spahn, stated that Temps’s “running thread was exploration of what the material could do. How far could she push it? How tall could she make it?” This investigation can be seen in the pieces added to our collection.

The Museum’s collection of contemporary photography also grew in 2022, with a second round of donations from The Museum Project. Developed by two California photographers, Robert von Sternberg and Darryl Curran, the organization’s mission is to donate vintage and digital prints by established and collected photographers from around the United States to teaching museums that have historically supported the medium in all forms. We were gifted images by five photographers, Barry Andersen, Darryl Curran, Michael Stone, Robert von Sternberg, and Sheila Pinkel, each representing different styles, subjects, and themes.