Sylvia Lark (1947–1990) was a Native American/

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

artist, curator, and educator. She best known as an

Abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of th ...

painter and printmaker. Lark lived in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

for many years.

Early life and education

Lark was born in 1947 in Buffalo,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She went to high school at Nardin Academy in Buffalo. Lark attended school at the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 1240 ...

;

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1 ...

(formally State University of New York, Buffalo) where she received her B.A. degree in 1969;

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was r ...

; and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

where she received her M.A. degree in 1970 and M.F.A. degree in 1972.

Career

Starting in 1972, Lark taught art at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus Californi ...

where she remained until 1976. In 1977, she received a

Fulbright-Hays Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

grant and traveled and study in Korea and Japan. Lark taught at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

from 1977 until 1990. Students of Lark's included

Shirin Neshat Shirin Neshat ( fa, شیرین نشاط; born March 26, 1957 in Qazvin) is an Iranian visual artist who lives in New York City, known primarily for her work in film, video and photography. Her artwork centers on the contrasts between Islam and th ...

. She was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award for teaching studio art by the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understa ...

posthumously in 1991. Her early work used symbols and patterns, and there was a shift in her later career with more abstraction and overlapping colors with delicate textured surfaces. She painted in oils and encaustics and printed monotypes. Her 1983 painting series ''Jokhang'', featured many textures and layers of colors painted over or under black leaves. This series was a response to her visit to

Jokhang Temple The Jokhang (, ), also known as the Qoikang Monastery, Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery and Zuglagkang ( or Tsuklakang), is a Buddhist temple in Barkhor Square in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Tibetans, in ...

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

and her study of Tibetan spirituality. Lark was curator of the exhibition, ''Prints: New Points of View'' (1978) at the Open Ring Galleries in Sacramento. In 1992, she was the second inductee into Nardin Academy's Alumnae Hall of Fame. Lark had served on the National Board of the

Women's Caucus for Art The Women's Caucus for Art (WCA), founded in 1972, is a non-profit organization based in New York City, which supports women artists, art historians, students, educators, and museum professionals. The WCA holds exhibitions and conferences to promo ...

from 1978 to 1984; and was the Regional Coordinator for the Coalition of Women's Art Organization from 1978 to 1990.

Death and legacy

Lark died on cancer at the age of 43 in Berkeley on December 27, 1990. Her works are in the museum collections at the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the F ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...

Sheldon Museum of Art The Sheldon Museum of Art is an art museum in the city of Lincoln, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. Its collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century art. History Sheldon Art Association In 1888, The Sheldon Art Asso ...

Oakland Museum of California The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Ca ...

, and the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contempora ...

Exhibitions

* 1975 – ''Drawings and Prints by Howard Hack, Sylvia Lark, and Leonard Sussman'',

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, San Francisco, California * 1977 – ''Lark–Palmer Prints and Sculptures'', included Sylvia Lark and Jon Palmer, Fisher Gallery,

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

, Los Angeles, California *1977 – ''Look, Touch, Rub, Pull, Smell, and Hear'', included Carlos Villa, Chisato Nishioka Watanabe,

Phil Weidman Phil Weidman (born 1936 in Alturas, California) is an American poet who has written nine books of poetry. His first collection, ''Sixes'', was published in 1968. A graduate of Chico High School, Weidman served a two-year hitch in the U.S. Army bef ...

, , Phil Hitchcock, Jock Reynold, Laureen Landau, Sylvia Lark, William Maxwell, Bruce Guttin, Paul DeMarinis, and Jim Pomeroy, Artspace, Sacramento, California *1980 – ''Contemporary Trends in Presentation Drawings'', curated by Roberta Loach,

Linda Langston Linda Langston is director of strategic relations for the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C., US. Prior to that Langston was a member of the Linn County (Iowa) Board of Supervisors. She also serves as the co-chair of the Resil ...

; including J.J. Aasen,

Walter Askin Walter Miller Askin (1929–2021) was an American artist and educator, best known for his printmaking, who also paints and sculpts. Early life and education Askin was born in Pasadena, California in 1929. His father was a draftsperson who worked ...

, Gary Brown, Eleanor Dickinson, Bob Anderson, Harry Lynn Krizan,

Judith Linhares Judith Linhares (born 1940) is an American painter, known for her vibrant, expressive figurative and narrative paintings.Pagel, David. ''Judith Linhares: Divine Intoxication'', Orange, CA: Chapman University, 2006.Smith, Roberta''The New York Time ...

, Roy DeForest, Robert Freimark, Sylvia Lark, Roberta Loach, Norman Lundin, Shane Weare, Vince Perez,

Mary Snowden Mary Snowden (born 1940) is an American painter and educator. She is known for works that use humor to explore issues of feminist identity and consumerism. Early life and education Snowden was born in 1940 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. She receiv ...

, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, California * 1980 – Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art, Bangkok, Thailand * 1983 – Galerie Akmak, Berlin, Germany * 1984 – (solo exhibition), Jeremy Stone Gallery, San Francisco, California * 1985 – Galerie Hartje, Frankfurt, Germany * 1986 – ''The 54th Hanga Annual, Japan-California Print Exhibition'',

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum The is an art museum in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a prefectural government. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Museums"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 671-673. The current structure, designed by Kunio ...

, Tokyo, Japan. * 1987 – ''The Ethnic Idea'', curated by Andrée Maréchal-Workman, including Lauren Adams,

Robert Colescott Robert H. Colescott (August 26, 1925 – June 4, 2009) was an American painter. He is known for satirical genre and crowd subjects, often conveying his exuberant, comical, or bitter reflections on being African American. He studied with Fernand L ...

, Dewey Crumpler,

Mildred Howard Mildred Howard (born 1945) is an African-American artist known primarily for her sculptural installation and mixed-media assemblages.Baker, Kenneth"Artist Intrigued by Interaction of Materials, Ability to Revise at Will", ''San Francisco Chronic ...

, Oliver Lee Jackson,

Mary Lovelace O'Neal Mary Lovelace O'Neal (born February 10, 1942) is an American artist and arts educator. Her work is focused on abstracted mixed-media (primarily painting and printmaking) and minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an ...

, Joe Sam, Elisabeth Zeilon,

Tom Holland Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, three Saturn Awards, a Guinness World Record and an appearance on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list. Some publications ...

, Celeste Conner, Jean LaMarr, Sylvia Lark, Leta Ramos, Judy Foosaner,

Joseph Goldyne Joseph R. Goldyne (born 1942), is an American artist, curator, and author. He is known for his monotype prints and drawing and he was one of the co-founders of 3EP Ltd. Press. Biography Joseph Goldyne was born on 20 April 1942 in Chicago, Ill ...

, Belinda Chlouber, Carlos Villa, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California * 1991 – North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Fork, North Dakota * 2002 – ''Art/Women/California, Paralells and Intersections: 1950–2000,''

San Jose Museum of Art The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum in downtown San Jose, downtown San Jose, California, United States. Founded in 1969, the museum holds a permanent collection with an emphasis on West Coast of the United Sta ...

, San Jose, California

References

External links

Sylvia Lark papers, 1971- 1999, undated
from the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lark, Sylvia 1947 births 1990 deaths Seneca people Artists from Buffalo, New York University at Buffalo alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni California State University, Sacramento faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty Deaths from cancer in California Artists from Berkeley, California Abstract expressionist artists American women printmakers 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American women artists University of Siena alumni