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Scripps College has received a $3.5 million commitment from Joan and David Lincoln to enhance and expand the study of the ceramic arts at Scripps College. The Lincolns’ pledge represents one of the largest single gifts to the arts in the College’s 84-year history. As part of the gift, Claremont Graduate University (CGU) will receive an additional $500,000 from the Lincolns to support scholarships for its Master’s of Fine Arts (MFA) program. An accomplished ceramics artist, Joan Lincoln is an alumna of Scripps College.

President Lori Bettison-Varga with donors Joan and David Lincoln.

“This gift provides an opportunity for Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University to recapture their place as pre-eminent educators of ceramic artists,” said Lori Bettison-Varga, president of Scripps College. “For Scripps College, it is particularly meaningful to have this gift come from the Lincolns. Joan Lincoln holds dear her experience as a student at Scripps College and fondly recalls her ceramics education.”

The pledged gift will be used to fund the Joan and David Lincoln Endowment for Ceramic Art, the Joan and David Lincoln Study Center, and to construct the Joan and David Lincoln Ceramic Art Building, to be completed at Scripps College in 2011.

“The ceramic arts have had a long tradition at Scripps College, and this project provides a well-deserved expansion of studies in the fine arts,” said Ken Gonzales-Day, chair of the Scripps College Art Department. “It will closely link liberal arts education and graduate studies to provide countless new opportunities for future generations of undergraduate art students.”

“We are thrilled,” said David Pagel, chair of the CGU Art Department. “This will give our students greater opportunities and will attract a wider range of students in future years. We’re excited about the expanding relationship between CGU and Scripps.”

The Joan and David Lincoln Endowment for Ceramic Art will provide funding for interrelated and complementary components of ceramic art studies at Scripps College and CGU with a focus on education, exhibitions, research, and conservation. Its mission will be to create a deeper appreciation of ceramics as a vital form of art that both interprets and re-imagines the world. The endowment will support a visiting ceramic artist professorship to be shared by the art departments at Scripps College and CGU; create the Lincoln Ceramic Study Center at Scripps College to provide safe storage and conservation of the Scripps College collection and make it more accessible for scholarly research; and fund a portion of the Scripps College Ceramic Annual exhibition, now in its 66th year. It will also provide scholarship support for graduate studies in ceramic art at CGU.

The Lincoln Ceramic Art Building will add much needed space for the growing interest in ceramic and three-dimensional art studies at Scripps College. This building completes the campus master plan for the Art Department at Scripps College as envisioned in 1993. The 3,000 square-foot building, with 18-foot ceilings, will provide flexible and open instructional space for students and faculty.

Ceramics at Scripps College is part of a progressive, contemporary art department with strong ties to other fields of study on campus. It approaches both ceramic history and technology, while operating in the larger context of the contemporary fine art world. With an emphasis on material exploration, experimentation, conceptual development, and craftsmanship, students are encouraged to discover their unique voice and aesthetic.

A noteworthy ceramic artist, Joan Lincoln graduated from Scripps College in 1949. She referred to herself as being a “mudder” while a student because she spent so many hours in the campus ceramics studio. After graduating from Scripps College, Lincoln received her MFA degree in ceramic art from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University, which honored her as a Distinguished Alumna in 2005. An artist, writer, and arts advocate, Lincoln has served as an officer of the National Society of Arts and Letters and has been a member of the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts. She has contributed to Ceramics Monthly and has been a board member of the Heard Museum in Phoenix. She has also served as councilwoman, vice mayor, and mayor of Paradise Valley, Arizona, where she currently lives with her husband David.

The Scripps College Ceramic Annual — the longest-running exhibition of contemporary ceramics in the United States — opened for the 66th year on Saturday, January 23, 2010, and continues through April 4, at Scripps College’s Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery. Titled “Material Matters: Art and Phenomena,” the Ceramic Annual features works from celebrated master ceramists as well as new artists working on the very cusp of the art form. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Claremont Graduate University — Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is one of the top graduate schools in the United States. Its nine academic schools conduct leading-edge research and award masters and doctoral degrees in 22 disciplines. Because the world’s problems are not simple nor easily defined, diverse faculty and students research and study across the traditional discipline boundaries to create new and practical solutions for the major problems plaguing our world. A Southern California based graduate school devoted entirely to graduate research and study, CGU boasts a low student-to-faculty ratio.

Scripps College was founded in 1926 by Ellen Browning Scripps, a pioneering philanthropist and influential figure in the worlds of education, publishing, and women’s rights. Today, Scripps is a nationally top-ranked liberal arts college and women’s college with approximately 950 students, and is a member of The Claremont Colleges in southern California. The mission of Scripps College is to educate women to develop their intellects and talents through active participation in a community of scholars, so that as graduates they may contribute to society through public and private lives of leadership, service, integrity, and creativity.