Event box

Gillett G. Griffin Memorial Lecture: Raina Lampkins-Fielder, Souls Grown Deep Foundation

Please join us for the fourth Gillett G. Griffin Memorial lecture with guest Raina Lampkins-Fielder, curator of The Souls Grown Deep Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of communities that gave rise to the art made by African American artists of the South, including such artists as the Gee's Bend quiltmakers.

Collaborating with master printers, several of the quilting artists, supported by the foundation, have made etchings with Paulson Press in Berkeley, California. Using innovative techniques to transfer the quilt design to an etching plate, a printable image now allows more people to own and enjoy the work of these artists.

In 2017, three spectacular new etchings of Gee's Bend quilts were acquired for Firestone Library’s African American Studies Room (B floor) thanks to a joint initiative between the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton University Library, and the Department of African American Studies. The prints include the quilt art of Mary Lee Bendolph and Loretta Pettway.

Register by clicking the black "Begin Registration" box below.

Date:
Friday, March 5, 2021
Time:
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Audience:
  Friends of Princeton University Library     Member of the Public     Princeton Faculty/Researcher     Princeton Staff     Princeton Student     Student Friends of Princeton University Library  
Categories:
  Events  
Registration has closed.

 

The Gillett G. Griffin Memorial Lecture Series was being established in honor of our former colleague Gillett Good Griffin (1942-2016), who served as graphic arts curator within Special Collections from 1952 to 1966. Although officially the collection’s second curator, he was the first to establish a place for the graphic arts collection inside Firestone Library, along with galleries and study rooms where students were regularly and warmly welcomed.

Gillett’s passion for collecting began almost 70 years ago while he was a student at Yale University School of Art. His personal collection of Japanese prints, for instance, was begun as an undergraduate and later, when Gillett generously donated them to Princeton University Library, formed the basis for the department’s collection.

When we received the sad news of Gillett’s passing in June 2016, we wanted to find a way to not only commemorate the man but also his passion for bringing objects in the collection directly to the public and the public to the collection. To that end, we decided to select one of the great treasures acquired by Gillett for an in-depth investigation presented in a public memorial lecture.

To request disability-related accommodations for this event, please contact pulcomm@princeton.edu at least 3 working days in advance.