- Item:
“#38”
- Artist/Designer:
Holt E. Murray – 20th Century American Sculptor
An exceptional
sculptor and long-time San Jose/Santa Cruz-area educator, Holt Murray
was instrumental in the creation of a new figure skilled in disciplines
from both the art and industrial/craft worlds during the early 1960s;
the Artist-Foundryman. His first foundry was set up at his residence
in San Jose and became the center for a co-operative group of young
San Jose State graduate students, whose energetic efforts helped
define the Bay Area as the nation’s epicenter for “Creative
Casting” This new process required that the artist himself
become technically proficient enough to design and create a model
in wax, invest the model and attach gates and vents, burn it out,
pour the molten metal into the mold and finally finish the piece.
These artists preferred creative control over the entire process.
During the 1960s, in one decade, Holt Murray set up three foundry-studios
of increasing size and capability, helped establish another and
built the bronze-casting equipment for Cabrillo College. His work
was shown in prestigious exhibitions like California Design 9, California
Design 10 and Creative Casting, at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts
in New York. In retrospect, his achievements seem thoroughly remarkable.
Education: B.A.
San Jose State University, 1959
General Secondary Credential, 1961
M.A. San Jose State University, 1962
Teaching: Instructor, Art Dept. San Jose City College, 1961-1966
Instructor, Art Dept. Gavilan College, Hollister, CA. 1966
Faculty, Art Dept. (part time) San Jose State College, 1960-1962
Adjunct Instructor, Art Dept. Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA. 1966-
1968 (Built bronze casting equipment for Cabrillo College)
Full Time Instructor, Art Dept. Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA. 1968-
1996
Related Professional Experience:
1960-1964, Cooperative Foundry-Studio, 327 Martha St., San Jose,
CA.
(Built the first bronze casting studio in the San Jose area)
1963, early participant in establishing the Siren Works Foundry-
Studio, San Jose, CA.
1964, Workshop on bronze casting, Fresno, CA.
1964-1969, Cooperative Foundry-Studio (Madrone), Morgan Hill, CA.
1968, Aluminum Casting Workshop for American Craftsman’s Council,
Southwest Regional Conference (held at Madrone Studio facilities)
1969 Foundry-Studio, Corralitos, CA.
Selected Exhibitions 1961-1978:
11th Annual Designer-Craftsmen’s Exhibition, Richmond Art
Center, Richmond, CA. 1961.
Painting & Sculpture Exhibition, Richmond Art Center, Richmond,
CA. 1961.
4th Annual Arts Festival, San Jose, CA., 1961
17th National Ceramics and Decorative Arts Exhibition, Wichita,
KS., 1962.
Two Man Show,
Richmond Art Center, 1962.
Fiber, Clay, Metal,
St. Paul, Minnesota, 1962.
12th Annual Designer-Craftsmen’s
Exhibition, Richmond Art Center, 1962.
Jewelry International
’63, Plattsburgh, New York, 1963.
9th Annual Drawing
and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Muncie, IN., 1963.
1st Annual Drawing
and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Bellingham, WA., 1963.
Four Man Show,
San Jose Art Center, 1963.
California Craftsmen’s
2nd Biennial, Oakland Museum, 1963.
6th Annual Arts
Festival, San Jose, 1963.
Creative Casting,
Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, 1963.
Five Man Show,
Horse’s Mouth Gallery, Saratoga, CA., 1963.
10th Annual Drawing
and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Muncie, IN., 1964.
7th Annual Arts
Festival, San Jose, 1964.
Sculpture and
Painting Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA., 1964.
California Design
IX, Pasadena Art Museum, 1965.
8th Annual Arts
Festival, San Jose, 1965.
Four Man Show,
Fresno State College, 1965.
Bay Area South
Invitational, Richmond Art Center, 1968.
California Design
X, Pasadena Art Museum, 1968.
Faculty Show,
Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA., 1970
San Francisco
Art Institute Centennial Exhibition, S.F., CA., 1971.
12 Annual Festival
of Art, Hayward, CA., 1973.
Tapestry in Talent,
Invitational, San Jose, CA., 1978.
Invitational Exhibition,
Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA., 1978.
One Man Show,
’76-’77 Sabbatical Work, Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA.,
1978.
