Mitzi Humphrey '61

b. 1936
Active in Guild 1961-63
now residing in Richmond, Va.

Websites:
Selected Works From 1955-1999 | Artspace

EDUCATION:

• B.S. in Art Education and Fine Arts from the University of Tennessee

• M.A. in British and American Literature from Auburn University

• B.F.A. and M.F.A in Painting and Printmaking, with a minor in Art History, from Virginia Commonwealth University.

ART RELATED :

• (1961-1962) Humphrey became the first director of the Art Gallery at Wofford College [more]

• participated in a guild exhibition for the opening of the Greenville Spartanburg Airport

• (1988) is a founding member and former president of Artspace Gallery in Richmond, Virginia

• (1990) she received a VCA grant to attend the First National Conference on Book Art in New York, representing the Richmond Women’s Caucus for Art

• (1994) she curated and produced "Art ex Libris," the international book art show at Artspace

• (1995) received a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts to produce a video documenting the "Art ex Libris" exhibition.

• (1996) she was selected "Virginia Artist of the Year" by the RWCA.

• (2004) involved in starting a new non-profit gallery (art6 Gallery in Richmond) and curating its first show

• A frequent instructor of workshops for the Hand Workshop and The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Prints and books by Mitzi Humphrey are in many collections such venues as:

• Franklin Furnace

• Andrews Gallery at William and Mary

• Marsh Art Gallery at the University of Richmond

• Anderson Gallery at Virginia Commonwealth University

• Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano in Lima, Peru

• Pratt Institute

• Bedford Gallery at Longwood College

• J. B. Speed Museum in Louisville, Kentucky

• Audigier Gallery at the University of Tennesse

• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Biennials

• Virginia Beach Arts Center

• Peninsula Fine Arts Center

• Pyramid Arts Center in Rochester, NY

• Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY.

ORIGIN:

• born in Johnson City, Tennessee

PERSONAL:

• Husband is economist Thomas M. Humphrey, whose first college teaching job was at Wofford.

• Daughter Sheryl Humphrey, who attended play school in Spartanburg, is now an artist (painter) living in NYC

ARTIST STATEMENT :

Printmaker Mitzi Humphrey believes that art is more than just a bridge to (or a reflection of) the natural world; it is a natural force in itself. The artist is a strong advocate of "artist’s prints," prints which are conceived and printed by the artist herself.

She believes that there is a natural sequence of actions and thoughts which cannot be approximated by the substitution of artist-and-printer collaboration unless the artist is truly involved in every step of the decision-making and mark-making processes.

She says, "I strive to create unique prints which cannot reasonably be duplicated in other media by other people—or even at another time by me. I try to give meaning and definition to inchoate perceptions using art as visual metaphor."

Excepts from an e-mail
from Humphrey to Scott Cunningham 2/21/04

"The Wofford Gallery was started about 1961-1962 during the time of Sam Moyer (a music professor) and Dean Covington. Anita Milliken, my husband Tom, and I worked with them, and with my former professor Kermit Ewing, then Chair of the Fine Arts Department at The University of Tennessee, in designing and creating the small gallery space, which was located in the basement of one of the existing buildings at Wofford.

I can't remember the name of the building, but, as I recall, it was centrally located on the campus. Professor Moyer died not very long after the gallery began, and my husband and I left in 1963 for New Orleans and his PhD work in Economics at Tulane."

"Professor Ewing helped me to design the little Wofford gallery with track lights and a "healable" wall covering which concealed nail holes. Workers in the gallery were student volunteers.

One of the first shows--perhaps the first--was on loan from Knoedler Gallery in NYC, a loan which was arranged by Anita Milliken, and had works by such famous artists as Renoir and Modigliani.

Another Spartanburg Artists' Guild show I recall was one for which I designed a large folding display space for the opening of the Spartanburg/Greenville Airport." [ c.1962 ]