Posted 11 months ago
basdgl
(77 items)
Cecile Nelken McCann (1917-2009) was a pioneering artist and publisher who worked to put West Coast artists in the spotlight. She mastered and won awards for her pottery, sculpting, glassblowing, and jewelry making. She even developed a technique that allowed her to combine metal and ceramics to make sculptural pottery.
In 1968, Ms. McCann founded Artweek, the first West Coast weekly art newspaper. It soon became a national voice for the region's contemporary art community. She served as editor and publisher for 20 years, focusing on recognizing and highlighting West Coast artists.
Ms. McCann was born July 13, 1917, in New Orleans. She attended Vassar College and Tulane University before moving to California in 1960 and finishing her bachelor's in fine art from San Jose State University in 1963. She received her masters in fine art a year later from San Jose State.
She taught at a number of educational institutions between 1968 and 1981, including the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University and San Jose State.
Ms. McCann received several honors during her lifetime including an ArtTable award from Gov. Pete Wilson in 1992, and an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1989.
She was a founding member of the Northern California chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art and a member of International Association of Art Critics (USA). She also sat on the board of the Di Rosa Foundation and the Oakland Public Art Advisory Committee
( — Artforum Magazine)
Material: Stoneware
Method: Hand built, altered, incised
7.25” x 4.25” x 3.25”, c. 1960-70
Derek Lincoln Collection
