This collection documents the personal and professional activities of Kathryn (Kay) Metz, including her career as an artist and professor/creator of the printmaking program at UC Santa Cruz. The collection includes over 300 pieces of original art by Metz, her colleagues, and UCSC students; personal records such as Metz's academic transcripts, family histories, travel records, and notes; correspondence between Metz and family members, galleries, colleagues, and students; teaching materials such as lecture notes, syllabuses, and course readers; research materials on printmaking techniques and drafts of publications on women artists; and biographical material including résumés and obituaries. The forms of materials in this collection include ink-based prints, graphite sketches, watercolor landscapes, sketchbooks, notebooks, scrapbooks, awards, newspaper clippings, magazine and journal articles, correspondence, photographs, and slides.

Kathryn (Kay) Metz (1932-2018) was a painter and printmaker whose works in abstract expressionism and plein air landscapes span from the early 1960s until her death in 2018. Drawn to motifs of panoramas, horizons, hills, water and sky, Metz's art highlights the movement, light, and color of organic forms using a diverse array of media: intaglio, lithograph, and woodblock printing; acrylic lightboxes; watercolor, egg tempera, and oil painting; pastels, colored pencil, and graphite sketches. Her expertise brought her to the University of California in Santa Cruz in 1971, where she established and taught in the printmaking program until her retirement in 1992. In addition to her work as a dedicated professor, Metz traveled broadly and frequently, taking inspiration from the landscapes of Tuscany, Britain, and California. She was also an active member of the Watsonville Wetlands Watch from the 1990s to early 2000s, and her later plein air landscapes reflect a deep commitment to environmental conservation and community connection. Metz donated her work widely, and her art is held in numerous collections, including the New York Public Library; the Library of Congress; the Fresno Art Museum; Monterey Museum of Art; Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County; Musée d'art Contemporain de Chamalières; Grunwald Graphic Arts Foundation, University of California, Los Angeles; and Special Collections, McHenry Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

45.7 Linear Feet (26 boxes, 3 map-case drawers, and 2 framed items)

Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication.

Collection open for research. Digital files are available in the UCSC Special Collections and Archives reading room. Some audiovisual materials and some digital files may require reformatting before they can be accessed. Technical limitations may hinder the Library's ability to provide access to some digital files. Access to digital files on original carriers is prohibited; users must request to view access copies. Contact Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access to digital and audiovisual files.