Collection Guide
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Metz (Kathryn E.) papers
MS.019
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Kathryn E. Metz Papers
Creator:
Metz, Kathryn
source:
Metz, Kathryn
Identifier/Call Number: MS.019
Physical Description:
45.7 Linear Feet
(26 boxes, 3 map-case drawers, and 2 framed items)
Physical Description:
0.88 GB
(16 digital files)
Date (inclusive): 1909-2018
Date (bulk): 1965-2005
Language of Material:
English .
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gifts of Kay Metz; 1996, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014. Gift of Betsy Andersen, 2019.
This collection is arranged in 8 series:
- Series 1: Professional and biographical files
- Series 2: Art
- Series 3: Sketchbooks, travel journals, and notebooks
- Series 4: Correspondence
- Series 5: Gallery and exhibition files
- Series 6: Teaching files
- Series 7: Travel files
- Series 8: Subject files
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.
Metz was born in Dayton, Ohio on September 3, 1932. She received a BFA from Bowling Green
State University, Ohio in 1955 and an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in
1960, where she completed her thesis on abstract expressionism. Between 1966 and 1967, Metz
studied at Atelier 17 in Paris with S.W. Hayter, under the auspices of the College Art Study
Abroad at the American Center for Students and Artists. After returning to New York City in
the late 1960s, Metz studied printmaking independently with Philip Guston and Robert
Blackburn and began exhibiting professionally in the United States. Her work earned her
residence grants at the Huntington Hartford Foundation, Pacific Palisades in 1965 and the
MacDowell Colony residential fellowship from 1966 to 1967.
Metz's teaching experience began at Phoenix College in Arizona in 1964. From 1967 to 1970,
she held positions as a part-time faculty member at the NYU School of Education, College of
St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and University of California Extension in Los
Angeles. Metz was hired in 1971 to establish the printmaking program at the University of
California, Santa Cruz, where she remained a dedicated professor until her retirement in
1992. While teaching at UC Santa Cruz, Metz organized galleries for local and international
artists, including George McNeil, Toni Krajnc, Misch Kohn, and S.W. Hayter, as well as
student art exhibits ranging from CSU Hayward to Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.
Metz was also a champion of women artists. In the mid-1980s, she developed and taught
seminars on women artists, and later published monographs on the 19th-century artists Ellen
and Rolinda Sharples in
Woman's Art Journal (1995) and
Dictionary of
Women Artists
(1997). In 1997, as a result of this legacy, UCSC's literary
magazine
Quarry West invited 12 printmakers (Janice Bridgman, Zarina Hashmi,
Kathryn Metz, Veda Ozelle, Susana Terrell, Maria Alquilar, Julie Connell, Kristin Hayward,
Winifred Heron, Darien Payne, Mary Warshaw, and Elizabeth Williams) to contribute pieces
created in honor of Metz, whose own research, publications, and UCSC seminars benefitted
many of the artists featured.
An engaged member of her community, Metz actively supported the environments she painted.
Her post-retirement works pay particular attention to the Santa Cruz County wetlands, where
she served as a board member of the Watsonville Wetlands Watch from the 1990s to the early
2000s. Metz's plein air paintings reflect her efforts to raise awareness for the beauty and
fragility of local wetlands environments. She was also a member of the Arts Council of Santa
Cruz County and supported youth education in the arts.
Metz passed away on September 27, 2018.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Access to the born digital materials of the Kathryn Metz Papers is available on-site in the
UCSC Special Collections & Archives reading room. The software application QuickView
Plus is recommended for reading and viewing, and is provided for use in the reading room.
Note that some files stored may be inaccessible due to obsolete formats, lack of required
software, or file degradation.
Kathryn E. Metz Papers. MS 19. Special Collections and Archives, University Library,
University of California, Santa Cruz.
Processed by Emily Travis in the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) with
assistance from Alix Norton, 2019. Nearly all titles in this collection were derived from
the original folder titles as received from the donor.
Digital files were transferred from carrier disks and processed by Alix Norton in 2019.
Files were not reformatted, and file names are original to the creator. Original disks were
retained and are included in the collection.
More of Metz's work in Special Collections & Archives can be found by searching "Metz,
Kathryn." in the Author field in UCSC Library Search.
A member of the Board of Directors of the Watsonville Wetlands Watch, Metz was involved in
publishing
Watching the Watsonville Wetlands: An Armchair Guide to the Watsonville
Slough system
(Call number QH105.C2 B87 2000).
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.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Artists -- California -- Santa Cruz
County
Serigraphy -- Specimens
Etchings
Faculty papers
Tempera paintings
Metz, Kathryn