Maren Hassinger, '69
American, 1947-
Whole Cloth
photogravure
26 x 35.5
PH.287
Gift of the Artist
Born Maren Louise Jenkins, Hassinger grew up in Los Angeles.
She enrolled at Bennington in 1965, originally intending to study
dance but instead she studied sculpture with Isaac Witkin and
drawing with Pat Adams. She graduated in 1969 with B.A. in
sculpture. Her interest in dance would remain strong and
she often integrates it into her sculptural forms.
After a brief stay in New York, she returned to Los Angeles to
pursue an MFA in fiber from the University of California,
Los Angeles, graduating in 1973. Hassinger's study of fibers
proved beneficial to her work in sculpture, and she learned
techniques that would inform her later work. Since 1997
she has been director of the Rinehart School of Sculpture
at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, bringing her
spirit of experimentation to teaching as well.
Hassinger has work held in the permanent collections of Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, Baltimore, MD; California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; Williams College Art Museum, Williamstown, MA; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA.
In 2009 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art, Maryland Institute College of Art.
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