De Saisset Museum to Display Prints by Joseph Zirker, Native American Contemporary Art by Frank Lapena, and Works by Hisako Hibi.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Santa Clara University's de Saisset Museum will feature the work of Joseph Zirker, Frank LaPena, and will extend the Hisako Hibi exhibition from Jan. 22 to March 11, 2005 during the winter exhibit.

Joseph Zirker is one of the Bay Area's most innovative printmakers. Translucent Transformations will highlight Zirker's cast acrylic monotypes created from his new, patented printmaking process. The cast acrylic monotypes of Translucent Transformations will feature a wide variety of Zirker's stylistic approaches and showcase his career-long interest in abstraction. In conjunction with the exhibit, the de Saisset is hosting an opening reception and artist walkthrough on Jan. 21. The artist walkthrough is scheduled for 6 p.m. followed by a reception from 7-9 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Museum will also feature a sampling of paintings by artist and poet Frank LaPena that showcase the artist's dedication to the revival and preservation of his Native American heritage. This exhibition will include several works inspired by his longstanding devotion to Native American ceremonial dance. LaPena is the author of Dream Songs and Ceremony: Reflections on Traditional California Indian Dance. The de Saisset Museum is also hosting a slide lecture presented by the artist on March 2, at 6 p.m., with a reception and booksigning to follow. This event is free and open to the public.

Finally, the de Saisset Museum extends the exhibition of work by Hisako Hibi (1907-1991), a first-generation Japanese-American artist. Peaceful Painter: Hisako Hibi will include approximately 30 paintings by Hibi. The artist used her painting as a way to document and understand her world and is best known for the paintings she completed at the Japanese-American internment camps at the Tanforan, Calif. relocation center and the Topaz, Utah internment camp. In conjunction with the exhibition, the de Saisset Museum will host three educational programs during the winter quarter. On Tuesday, Feb. 15 the de Saisset Museum will present two programs to commemorate the Day of Remembrance. The first program at noon will feature Santa Clara University students reading first-person accounts of the internment. Later that evening at 6pm, the museum will host a panel discussion focused on the internment. On March 8 at 6pm, the museum will present a panel discussion focused on Asian American women artists in California. All programs are free and open to the public.

For more information about the individual exhibits, please contact Bronwyn Hogan, media relations officer at 408-554-5126.

About the de Saisset Museum

The de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University, celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2005, is the South Bay's free museum of art and history. The museum was founded adjacent to the Mission Santa Clara de Asis on the Santa Clara University campus in 1955 and is one of only two museums in the South Bay accredited by the American Association of Museums. The de Saisset Museum collects, preserves, exhibits, and interprets objects of art and history for the educational and cultural enrichment of all people. The museum achieves its mission through an active program of exhibitions, collections, education programs, and publications.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 8,047 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the fourth-highest graduation rate among all U.S. masters' universities, California's oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is online at www.scu.edu.