Two complementary retrospectives on view in one gallery — the first, the work of renowned American designer craftsmen, woodworker Sam Maloof, and the other of respected potter Martha Longenecker opened at Mingei International's Balboa Park location. In the 1940s both were protégés of and inspired by Claremont, California's famed plein air artist Millard Sheets. Hired to make silk screens for Mr. Sheets, Sam Maloof became acquainted with Martha Longenecker, who had established her own ceramics studio in Claremont, making wheel-thrown stoneware forms that were exhibited nationally over 20 years through the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries of New York and Los Angeles. She recalled that Sam’s first piece of furniture, a kidney-shaped table, was fashioned from found wood. Today his graceful furniture is found in the collections of America's most prestigious museums.
The Sam Maloof exhibition was accompanied by the publication _The Furniture of Sam Maloof_ by Jeremy Adamson. Playing throughout the run of the exhibition was the film Sam Maloof— _A Fine Woodworking DVD Profile_ produced by The Taunton Press, Inc.