Episode 117: Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
After the success of Sea Ranch, Bobbie would continue to collaborate with other architects. In 1970, the Minneapolis Planning and Development Division invited her to participate in this urban renewal project. So some of the architects she collaborated with were Robert Venturi and Phillip Johnson. In 1978 she would be the graphic designer for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission. In 1981, Bobbie would get her Masters in Architecture from UC Berkeley. She did the silver signage at the Hunter College Subway Station in Manhattan. She did the Turia Gardens in Valencia Spain with Ricardo Bofill AND projects at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Bobbie published several books - including her thesis from her time at Berkley called “ Green Architecture and the Agrarian Garden.” oh and she also taught! At Berkeley, Harvard, and Yale. She also had her work displayed in several exhibitions including the Venice Biennale, The Whitney, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. and another notable one was the Los Angeles Art Space called LAXART well today you might know it as the RELAXART because when Bobbie did her exhibition in 2019 she rebranded the place. On May 7th, 2024, at her home in San Francisco at the age of 95, Bobbie passed away.
Caryatid: Nellie King Solomon
Nellie is Barbara’s second daughter. Nellie studied architecture at Cooper Union, has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California Santa Cruz, and a Masters from California College of Fine Arts. Like Barbara, Nellie has collaborated with a few designers herself but some of her most known collaborations were with her mama Bobbie. Her most recent one is from just last year in 2023. She actually did two exhibitions with her mother there is the 2023 exhibition that I mentioned, SUPER-SILLY-US: Barbara Stauffacher Solomon & Nellie King Solomon(2023) at MarinMOCA in Hamilton, CA, Art, Earth and Sky (2023) at SMoCA Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, BEYOND: Works by Nellie King Solomon and Barbara Stauffacher Solomon (2021) at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art SMOCA.
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This transcript was prepared during the development of the episode.
Final recorded episode may deviate slightly from the content presented below as changes, edits, or improvements may be made during the recording and editing process.
References
Green, Penelope. "Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Pioneer of Supergraphics, Dies at 95." New York Times, 8 May 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/arts/design/barbara-stauffacher-solomon-dead.html
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon | TCLF. www.tclf.org/pioneer/barbara-stauffacher-solomon.
“Barbara Stauffacher Solomon - Buck Mason- Modern American Classics.” Buck Mason, www.buckmason.com/blogs/journal/barbara-stauffacher-solomon.
Reggev, Kate. “The Legacy of Sea Ranch, a Utopian Community in Northern California.” Dwell, 10 May 2024, www.dwell.com/article/sea-ranch-architecture-7f30ea15.
Roche, Daniel Jonas. “Barbara Stauffacher Solomon ‘California Cool’ Design Visionary, Dies at 95.” The Architect’s Newspaper, May 2024, www.archpaper.com/2024/05/barbara-stauffacher-solomon-dies.
SMoCA. “Artist Conversation: Barbara Stauffacher Solomon + Nellie King Solomon.” YouTube, 26 Feb. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_684zTVTec.
“Stauffacher Solomon, Barbara · SFMOMA.” SFMOMA, 3 Oct. 2024, www.sfmoma.org/artist/Barbara_Stauffacher_Solomon.
“SUPER-SILLY-US: Barbara Stauffacher Solomon and Nellie King Solomon.” Exhibitions - Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, marinmoca.org/exhibitions/event/164.
“Turia Garden.” Visit Valencia, 19 Sept. 2017, www.visitvalencia.com/en/what-to-do-valencia/nature-in-valencia/parks-and-gardens-valencia/turia-gardens#:~:text=Several%20urban%20planners%20and%20landscapists,gardens%20were%20inaugurated%20in%201986.
Walker, Alissa. “Sea Ranch'S Barbara Stauffacher Solomon-designed Supergraphics Almost Didn'T Happen.” Curbed, 3 Jan. 2018, archive.curbed.com/2018/1/3/16842200/barbara-stauffacher-solomon-sea-ranch-supergraphics.
“Walking the Invisible Line Between Art and Design.” Von Bartha, www.vonbartha.com/stories/walking-the-invisible-line-between-art-and-design.
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