They make a way. - Maryland Institute College of Art

Reesey Shaw ’64, ’66
PRINTMAKING / MFA PHOTOGRAPHY
Founding Director, Lux Art Institute / Encinitas, CA
“Creativity, it seems to me, is now the critical discipline
of this century. To me, art is what makes life worth living.
It’s enough to inspire you forever.”
Transferring to MICA after two years at Boston
University was literally coming home for Reesey
Shaw, a Baltimore native who had taken classes
at the College as a child and returned to earn a
BFA in printmaking and an MFA in photography.
Her time on campus involved interaction with
Clyfford Still, Grace Hartigan, Margaret Mead
and Robert Forth. The intellectual and artistic
exploration she engaged in while at MICA helped
set the stage for a transformative career.
She is an accomplished artist and has a passion
for helping others engage in the creative process.
In founding the Lux Art Institute in Encinitas, CA,
she found a way to support artmaking at both
ends of the talent spectrum—working with both
experienced, accomplished artists and the youngest
elementary school students who, she says, can be
hamstrung by an educational system that doesn’t
put enough value on creativity.
Nestled among breathtaking vista in Southern
California, Lux invites internationally acclaimed
artists to residencies at the Institute. Fellow MICA
alumna and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient,
Elizabeth Turk for example, recently completed a
residency there.
They live and create in facilities designed
especially to foster the creative process. The
public, including many students, is then invited
to witness artmaking firsthand and, often, to
interact directly with the artist. But the work
of the Institute doesn’t stop there. Through the
Luxcursion program, students from elementary
school through college come to the Institute
and watch the artist make creative decisions. The
students also create their own work. In addition,
the institute has also developed teaching materials
used in classrooms to spur artistic development.
ESTABLISHING LUX WAS AN EXTENSION OF
ARTMAKING FOR SHAW. SHE SEES A NEED FOR
REINVENTION IN THE ART WORLD— TO FOCUS
MORE ON THE NEEDS OF THE LIVING ARTIST.
ENLIGHTENMENT
Lux Art Institute represents that new model, with
the tag line, “Don’t Just See Art, See Art Happen.”
Continuing to follow her pioneering spirit, Shaw
is planning a dramatic expansion of the facility,
including more exhibition space, a curatorial library,
and an expanded education pavilion.
MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
91