Hernandez, Jo(anne) Farb 1952-

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HERNANDEZ, Jo(anne) Farb 1952-

PERSONAL: Born November 20, 1952, in Chicago, IL. Education: University of Wisconsin, Madison, B.A. (political science and French; with honors), 1974; University of California, Los Angeles, M.A. (folklore and mythology), 1975; attended the University of California, Davis, 1978, and the University of California, Berkeley, 1978-79 and 1981.

ADDRESSES: Office—Curatorial and Museum Management Services, 345 White Rd., Watsonville, CA 95076-0429.

CAREER: Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, curatorial assistant, 1974-75; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX, curatorian and educational assistant, 1976-77; East Texas State University, Commerce, adjunct professor, 1977; Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, assistant to director, 1977-78, director, 1978-85; John F. Kennedy University, San Francisco, CA, adjunct professor of museum studies, 1979; Bobbie Wynn and Co., San Jose, CA, member of board of directors, 1981-85; Santa Clara Arts and History Consortium, member, 1985; Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, director, 1985-93, consulting curator, 1994-2001; Curatorial and Museum Management Services, Watsonville, CA, director, 1993—; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, guest curator, 1995, 1999. Western Museum Conference, member of board of directors, 1989-91, executive comptroller, 1989-91, program chair, 1990; Fund for Folk Culture, member of national advisory board, 1995-98; Saving and Preserving Arts Environments (SPACES), member of national advisory board, 2001—. Visiting lecturer and guest curator at various institutions throughout the United States and internationally.

MEMBER: American Association of Museums (lecturer, 1986, museum assessment program surveyor, 1990, 1994, national program committee member, 1992-93), Non-profit Gallery Association (member of board of directors, 1979-83, vice president, 1979-80), California Association of Museums (member of board of directors, 1985-94, vice president, 1987-91, president, 1991-92), Artable, California Arts Council, California Confederation for the Arts, American Folklore Society, California Folklore Society, Alliance for California Traditional Arts, National Council for Education in Ceramic Arts, Friends of Fred Smith (founder and member of advisory board), Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Trewartha Award, University of Wisconsin, 1974; Ralph C. Altman Award, Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, 1975; Rockefeller fellow, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1976-77; Leader of the Decade Award, Arts Leadership of Monterey Peninsula, 1992; Golden Eagle Award, Council for International Non-theatrical Events, 1992; San Jose State University grants, 2001; California State University research award, 2001-04; lottery grant, 2001, 2004; National Endowment for the Arts grant, 2002; Aliance for California Traditional Arts development program grant, 2002.

WRITINGS:

Three from the Northern Island: Contemporary Sculpture from Hokkaido, 1984.

Anders Aldrin, 1889-1970, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, 1990.

(With Charles Shere) The Expressive Sculpture of Alvin Light, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art (Monterey, CA), 1990.

Lorser Feitelson: Exploration of the Figure, 1919-1929, 1990.

(With Mark Levy) Alan Shepp: The Language of Stone, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, 1991.

The Quiet Eye: Poetry of Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, 1991.

(With Charlotte Berney and Anthony White) Armin Hansen: The Jane and Justin Dart Collection, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, 1993.

Jeanette Maxfield Lewis: A Centennial Celebration, 1994.

Jeremy Anderson: The Critical Link/A Quiet Revolution, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, 1995.

(With John Beardsley and Roger Cardinal) A. G. Rizzoli: Architect of Magnificent Visions, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 1997.

Misch Kohn: Beyond the Tradition, Monterey Museum of Art, 1998.

(With others) Irvin Tepper, When Cups Speak: Life with the Cup: A Twenty-five-Year Survey, San Jose State University (San Jose, CA), 2002.

(With others) Peter Shire: Go beyond the Ordinary, San Jose State University Press (San Jose, CA), 2004.

Forms of Tradition in Contemporary Spain, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 2005.

Author of numerous exhibition catalogues. Contributor to books, including Folklife and Museums, edited by Patricia Hall and Charles Seeman, Sage Publications (Thousand Oaks, CA), 1987, and Putting Folklore to Use, University of Kentucky Press, 1994. Contributor to periodicals. Member of international advisory board, Raw Vision.

SIDELIGHTS: Art historian and curator Jo Farb Hernandez has been active in museum work in her home state of California, as well as elsewhere, for over three decades. Her wide-ranging expertise has led to her involvement with both modern, folk, and tribal/ethnic art, and her fieldwork has included Mexican, Spanish, and Balkan folk arts and performances. Among her book-length works are A. G. Rizzoli: Architect of Magnificent Visions and Forms of Tradition in Contemporary Spain, the latter published in 2005. In addition, as part of her curatorial work, Hernandez has authored exhibition catalogue texts on the works of Lorser Feitelson, Shoji Hamada, Jeremy Anderson, August François Gay, and Misch Kohn, among others.

Coauthored with John Beardsley and Roger Cardinal, A. G. Rizzoli depicts the life and work of San Francisco draftsman and artist Achilles G. (A. G.) Rizzoli (1896-1981). Hernandez discusses the artist's work in what Art Journal contributor N. F. Karlins deemed "an important introductory essay." Trained as an architectural draftsman, Rizzoli created an imaginary world of cathedrals, temples, towers, and palaces in his work. Upon Rizzoli's death in 1981, a nephew inherited most of Rizzoli's pen-and-ink and watercolor renderings of fanciful buildings. This work has gone on to inspire critical analysis and museum exhibitions at the San Diego Museum of Art, the Atlanta High Museum, the New York Museum of Folk Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Commenting on A. G. Rizzoli, a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that the coauthors' "perceptive essays offer a tantalizing introduction to Rizzoli's extraordinary visions."