John Ingvard Kjargaard (1902-1992) was an American painter, printmaker and collage artist. He studied art at Cooper Union in New York City and continued his studies at University of California, Berkeley, and later with Josef Albers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. While still a student, he worked in the art department of a San Francisco engraving firm, which led to his start as a color etcher. Kjargaard came to Honolulu in 1937 to work as a photo-engraver at Paradise of the Pacific magazine, which later became known as Honolulu Magazine. He served as board president of Honolulu Printmakers and was one of the few artists to be invited to create a gift print twice, once in 1955 and again in 1976.
Marcia Morse and Jeffrey Davis will present an overview of John Kjargaard’s life and work, along with a discussion about his process and techniques.
One lucky program attendee will take home a John Kjargaard print, generously donated by Jeffrey Davis. Before the presentation, attendees can enter the drawing with a $50 suggested donation and the winner will be announced at the end of the presentation. Multiple entries allowed and encouraged.
Marcia Morse was raised in Hawai’i before leaving for further education on the mainland. After completing her undergraduate work with honors at Harvard University, she spent two-and-a-half years living in Quito, Ecuador, where she began her study of printmaking. She received her MFA in Printmaking at Stanford University before returning to the islands. While teaching at Honolulu Community College, she completed her PhD in Political Science in 2012, and retired as Professor Emerita of Art from the UH system in 2018.
Marcia Morse is also active as an artist, art critic and freelance curator. She has participated in numerous solo, small group, juried and invitational exhibitions, and is represented in several private and corporate collections in the U.S., Japan and Europe. She currently serves as President of Honolulu Printmakers, and is a Docent and volunteer at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
Jeffrey Davis first moved to Hawaii in 1981 after college. After a career in the corporate world, Jeff decided to follow a passion to work in non-profit arts and has many years of experience working in marketing and development areas at the Honolulu Symphony and with film festivals such as HIFF, Rainbow FF and Palm Springs FF. In addition, Jeff has managed External Affairs at the San Francisco Symphony, was Director of Events for Honolulu Museum of Art and a Program Officer at East-West Center in Honolulu.
