Biography
Thomas Ingmire’s art training initially grew from the study and practice of landscape design. He received a BA in Landscape Architecture from Ohio State University and an MLA from University of California, Berkeley. Both of these programs involved intensive graphic and fine arts studies. In the early 1970s he pursued a study of medieval painting techniques and calligraphy during a one-year postgraduate program in the Art Department at California State University, Los Angeles. In 1977 he became the first foreign member to be elected Fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators in London, England. In 1980 he received a Newberry Fellowship for independent study and research at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
Ingmire's work has focused primarily on the exploration of calligraphy as a fine arts medium. He has exhibited widely in the United States, and his works can be found in the San Francisco Public Library's Special Collections, the Newberry Library in Chicago, the Victoria Albert Museum in London, the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, the Stiftung Academy of Art in Berlin, Germany, as well as many other public and private collections throughout the world.
Ingmire's work has focused primarily on the exploration of calligraphy as a fine arts medium. He has exhibited widely in the United States, and his works can be found in the San Francisco Public Library's Special Collections, the Newberry Library in Chicago, the Victoria Albert Museum in London, the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, the Stiftung Academy of Art in Berlin, Germany, as well as many other public and private collections throughout the world.
A recent publication, CODIC 1, reveals insights into his teaching and working philosophies on modern calligraphy.
Since 1978, Ingmire has given much energy to teaching and conducting workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, and several countries in Europe as well as in Japan and Hong Kong. Currently he is involved in collaborative work with a number artists and poets. This has included the Pablo Neruda series of books with Manuel Neri, work as an illuminator on the Saint John’s Bible project, and work with poets Tsering Wangmo and David Jones Annwn.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selected)
2008, Words for Peace, the Calligraphy of Thomas Ingmire,
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
2007, Words for Peace, Canessa Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999, Letter Space, Word Space, and Rhythms, Denenberg Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
1998, The Calligraphic Work of Thomas Ingmire, Galerie Vivant, Tokyo, Japan
1997, Calligraphic Lust, the Henry Hardy Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
l995, Inferno, Canto V, Belle Lettere Mostra, Cittadella, PD, Italy
1995, The Art of Calligraphy, San Francisco Public Library, Special Collections
1991, Alchemy of the Page, Himovitz Gallery Pavillions, Sacramento, CA
1989, Words at Risk, the Denenberg Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
l988 Painted poetry, Pence Gallery, Davis,CA
1987, Thomas Ingmire, Calligraphy, Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, FL
1984, Words and Images, Firehouse Art Center, Norman, Oklahoma
1983, Calligraphic Paintings and Drawings, Markings Gallery, Berkeley CA
1982 Calligraphic Paintings and drawings, Ellis and Associates, Taos, NM
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2003, Words for Peace (on view with Anti-War Metals), Velvet Da Vinci Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
2003, Words for Peace (with Kalligraphia X) San Francisco Public Library, Skylight Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000, "Looking at The Same Moon. Contemporary Japanese and Western Calligraphy," Van Het Boek Museum, Netherlands
1999, "Beautifully Banal," The Last Calligraphy Show, Columbia College, Chicago Center of Book and Paper Arts, Chicago, IL
1999, Artist and Alphabet, 20th Century Calligraphy and Letter Art in America, New York City
1997, Image/ Language, Denenberg Fine Arts, Inc., San Francisco, CA
l997, Premio Belle Lettere International Exhibition, Cittadella PD, Italy
1996, TEXTUS, Frederick R Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, MN
1995, Codes and Messages, Holburn Museum, Great Pulteney St. Bath, England
1991, Moments in Calligraphy, An Exhibition of Calligraphy as Art. Sun Gallery, Hayward CA
1990, Lines, Letters, and Images, A traveling exhibition of Word/Image works by Contemporary International Artists, sponsored by Graphics Universal,Inc. Norman, OK
AWARDS:
1977, Elected Crafts Fellow of The Society of Scribes and Illuminators, London, England (the first American and first person outside of the UK to be elected to this status).
1980, Newberry Fellowship, Newberry Library, Chicago, IL
1998, Awarded commission for public art installation, Mountain View Public Library
TEACHING AND ART RELATED EMPLOYMENT
1999, The Cittadella Calligraphy Program, Workshop-Conference in Italy (organizer and teacher)
1999, Illumination Design Consultation to Arion Press, San Francisco, CA (Limited Edition of the Holy Bible)
1992, 1993, Ho, a Workshop-Conference, San Francisco Bay Area (organizer and teacher)
1977-present: Invited teacher of workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, and several countries in Europe as well as in Japan and Hong Kong.
1991, The Pforzheimer Lectures on Printing and the Book Arts, The New York Public Library: A lecture titled The Alchemy of the Word, The Making of a Modern Manuscript
1987, Design and Illumination of Initial Letters for Special Bicentennial Issue of the United States Constitution, Limited Edition, Arion Press, San Francisco, CA
1978-1981 Co-founder of The Calligraphy Center, San Francisco (a school and gallery dedicated to expanding the awareness of Calligraphy).
PUBLISHED WORK
1984, Where Word and Image Meet--Thomas Ingmire, by Janet Wilson, CALLIGRAPHY IDEA
EXCHANGE, Norman, Oklahoma, Vol. 2, No. 3
1995, "The Art of Politics: A Discussion of Thomas Ingmire’s The American Way in the context of Jasper John’s Flag," by Helen Malone, Letter Arts Review, Vol. 12, 1995
CALLIGRAPHY MASTERCLASS by Peter Halliday
CALLIGRAPHY by David Harris
LETTERING ARTS by JoAnne Fink
PAINTING FOR CALLIGRAPHERS by Marie Angel
WORDS OF RISK, THE ART OF THOMAS INGMIRE by Michael Gullick1989,
COLLECTIONS
Special Collections, the San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA, USA
The Newberry Library, Chicago, IL, USA
The Victoria Albert Museum, London, England
The Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, USA
Stiftung Archiv der Akademie der Kunste(Academy of Fine Arts), Berlin, Germany
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos, CA, USA
The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
