Corita Kent (1918-1986) was an American educator, peace activist, and celebrated pop artist. More than a dozen prints from her Circus Alphabet have recently been installed on the first floor of Guilford House – a most appropriate convergence of artwork by a woman artist, an educator, and lover of the printed word welcoming students to the English and Modern Languages and Literatures departments.
Born Frances Elizabeth Kent, Corita took the name Sister Corita Mary Kent when she became a sister of the Immaculate Heart, a religious order known to be very progressive and welcoming creativity. She studied at and taught at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles for decades, working in different media but eventually focusing on printmaking in the form of silkscreen prints or serigraphy. Kent’s emphasis on printing was partially due to her interest in democratic outreach, as she wished for affordable art for the masses. Her artwork, with its messages of love and peace, was particularly popular during the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1968 – 1969, a time of great world turmoil, Corita Kent produced a portfolio of silk screen prints she titled, “Damn Everything But the Circus” after a line from the poet e.e. cummings, later added to by a colleague of Corita’s. “Damn everything but the circus! … damn everything that is grim, dull, motionless, unrisking, inward turning, damn everything that won’t get into the circle, that won’t enjoy. That won’t throw its heart into the tension, surprise, fear and delight of the circus, the round world, the full existence….”
Kent used quotes from the widest range of poets, writers. and songwriters to embellish a full alphabet, drawing on historic precedents like medieval illuminated manuscripts where the main initial is decorated with fanciful creatures and sly visual references. Here she combines the gentility of Victorian advertisements in vogue during the time that Guilford House was built as the first women’s dormitory on campus, and the visceral excitement of circus acts. These prints have been acquired, one by one, from different sources – galleries, auctions, and estate sales – over the last five years.
Corita’s work became more focused on social justice with messages of tolerance, peace, and respect. Her activism drew the ire of the bishop of Los Angeles and eventually she left religious life, moving to Boston to continue her artistic work as a call to action.
Widely recognized during her career, she was named one of the “9 Women of the Year” by the LA Times and graced the cover of Time magazine. In 2024 Corita’s work was featured in the Venice Biennale in the Vatican’s exhibit, Con I miei occhi (With my Eyes). Examples of this portfolio are in the collections of prestigious museums – in the United States – Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum in New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC – as well as in important museums around the world. A major retrospective of her work was exhibited at Cleveland’s MOCA in 2014.
The Putnam Collection at CWRU is delighted to have found the perfect home for this remarkable artwork.
Kathleen Barrie, Director/Curator
Marilyn Burnett, Associate Curator