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Pomona College Magazine is published three times a year by Pomona College
550 N. College Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
Online Editor: Mark Kendall
For editorial matters:
Editor: Mark Wood
Phone: (909) 621-8158
Fax: (909) 621-8203
PCM Editorial Guidelines
Contact Alumni Records for changes of address, class notes, or notice
of births or deaths.
Phone: (909) 621-8635
Fax: (909) 621-8535
Email: alumni@pomona.edu
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Supporting Pomona/
Pamela Creighton '79
Taking Flight
Like so many artists, Pamela Creighton '79 drew upon her own life
experiences in her art, as well as Greek mythology, ancient history and
the heavens. Fascinated by the play of light, meticulously positioning
and photographing marbles and other glass objects and continually
challenging herself to explore new media, Creighton felt indebted to
Pomona College for inspiring her work.
It was at Pomona that, “she took her art to a new level,” according to
close friend Jackie Jacobs Caster ’79, who fondly recalled Creighton’s
typical uniform of paint-spattered clogs with overalls or painters’
pants. “She always had paint on her hands; she was immersed physically
and emotionally in her paint.”
 Following her death on Dec. 3, 2002, at the age of 45, Creighton left
Pomona more than $1 million, which she had directed two decades
previously in her estate plans. The majority of these funds will be used
in the next few years to renovate art faculty studios and will help to
ensure that the studio art program continues to thrive.
In recognition of the importance of the College in Creighton’s life and
her own conviction that the arts are critical to our society,
Creighton’s mother, Margaret S. Hunter of Washington, D.C., has donated
a major gift in Creighton’s memory. The Pamela Townley Creighton ’79
Scholarship Fund in the Creative Arts will support students with
financial need who declare a major or minor in studio art, dance,
theatre, music, English (including, but not limited to, creative
writing) and media studies. An average of five or six students will
receive scholarship awards each academic year, although the number may
fluctuate annually depending on the size of the awards.
“I am truly delighted to be able to make these scholarships possible for
talented students in honor of Pamela, as creating her art and writing
were so important to her,” said Hunter, who is particularly pleased that
the scholarship will be available to students of media studies. “Pamela
was so interested in and adept at using computers in her work and
employed a wide range of media. This is a perfect match.”
Recognizing Creighton’s early talent and interest in creative
expression, Hunter encouraged Creighton’s artistic endeavors during her
years at the National Cathedral School and the Madeira School, from
which she graduated before entering Pomona in the fall of 1975.
“She came to Claremont a talented writer and artist, but it was here
that she gained the freedom, confidence and support to really take
flight,” said Minott Wessinger ’79 who, with fellow Claremont alumni
Cellin Gluck (Pitzer ’80) and Gretchen Greenwood ’80, organized a
well-attended retrospective show of her art at the Smith Campus Center
in May 2003 during Pomona’s Alumni Weekend. “Pamela believed that her
art flourished at Pomona.”
Influenced as an undergraduate by artists Wassily Kandinsky and Jackson
Pollock, “her early works were in oils,” said Greenwood, “but she
stopped using them exclusively for a while and experimented, very
successfully, with collage, mixed media, photography and computer
graphics.”
These gifts are particularly timely as Pomona launches a strategic
planning process to ensure the College’s bright future. “Since arriving
at Pomona College more than two years ago, I have placed the arts at the
top of my list of priorities, as they are a key component of a liberal
arts education,” said President David Oxtoby. “The study of the creative
arts encourages students to see the world in a different way. Funding
for scholarships in the arts and for arts facilities will help Pomona to
achieve its vision of providing one of the finest programs in the
country in the creative arts. We are deeply grateful to Mrs. Hunter and
to our alumna Pamela.”
Hunter takes pleasure knowing that Creighton will have a lasting
influence on the College. “We need to foster the arts in this world,”
said Hunter. “If we don’t have them, what do we have?”
—Lynn Sarf |
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