Berkeley Campus Scenes by Pedro J. Lemos
Strawberry Creek is a woodblock print by PEDRO JOSEPH LEMOS (1882-1954). The creek is a central landscape feature of the Cal Campus and an original water source for the University and the town. Much-abused over the decades with the growth of population and development, the creek was at one point deemed a public health risk. But since the mid-1980s, extensive restoration and clean-up efforts have been underway, including “daylighting” of some portions between the campus and the San Francisco Bay that had previously been forced into culverts under the city streets.
Lemos was among the most influential of the Bay Area's artists and educators of the “Arts and Crafts” era, who was not only an important artist and educator of the applied arts and design in numerous media, but also as an architectural designer, writer, publisher, painter, and printmaker.
This print and its companions in the “Berkeley” series were produced for the “Blue and Gold” Yearbook of the University of California’s Class of 1917. They have been digitally scanned on high-quality graphic paper and fused on a wooden block with recessed bracing for immediate wall-mounting. A clear coat of UV film has been applied to protect and enhance color stability.