Walk: Sloat Garden Center
Distance: 4 miles
So, the other evening Ciwt was invited to celebrate the life of Kathan Brown (1935-2025) at the world renowned Crown Point Press* she founded and operated. Ciwt felt very honored to be included because Kathan Brown is one of the people on her short list of personal heroes.
Ciwt's admiration begins when Brown was just 20, in the United Kingdom to learn etching technique and discovered an old Victorian star-wheel press decaying in the weeds. She asked and was given permission to take the press back to the States. So far so good, but the press was enormous, iron and weighed several tons. Not to be daunted, Brown made arrangements to sail with it from Scotland to San Francisco on a freighter. The trip went through the Panama Canal and took two months. This in 1955 when young, single women just didn't do things like this.
It was prelude to a whole life of intrepid accomplishments, most especially setting up that heavy press in a Bay Area storefront and establishing Crown Point Press. She named her new business after Crown Point gold mine in Virginia City which Brown had seen in a vintage photo, and was just as exploratory, chancey and hard work as that 49er mining operation.
Today Crown Point Press is 63 years old and with an international reputation among artists and collectors not just established but growing. This is beyond an accomplishment; very few art presses last even a few years. And certainly not ones that work in the exceedingly exacting intaglio etching process. It is a printing technique that is passed on from master to master, and, while establishing her reputation among famous artists who lined up to work with Brown, she also trained the young apprentices who came to her to learn. Today those apprentices have been able to make printing their life work and pass on what they learned from Brown to other young printers. In other words, through Kathan Brown an old printing skill which very well may have died out has been given continuing life.
Along with moving Crown Point several times and finally into the light-filled, brick building in downtown San Francisco Brown stepped up and bought, she wrote several books (which are available in Crown Point's bookstore), had an early podcast, took working photographing 'vacations' to places like the North Pole!**, began offering printing workshops to the public and continued to invite 5 artists a year to the Press to make prints. They come eagerly.
All this may conjure up the image of a larger than life, super energetic perhaps highly demanding personality. And, really, this is the preeminent wonder of Kathan Brown to Ciwt: Kathan Brown's increasing reputation (fame really) was apparently of zero consequence to her. The few times Ciwt greeted her, Brown was kind, gracious, smiling and welcoming. She was a loved and loving wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, business owner and it was a joy to hear stories of Brown's go-ahead spirit and unflinching patience, kindness and warmth from all who shared their lives with her.
Kathan Brown simply never gave up on things she envisioned. As one of her apprentices related when she was overwhelmed by an assignment and exclaimed "That's impossible!” Brown replied (and taught), "We don't say that around here. We say, 'we'll try.'" Just like she tried to get that old press to San Francisco so many years ago. It sits at Crown Point Press to this day.
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| Kathan Brown at Crown Point Press and the Victorian star-wheel Victorian press she rescued |
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