Bruce Shobaken’s legacy lives on in his former students

Years ago, when Bruce and Marilyn Shobaken went to the Met to see an exhibition of works by Italian printmaker Giorgio Morandi, a man stopped the couple and asked if Bruce was, in fact, Bruce Shobaken. “Well, the last time I looked in the mirror I was,” Bruce replied. That funny quip was typical for the much-loved Penn State School of Visual Arts faculty member, who died on April 7, 2021. “He was always known for his short, succinct, quippy reaction to things,” said Marilyn, his wife of 67 years. “He’d make a short statement and it’d just be really funny—he had a great sense of humor.” Bruce Shobaken taught printmaking at Penn State from 1968 until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1991, including serving as head of the printmaking area. In recognition of his role as a revered teacher, adviser and mentor, his former students and colleagues surprised him with the establishment of the Bruce Shobaken Printmaking Award when he retired. “That was the first time I saw him so emotional,” said Robin Gibson, who has been a member of the Penn State printmaking faculty since 1982 and counts Shobaken as an important mentor. “His former students came from all over the country to honor him. They had and continued to stay in touch with him over the years.” Robin McCloskey was one of those who stayed in touch. She worked with Shobaken as a graduate student in 1982–84, and remembers him as caring, generous and very invested in the success of his students. “Bruce was keenly intelligent and had an uncanny knack for reading works of art,” said McCloskey, who has taught printmaking, drawing and digital illustration throughout the San Francisco Bay Area since 1993. “He would bring stacks of art books to our critiques and as we leafed through the pages, he taught us to see ‘underneath the hood’—to comprehend how an image was structured, how color functions and how to understand pictorial space.” Gibson said she always admired Shobaken’s ability to provide a “lively” learning environment, as well as his respect for his students. “Students were always encouraged to find their own voice, and to work hard with both intensity and intelligence,” she said.

As a teacher, he was both firm and supportive, a combo that inspired students to work at developing new skills and ideas.” -Robin Gibson

A World War II veteran, Shobaken began his teaching career with stints at the University of Minnesota, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He met Marilyn in a printmaking class where he served as a graduate assistant. “Bruce challenged me to a hand-wrestling contest. I won,” said Marilyn. After that inauspicious beginning to their relationship, Marilyn left Minnesota for a summer job in Colorado. Bruce had received a Fulbright to study in Paris, but before departing, he proposed to Marilyn over the phone. They were married on September 19, 1953, and left for Paris the next day, where they both attended Atelier 17, studying etching and engraving. They later had a son, Ben. “The Fulbright program took good care of the dependents, so I was also able to take classes,” said Marilyn, who went on to have a long career at Penn State in the former Department of University Publications. Bruce maintained an active professional career, and his drawings, paintings and prints are in numerous public and private collections, including Penn State’s Palmer Museum of Art. The Shobakens also donated a number of works to the museum, among them Francisco Goya’s Mala Noche (Bad Night), an etching and aquatint from Los Caprichos dated 1799 and a sixteenth-century suite of engravings titled L'Histoire du prophète Jonas (The Story of Jonah) by Étienne Delaune. Bruce won several teaching awards at the University, including the prestigious George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching. His legacy lives on in his former students. “Many of us hope to have that one special teacher who changes the direction of our work and even our lives,” said McCloskey. “For decades at Penn State, Bruce was that teacher for countless art students. He was an exemplary artist and teacher, setting a standard that his many students have tried to emulate in our art and in our teaching careers.” Memorial contributions may be made to: The Bruce Shobaken Printmaking Award, College of Arts and Architecture, 107 Borland Building, Penn State, University Park, PA 16802