Westmont Magazine A Gift of Asian Art

To celebrate her 80th birthday, Ted and Dorcas Hatlen presented Westmont with a valuable collection of woodcut prints by the noted Japanese artist Kiyoshi Saito. The gift, worth $40,000, includes photos and correspondence as well as funds to frame some of the pieces and add new prints. The Dorcas Hatlen Collection of Oriental Art provides the nucleus for a new permanent college collection of art from the Pacific Rim.

“The Hatlens became interested in our art program many years ago and helped found the Westmont Art Council, which provides such strong support for the gallery and our professors and students in art,” notes President David Winter. “This current gift is remarkable, and a real treasure that will forever remind us of Ted and Dorcas Hatlen, very special friends of Westmont.”

“The College has a specific interest in printmaking, and it’s about to dedicate a new press,” Ted Hatlen explains. “We’ve worked with the art department for a long while, and wanted to do something for the gallery.”

Professor emeritus of dramatic art at UCSB, he taught there for 33 years. Hatlen Theatre is named for him.