Claremont Heritage Home Tour & Fall Festival Gumby's Home Coming

 

Gumby's Home Coming

Do you know...

GUMBY creator, ART CLOKEY, spent part of his childhood living in Claremont

• This childhood home is located on Via Zurita Street and will be on HOME TOUR as well as was the site of the SUNSET RECEPTION

Art's son and daughter-in-law, JOE and JOAN ROCK CLOKEY, have curated a special exhibition to be displayed during Sunset Reception and Home Tour

JOE and JOAN were our Special Guests at Sunset Reception - where Art's 95th birthday (Oct. 12) will also be celebrated


• Shop GUMBY Store at Fall Festival

Gumby House Reception video provided by Claremont Courier - Thank you, Peter Weinberger!



ART CLOKEY
Circa 1960



Photos and text courtesy of
Joe and Joan Clokey

Art Clokey -
Formative Years

Art Clokey, clay animation pioneer and creator of the iconic character Gumby, was born in 1921. He began his work with clay figures on his grandfather’s farm, eighty miles north of Detroit, where he spent his summers in the 1920s. It was a paradise to him as a boy. Art and his friend played together, building forts in the muddy, claylike soil, which they populated with toy soldiers. They shot pencils and marbles out of cannons to destroy the forts. When they ran out of soldiers, Art made them of clay. It was the first time he remembered working with clay.

After Art tragically lost his father in a car accident in Detroit when he was nine, he was put on a train to join his recently re-married mother in Visalia, California. When she became unable to care for him, Art was sent to a half way house in Los Angeles. A few years later, he was adopted at the age of twelve by Joseph W. Clokey, a generous, loving man who changed the course of Art’s life.

Professor Clokey was a Renaissance man who wrote over 200 pieces of original classical music. He was a talented oil and watercolor painter, a mushroom collector and naturalist. He was one of the founding members who helped protect the land that is now the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. He was a very popular music teacher at Pomona College in Claremont, California where he also led the choir and was involved in theater.


Discover more at the EXHIBIT during Home Tour.

Joe Clokey

Son of Art and Ruth Clokey, the pioneering creators of Gumby, Joe Clokey carries on his parents’ legacy as President of Clokey Productions/Premavision Studios, introducing Gumby to the next generation of fans.

As a child and as a young man, Joe studied the techniques of clay animation and film making alongside his father. Joe went on to write, direct and produce over 60 award-winning educational films that are used in schools worldwide. He continued the family tradition by directing and producing various stop motion Gumby spots for ABC, Namco, Intel, NCircle, Google and others. He produced the half hour TV series, Gumby’s World, a one-hour Davey and Goliath Christmas special, and the Emmy Award winning documentary Gumby Dharma. Joe’s newly edited director’s cut of Gumby: The Movie premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and he’s recently re-mastered the entire Gumby library, which is currently being released by NCircle Entertainment.




JOE CLOKEY



Joan Rock Clokey

As Director of Creative and Marketing for Clokey Productions/Premavision, Joan takes the lead on Gumby marketing strategy and manages the studio art department. Armed with a long resume of professional experience in the arts, a keen sense of design and passion for the creative process, she oversees all creative aspects of production, including character development, writing, storyboarding, set design, puppet making, animation and promotion.

Joan holds a master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art/Case Western Reserve University and an MBA from Indiana University. She has taught art at the Cleveland Museum of Art and at colleges and schools in the U.S. Asia, South America and the Middle East. Prior to making the move to Gumby’s studio, she served in management at art-focused companies such as American Greetings and Portal Publications.

 


Presenting Sponsors: ANDREW & BLENDA WRIGHT


Gold Sponsors:
DoubleTree by Hilton Claremont


Geoff Hamill
Wheeler Steffen | Sotheby’s International Realty


Claremont Heritage is located in the historic Garner House at Memorial Park
840 N. Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont CA 91711 . 909.621.0848
email: info@ClaremontHeritage.orgClaremontHeritage.org

Claremont Heritage is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
All proceeds from the 2016 Home Tour & FALL FESTIVAL will help support our mission of preserving and celebrating Claremont’s history and architectural heritage through advocacy, education and research.