51st Annual Conference

This panel presentation will present the printmaking program at a medium sized public university that has played host to the visiting artist's printmaking collaborations in an established press that has been running for 20+ years, the output of which is housed at the university museum. The entire collection represents scholarship from a diverse body of artists and greatly adds to the inclusiveness of the creative community on campus while promoting service learning. Additionally, the staff at the university museum, is uniquely positioned to instruct from a primary source perspective about materials in their collection and promote the printmaking community in a broader context. One outcome from this endeavor included a collaboration between an artist/research librarian, the professor of printmaking/director of the press, and the museum curator of exhibitions. While collaborating at the press in the 20/21 academic year, this activity strengthened and built on a direct link to resources and support for the printmaking program from the library, while also aiding library instruction opportunities utilizing the print collection of the press and assets of the museum. It also positions a small mid-major intuition as having a serious, world-class collection of works on paper. The service learning press has the cooperation of an institution that can vouch for the quality of work being produced by the students and visiting artists. Additionally, it helped to break down academic silos between departments across campus and build interdisciplinary learning communities that form a symbiotic relationship and creates a positive educational feedback loop. The professor of printmaking/director of the press, will talk about the origins of the press and how he became involved with the program, some of the artists he has worked with, and the techniques represented. The curator of exhibitions at the university museum will discuss his involvement with the preservation, documentation, and presentation of the press as well as the scholarship that has taken place. He will also elaborate on how this collection fits in with the broader printmaking community across the United States. Finally, the artist/research librarian will share his experience working at the press and discuss how the relationship between the library and the printmaking program has strengthened, unique connections drawn between the press and library instruction, and how collaborations such as these impact and strengthen the campus community as a whole.