areas of study v
ceramics
graphic design
painting
photo/imaging arts
printmaking
sculpture
art history
Printmaking is offered as an emphasis area of study for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Overview:
Printmaking is a process in which ink is transferred from a matrix to a material like paper, fabric, wood, or stone. The process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a 'print'. Prints are created from a single original surface, known technically as a matrix. Common types of matrices include: plates of metal, usually copper or zinc for engraving or etching; stone, used for lithography; blocks of wood for woodcuts, linoleum for linocuts and fabric plates for screenprinting. But there are many other kinds of matrix substrates and related processes.
Students will learn many various printmaking techniques such as relief printing, intaglio printing, lithography, silkscreening, etc.
Sheri Fleck Rieth, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art, heads the printmaking program.
Katherine Rhodes Fields, Visiting Assistant Professor, teaches courses in the printmaking program.
Facilities:
The printmaking area is in a large classroom/studio on the first floor of Meek Hall. There are cubicles for graduate and undergraduate majors, a darkroom and an adjoining work room with cabinets for storage.
The lithography press is a Takach-Garfield variable speed electric, 34" x 57", and lithography stones, rollers, levigators and a general purpose/graining sink are available in the printmaking shop.
For intaglio there are three presses: a 30" x 50" Charles Brand, a 20" x 43" antique mint press, and a 23" x 36" Whelan. Two proofing presses for type-high blocks and linoleum are also available. There is a ventilated acid area with glass safety doors, a drench shower and handheld eye-drench fountain.
A vacuum frame exposure unit and a dark room equipped with an enlarger are available for silkscreen and alternative photography methods, such as cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown prints.
Other equipment includes two hot plates, a bookbinders’ press, large paper cutter, mat cutter, metal shear, drying rack and a wall mounted plexiglass cutter.
Visiting Artists
2007: Michael Barnes (Printmaker, Northern Illinois University)