Artists from Around the World to Attend "Frontiers in Printmaking" Conference

Printmaking, collaborating and educating have been the principles upon which the Normal Editions Workshop was created in 1976, and the endeavor has grown and succeeded for three decades. 

More than 100 well-known artists and some not-then-well-known artists have relied on the expertise of the Normal Editions Workshop to have their prints produced.  All the while, students in Illinois State’s School of Art printmaking program have looked over the shoulders of the professional artists, learning from them and assisting with the printing processes.  The experiences and hands-on participation has been invaluable to future printmakers.

Distinguished Professor Jim Butler brought the idea of a workshop (contract fine art printmaking for outside artists and Art faculty) from Southern Illinois Edwardsville when he joined the Illinois State Art faculty in 1976.  In 1977, Richard Finch was named director of NEW, and Veda Rives began as a graduate assistant in 1990 and now is associate director.

To mark the occasion, Normal Editions Workshop (NEW) is presenting a conference Oct. 3, 4 and 5 called “Frontiers in Printmaking” on campus and at locations throughout Normal and Bloomington.  The conference’s keynote speaker at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall will be artist Rudy Pozzatti, professor emeritus at Indiana University and one of the major figures in the development of American printmaking.

The conference will include panel discussions, demonstrations, lectures and exhibitions throughout the community – University Galleries, Milner Library, Transpace in Uptown Normal, McLean County Arts Center, Merwin Galleries at Illinois Wesleyan and at the BroMenn Regional Medical Center Atrium.  The University Galleries will have three exhibitions: “Marks from the Matrix: NORMAL EDITIONS WORKSHOP Collaborative Limited Edition Prints1976-2006,” “Border Crossings: an International Portfolio Exchange” and “ISU Printmaking Faculty: Five Decades.”

The program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Also marking NEW’s 30th anniversary is the publication of “Marks from the Matrix,” a 196-page book highlighting the artwork created by visiting artists with national and international reputations and some by emerging new artists.  Edited by NEW Director Richard Finch and Associate Director Veda Rives, the book features 491 illustration including 110 full-page color plates, plus essays and commentaries by former visiting artists and Illinois State University graduates who learned and worked in the NEW.                                                             

“This conference is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not only for artists but for scholars, educators and collectors,” Butler said.  “It is remarkable when you see the level of professionalism represented by the people who will be giving lectures and demonstrations and exhibitions.  Their credentials show page after page of inclusion in collections of major museums and papers written for major publications.

“Between the broad range of topics and the different media and imagery of artists we’ve invited, there will be something of interest for everyone during those three days,” he said.

A few years ago, as the 30th anniversary of NEW was approaching, producing the book was the number one priority, Finch recalled.

“We wanted to publish a document showing 30 years of production at Normal Edition Workshop, hoping that it could become a research tool for artists, educators and collectors,” Finch said.  “But after we made the book the priority, we started asking ‘what if?’ That is what artists are supposed to do.  When we decided to put together a conference we asked ourselves ‘what would entice us to attend a conference,’ and that guided how we set it up.  We didn’t accept proposals or look at papers; we went out to the experts in their fields and asked them to participate.”

“We hope our School of Art alumni realize that this is a rare opportunity,” Butler said.  “They can come back to campus as a kind of reunion, to be honored as art alumni – there will be alumni exhibitions on campus and throughout the community – but also as artists attending a very unique conference.”

People who attend art fairs and buy photos or lithographs would find the exhibitions and demonstrations of particular interest.  Rives, who is among the School of Art’s many accomplished alumni, thinks general community members who have an interest in visual arts will enjoy attending some of the events and activities.

“Traditionally, prints are the most accessible original art available to the general public,” she said.  “The nature of having an edition of prints (such as a lithograph or intaglio) means that more pieces are available at a lower price to people interested in investing in original art.  In that respect, printmaking has a reputation of being more democratic.”

Among the exhibitions and presentations featuring Illinois State’s familiar “home-grown” collections are the International Collection of Child Art and the Circus and Allied Arts Collection, both housed in Milner Library.

Information about Normal Editions Workshop and the “Frontiers in Printmaking” Conference is available at http://www.cfa.ilstu.edu/normal_editions