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A portfolio of works produced at Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute has been added to the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Now in its 11th year under the direction of Curlee Raven Holton, professor and head of art, EPI is at the forefront of printmaking nationally and internationally.
Entitled Master Artist/Master Printmaker, the portfolio includes 16 works created at EPI during an innovative two-year project that paired eight internationally renowned artists with eight master printmakers. The Pittsburgh Foundation funded the project.
The artists are Emma Amos, Richard Anuszkiewicz, David C. Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Grace Hartigan, Bodo Korsig, Faith Ringgold, and Kay WalkingStick.
The printmakers—from workshops in Pennsylvania, Maryland, England, and Japan—are John Phillips, Robert Beckman & Ian Short, Holton, Wayne Crothers, Jean Paul Russell, Quentin Mosely, John E. Dowell Jr., and Allan Edmunds.
Lafayette President Daniel Weiss says, “I am delighted, but not surprised, to learn that EPI has again been recognized for its extraordinary contributions to the world of printmaking. The artists that have created prints at EPI are among the most original and accomplished in the world. Under the leadership of Curlee Holton, EPI has become one of the leading centers of printmaking in the United States even as it has modeled new and innovative approaches to undergraduate student engagement.”
“It is not at all unusual to hear that Curlee Holton is abroad, collaborating with printmakers, making art or traveling with a new show of his own work or artists from EPI. He creates exhibitions like he creates art, with a compelling force and directness. I am proud of him. A future of even greater achievement for Curlee Holton is certain,” writes Faith Ringgold in the catalogue for Tellin’ it Like it Is, a major solo exhibit of prints and drawings Holton mounted at SoHo Creative NY last fall.
Several Lafayette students participated in the collaborations among the artists and printmakers. “The printmaking studio has provided many students with the chance to excel in art, to work side by side with significant artists, and to exhibit their work locally and nationally,” Holton says. “This unique experience cannot be matched elsewhere, even at specialized art schools, because of the combination of Lafayette’s resources and the creative vision of EPI.”
Works in the Master Artist/Master Printmaker have been exhibited in New York, Tokyo, Cleveland, Maine, and Maryland and in Lafayette’s Williams Center Gallery.
The Portland (Maine) Museum of Art and Mount Holyoke Museum also recently added prints produced at EPI. The Portland Museum acquired “Yoruba Couple” by Driskell. EPI has been working with Driskell, one of the world’s leading authorities on African American art and recipient of the National Humanities Medal, for years.
The Mount Holyoke Museum established the Tague Collection of African American Fine Art Prints, named for long-time EPI supporter Janet Tague P’00. The collection includes 17 works by Holton, Amos, Gilliam, Ringgold, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Melvin Edwards, and William T. Williams. Additional works will be added on an ongoing basis.
Works created at EPI have also been placed in other important collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Allentown Art Museum, New Jersey State Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and High Museum, Atlanta.