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By Elisabeth Wraase ’11
The Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI) has started the Ink Club, a new initiative which will allow members of the Lafayette and Easton communities to support EPI’s many programs fostering hands-on, student-mentor relationships with local and international artists.
The Ink Club will host a holiday sale from 3-6 p.m. Dec. 3-4, 10-11, and 17-18 at the studio located at 421 Hamilton Street. Selected prints from local and international artists and students will be on sale for discounted prices. Each Thursday (Dec. 3, 10, and 17) will feature public workshops with students working on various printmaking projects. Cookies and music will accompany the show.
In addition to prints, EPI’s current artist-in-residence Mary Ann Miller will be making and selling holiday ornaments. Some of the prints used to create the ornaments are from Miller’s artwork, as well as former artist-in-residence Sam Gilliam.
The Ink Club also allows patrons to support EPI through donations. There will be different levels of support named for different types of prints, including woodcut ($25), serigraph ($100), intaglio ($500), and poshoir ($1,000). The new program is headed by art graduate Sara Smith-Katz ’07 and EPI intern Mildred Gonzalez ’11 (New York, N.Y.), an English and psychology double major.
“Our mission is to raise funds to support EPI’s initiatives such as the visiting artist and artists in residency programs,” says Smith-Katz. “These allow students to become involved firsthand with well-known artists while helping to create their artwork. It also promotes diversity in a very unique way.”
The Experimental Printmaking Institute was established by Curlee Raven Holton, professor of art, in 1996 to promote research and experimentation within the print medium. Since its inception, the EPI visiting artist and artist-in-residence programs have introduced students to over 50 artists from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. The visiting artists have provided students with talented, well-educated, and ambitious role models. Their residencies have inspired print editions, experimental works, and artists’ books, which have been included in galleries and exhibits around the globe.
EPI hosts its Global Exchange Program, which allows students to accompany Holton to work on print projects in other countries focusing on the integration of the visual arts and science to promote environmental awareness. EPI also has initiated an innovative student internship program. This year, Ting Chiu ’11 (Bedminster, N.J.), a double major in English and psychology, Gonzalez, and Elisabeth Wraase ’11 (Bethesda, Md.), an English major, are in charge of EPI’s business management, marketing, public relations, and research and documentation.