Hands-on Art: Experimental Printmaking Institute Provides a Workshop Where Students Work with World-Renowned Artists

Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI) was established 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 80 artists from diverse cultural and social backgrounds.

Visiting artists, such as Richard Anuszkiewicz, David C. Driskell, Melvin Edwards, Sam Gilliam, Grace Hartigan, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Al Loving, Faith Ringgold, and Kay WalkingStick 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.

“At EPI, students get real-world experience as they produce objects that are displayed at major institutions,” says Curlee Raven Holton, Roth Professor of Art and founding director of EPI. “They participate in the making of culture. They understand the art world in a more intimate way, and they see the resulting value of their time and energies.”