VANCOUVER, Wash. — The College of Liberal Arts at Washington State University Vancouver is hosting a student print exhibition, “The Next Generation,” in the campus’ Multimedia Classroom Building through June 19. Print Arts Northwest, a professional printmakers’ association, is sponsoring the traveling exhibit.
Students representing colleges and universities throughout the Pacific Northwest created 41 pieces for the exhibit, which serves to promote printmaking as a fine art medium and provides an opportunity for student printmakers to display their work at venues in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.
“Printmaking was originally created to reproduce great artwork, making it available to the masses. It was not originally meant to be ‘fine art’ in and of itself, and was a dangerous process due to the harsh chemicals involved,” says Harrison Higgs, an instructor in WSU Vancouver’s digital technology and culture department and a Print Arts Northwest board member. “Now that new technologies have rendered printmaking no longer dangerous, it is enjoying a resurgence in university art departments. It also has progressed from strictly commercial uses to become a highly expressive and original art form.”
“The Next Generation” student printmaking exhibit is free and open to the public. Viewing hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday-Friday, through June 19 in WSU Vancouver’s Multimedia Classroom Building. The public is also invited to attend a reception at the exhibit on Thursday, June 12, from 6-8 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
For further information on the student printmaking exhibit, call Beth Montee, (360) 546-9575, or email montee@vancouver.wsu.edu. A complete listing of art currently on display at WSU Vancouver can be found at www.vancouver.wsu.edu/ca/CampusArt2.htm.
