A printmaking exhibit of hand-pulled lithographs, etchings, woodcuts and serigraphy will open the fall season of gallery exhibits at William Woods University. The display will run Aug. 22 to Sept. 21 in the Mildred Cox Gallery. An opening reception is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. Aug. 24, in the Gladys Woods Kemper Center for the Arts.
The work of several artists will be featured, including that of Frank Stack, Jeffery Moore, Robert Friedman and Byron Smith. The four are the original founders of Grindstone Studios, a private lithography printing workshop and publishing studio featuring international artists, offering personal instruction, and placing Columbia, Missouri, on the forefront of the resurgence of printmaking.
Artists around the world are embracing a renaissance in the art of print making. Five years ago the four friends pooled their resources to buy an old, unused lithography press from Stephens College storage. They envisioned a private print workshop that could draw talented artists to work in Columbia.
With the passing of time, the workshop has changed and grown, personnel have changed and new presses acquired. This art exhibition is a culmination of the work they’ve created during the first five years. Grindstone Studio is going to become the Midwest Print Collective, a non-profit print studio for teaching and advocating the fine art of printmaking.
Stack, professor emeritus of art at the University of Missouri, has an international reputation as a painter and print maker. He was, and still is, an instrumental figure in the “underground comix” circuit that was created back in the 60s.
Moore is an artist and the print shop manager. He earned his BFA in painting from University of Massachusetts.
Friedman has been one of the chief printers at the studio. He holds an MFA from the University of Missouri and has taught printmaking, drawing and ceramics at Stephens College for 22 years.
Smith is a Columbia native who attended the University of Missouri and maintains a studio in Orr Street Studios. Widely known for his landscapes, he paints mostly in oils and watercolors although he has worked with pastels, acrylics and other media.
Work from others who have worked at the studio also will be displayed. The artists Rika Deryckere, an award-winning European printmaker; Pete Popoaski, also internationally renowned; Nora Othic, a rural Missouri artist; John Snyder, a Columbia artist; John Owens, professor at the University of Minnesota; and several others.
The Mildred Cox Gallery is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free and open to the public.