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Lise Drost has been the head of the area since 1993; in 2004 Jonathan Thomas joined the faculty as a Lecturer in Foundations and Printmaking.
The Printmaking Area offers a sequence of courses in Intaglio/Relief, Lithography, and Silkscreen and Computer Assisted Printmaking. At the 200 level each course is a survey of techniques in both black and white and in color; at the 300 level more advanced processes are introduced and at the upper levels students can design their own course of study. An advanced seminar for graduate students in painting and printmaking includes everything from readings in contemporary art criticism to practical instruction in the design of web pages and other softwares in order to prepare our students for a variety of professional career opportunities in the arts. (Click here to see web pages by current Painting and Printmaking Graduate Students.) The Department has Photography and Graphic Design areas for those students interested in digital output; the philosophy of the printmaking area is that digital imaging is an excellent tool for doing preparatory work for traditional print processes, as well as for making promotional materials. Traditional processes in etching, intaglio and relief are emphasized as well.
Each term undergraduates, graduates, and faculty engage in a print exchange which usually draws between 25 and 30 participants; works exchanged have included everything from traditional editioned prints to hand-made paper, photographs, digital images, monotype series, and low relief sculpture. Two impressions of each print is donated to the annual print sale; the proceeds have been used in the past for supplies and for student travel to workshops and conferences. The program has recently completed exchanges with the Quay School for the Arts in Wanganui, New Zealand, and with the University of Tasmania in Australia.
Printmaking students are encouraged to be active in Florida Printmakers and with the Southern Graphics Council (whose 2000 conference was held at the University of Miami). There is also a continuing series of print exhibitions held in the lobby and hallways of the Rainbow Buidlings of contemporary artists. Rainbow Buidling 2004-05 schedule.
The printshop moved in 2001 into new facilities in the Rainbow Building. Equipment includes a 40 x 60 Griffin etching press, a 30 x 50 Brand etching press, a 32 x 50 Griffin litho press, a 24 x 50 electric Dickerson combination press, approximately 30 litho stones for work up to 27 x 38, a NuArc exposure unit for photographic plates up to 30 x 40 inches, two light tables for exposing screens up to 40 x 60 inches, several screen printing stations and approximately 200 silkscreens. There is a ventilated area for acid work, spraypainting, and screen cleaning. Graduate students are housed in private studios adjacent to the communal studio area. The Painting / Printmaking computer lab contains thirteen Power Mac G4 computers, three flatbed scanners, two slide scanners, two Epson 3000 inkjet printers, an Epson 7000 and 9600 wide format printers, and a laser printer.
