Marie Sophia Sevier Dyer works on a Vandercook press. Dyer is one of 10 students displaying art in Print Project, a display going up at the Community Development Building in Carson City.
Ten University of Nevada, Reno art students are displaying posters they made in class this summer at Carson City’s Community Development Building, 108 E. Proctor St.
Print Project features posters made by students working in a Wall Works summer class at UNR’s Black Rock Press. They worked with faculty member and artist Amy Thompson, to investigate poster design as a means of communication and artistic practice. Students used text printed on Vandercook proofing presses to explore propaganda and persuasion as a contemporary art form. The course focused on typography and image making techniques in the production of a series of letterpress-printed posters.
The participating student artists include: Rachel Dickson, Michelle Duggan, Marie Sophia Sevier Dyer, Sean Evans, Connor Goicoechea, Maurice Gregory, Alexa Jones, Richard Lin, Timothy Robb and Ashlyn Robinson.
The Black Rock Press preserves the history and traditions of the art of the book while simultaneously turning a creative and critical eye toward its relevance in contemporary art and culture. For more information, go to www.unr.edu/art/black-rock-press.
UNR faculty member, Amy Thompson, who taught this summer class, also teaches Book Arts courses and manages the Black Rock Press, home to the University’s emerging book and graphic arts programs. A printmaker and graphic designer, Thompson uses printmaking and letterpress printing in her own work. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007.
The Print Project show launches CCAI’s 2016–2017 series of student exhibitions at the Community Development Building. The following group exhibitions will present art by students from Carson, Dayton and Douglas high schools; Western Nevada College; and Sierra Nevada College.
The building is open from 8 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. weekdays. The free exhibition will remain in the building’s lobby exhibition space through Aug. 29.
The Capital City Arts Initiative is an artist-centered organization committed to the encouragement and support of artists and the arts and culture of Carson City and the surrounding region. The Initiative is committed to community building for the area’s diverse adult and youth populations through art projects and exhibitions, live events, arts education programs, artist residencies, and its online projects.
CCAI is funded in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Nevada Arts Council, Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, City of Carson City, NV Energy Foundation, U.S. Bank Foundation, and the John and Grace Nauman Foundation.
For more information, go to CCAI’s website at www.arts-initiative.org.