Southern Graphics Council International Trip   

In March 2011, I accompanied 9 current students, and 1 BFA Print Media alumna to St. Louis, Missouri for the SGIC conference: Equilibrium.  This opportunity was made possible through a great deal of hard work, as well as funding from the UR International Student Travel Experience Scholarship. 
For more information on Southern Graphics, go to my Community page, here.
To see pictures from our trip, click here.

Senior Print Media portfolios

Since the winter term of 2009 (in the first year of my tenure-track position), I have been producing a portfolio of prints with senior Print Media students.  Each student agrees to complete an edition of prints that totals the number of participants, plus a specified number of additional copies for archival and fundraising purposes.  Participation is not obligatory, but it can count towards one project or assignment in their senior studio class.  These portfolios have proven extremely popular with the students, and they routinely begin asking me about "the next one" several months before the start of the winter semester.  Because each participant receives a portfolio containing the work of the entire group, they (without fail) work extremely hard on their contribution.  There really is something to be said for peer pressure!  The added bonuses of participation are that they know their work will "live on" in the Print Media archives, that I will very likely show their prints in my "Print Appreciation" sessions throughout the semesters to come, and that the entire portfolio will come in a hand-made enclosure of some kind, with a descriptive colophon page.  As one last incentive to take the project seriously and follow through (and perhaps as a reward), I always participate, so they will ultimately get to have one of my prints in their collection. The portfolios can be seen by clicking the images below.

Printstravaganza

Part of any successful and cohesive Printmaking studio, is the establishment of mutual respect, and collective responsibility.  The most effective (and the most enjoyable) route towards this is through facilitation of a sense of community.  One of the many ways in which I have attempted to do this is through my Printstravaganza dinner parties.  Each September, since 2009, I have invited all of my intermediate and senior Print Media students to my home for dinner and conversation.  I have found that students are very good at establishing community amongst themselves, but often can't (or won't) see themselves as part of a larger group, which can and should include their teachers and the outside cultural community.  The Printstravaganza dinner parties – which this year included BFA Print Media alumni – help them to see their position in a wider context.  To see the poster for the 2011 event, click on the image below.