Marwin Begaye’s relief print titled Atseettsoii – Redtail Hawk is part of the Print, Printing, Printed art exhibit at Highlands through March 17.
Monika Steinhoff’s etching aquatint titled Santa Fe River III is part of the New Mexico Printmakers art exhibit at Highlands through March 20.
Las Vegas, N.M. – Two original fine art print exhibits opening at Highlands University Feb. 15 offer a large variety of techniques from regional and New Mexico printmakers.
Print, Printed, Printing is in the Burris Hall Gallery at 903 National Ave. through March 17 while New Mexico Printmakers is in the Kennedy Gallery at 905 University Ave. through March 20.
Opening receptions for both art exhibits are Feb. 19 from 5 – 7 p.m.
Highlands University fine arts professor and printmaker Todd Christensen curated both exhibits.
“These exhibits include a huge variety of different printmaking techniques, like lithography, woodcut, intaglio, silk screen, monotype and more,” Christensen said. “They provide a great opportunity to see the work of established regional and New Mexico printmakers as well as talented newcomers.”
Christensen established the first Print, Printed, Printing exhibit and conference at Highlands in 2010 and organizes the biennial event. Students in his exhibit design class this semester are helping hang both printmaking exhibits.
“Giving our students an opportunity to hang exhibits is important because they need to know how to hang their own artwork and also curate exhibits for other artists. This experience also helps the students market themselves for jobs at art museums and galleries,” Christensen said.
The printmaking conference at Highlands Feb. 19 – 20 features studio printmaking talks and demonstrations from some of the artists exhibiting in the Print, Printing, Printed exhibit.
“My goal with this conference is to involve a wide variety of printmakers from art professors to working artists and graduate art students because they each offer a unique perspective. Another goal is to inspire our students to experiment with their work,” Christensen said.
Cerese Vaden is a fine arts professor at the University of Arizona who will present a studio printmaking demonstration for the conference and has work in the Print, Printing, Printed exhibit.
“Todd Christensen is an incredibly innovative printmaker who breaks outside the boundaries of traditional prints,” Vaden said. “As a teacher, he’s extremely generous with his time and knowledge. Todd’s rich artistic background in a variety of other media like drawing, painting and sculpture inform his teaching.”
Vaden said printmaking is a highly technical as well a social medium, with both elements well represented in the conference.
“My students get valuable hands-on experience and constructive feedback on their work at Todd’s conference. We all have the opportunity to learn great printmaking techniques from each other,” Vaden said.
Other universities participating in the printmaking conference include the University of Colorado – Boulder, University of Wyoming, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and West Texas A & M.
Christensen’s printmaking work has shown in numerous art exhibits from coast to coast in the United States. His original fine art prints hang in permanent collections such as the Denver Art Museum, Gippsland Centre for Art and Design at Monash University in Gipplsand, Australia, Limerick School of Art and Design Special Collection in Limerick, Ireland, Mid-American Print Council Permanent Collection, University of Colorado – Boulder Special Collections, Rutgers University Center for Innovative Print and Paper, and Workshop and the Arts Centre in Willoughby, Australia.