Printmaking is a vital contemporary graphic art form based on the principle of transferring images from a matrix onto another surface, to paper as well as other surfaces, such as metal and fabric. Print  techniques include woodcut, etching, engraving, lithography, screen print, and monotype, and can utilize drawing and painting skills as well as photography. New and dynamic digital methods have expanded the role of printmaking to be a major force in contemporary art, a tool to investigate and redefine contemporary visual culture.

Housed in an expansive workshop with state-of-the-art facilities, the Printmaking program at Boston University offers students close working relationships with expert professional faculty to develop an individual voice and technical skill. The program approaches printmaking as a unique and flexible discipline, comprising all printmaking media, as well as book arts, installation, and digital media. The department also strongly encourages combined applications and connections with other disciplines. The Printmaking Department is an active, engaged program with a strong emphasis in critical and creative thinking.

Facilities

Printmaking is housed in state-of-the-art facilities, in a brilliant light filled space, with exceptional equipment.

The 5,000-square-foot facilities are thoroughly ventilated, and include five studios with six etching presses, four lithography presses, a stone library, two letterpresses with type, a dedicated acid room, a printmaking darkroom with two large exposure units, a screenprinting lab, and a digital print facility with 12 work stations, five large-format printers, scanner, and 22″Wacom Cintiq Touch Screen.

Printmaking students also have access to BU’s EPIC Center, which provides laser cutting and 3D modeling capability. The print studios at SVA are a common facility that provides a fertile and intensive cross-major setting in which students share ideas, techniques, and processes.

Professional Opportunities

Printmaking students have had the opportunity to study abroad at the Academia in Venice and the Franz Masereel Center in Belgium. SVA provides an Annual Scholarship Award in Printmaking for summer study at the Anderson Ranch Art Center in Colorado.

Students participate in international exhibitions such as at Tianjin Academy in China, Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp, and Norwich University UK. They also exhibit in the Boston Printmakers Student Competition and many national shows. Students regularly attend national conferences of Southern Graphics International, where they participate in exhibits and present their work to the profession.

Boston University School of Visual Arts commands a prominent position in the professional printmaking community as a vibrant center for print activity. The printmaking department has hosted national meetings at Boston University, such as Shifting Grounds, the Southern Graphics Council International Conference, the internationally based Biennial Exhibitions of the Boston Printmakers, and many international visitors. The city of Boston has numerous resources to view prints, both contemporary and historical, in its many museums and library collections.

Students have participated in international exhibitions such as at Tianjin Academy in China, Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp, and Norwich University UK. They also exhibit in the Boston Printmakers Student Competition and many national shows. Students regularly attend national conferences of Southern Graphics International, where they participate in exhibits and present their work to the profession.

Community Opportunities

Students create community fundraising projects for events such as World AIDS Day and Earth Day, where their prints contribute to elevated awareness and aid for social issues.

Printmaking students collaborate in various exchange projects such as with the Kopanang Community Trust in South Africa, dedicated to helping families impacted by AIDS.

They also join other Boston-area printmakers – professional and students – in special projects such as large format steam-roller relief printing at Wellesley College, and in “Iron Printmaker” competitions with other schools’ print department, creating new connections outside the confines of Boston University.

Visiting Artists

Students meet leading print artists from around the world and observe their creative processes firsthand. Prominent printmakers who have spent face time in the print workshop with print students have included:

• William Kentridge
• Pat Steir
• Ibrahim Miranda
• Diane Victor
• Colbert Dashile
• Eric Avery
• Patricia Olynyk
• Andrew Raftery
• Althea Murphy-Price
• Edward Bernstein
• Ingrid Ledent
• Walton Ford & Peter Pettengill
• Bodo Korsig
• Sidney Hurwitz
• Alicia Candiani
• Nancy Palmeri
• Carol Wax
• Emily Arthur
• Nicola Lopez
• Roberto Juarez

Program Faculty

• 

  Lynne Allen

  Professor of Art, Printmaking

• 

  Joshua Brennan

  Technical Associate, Printmaking and Photography; Lecturer, Printmaking

• 

  Deborah Cornell

  Professor of Art; Chair of Printmaking

• 

  Sergei Tsvetkov

  Lecturer in Art, Printmaking