Advanced Printmaking Students Show Their Work at Printfest 2018

For the first time, a group of students from the Department of Art displayed their work at Printfest, a three-day annual print fair in New York City hosted by the International Print Center of New York (IPCNY). The event aims to give M.F.A. and senior B.F.A. students the opportunity to exhibit, sell, and trade their work during New York Print Week in October, and introduces younger students to career paths they might pursue after art school.

The department added Printfest to its annual Print Week field trip led by Associate Professor Elisabeth Meyer, Associate Professor Gregory Page, and AAP's printmaking specialist Julianne Hunter. William Demaria (B.F.A. '20), Lucy Plowe (B.F.A. '20), Libby Rosa (B.F.A. '19), Emma Ulen-Klees (M.F.A. '20), and student-staff Daisy Wiley were among students selected by the faculty to display their work.

"The students we selected have been working in the medium of prints for several years, and they have invested in it as a major part of their art practice," Page said.

Now in its fourth year, Printfest 2018 took place October 25–27 in Manhattan's Chelsea gallery district. More than 20 colleges and university art schools participated, including New York School of the Arts, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, and RISD, among others, whose students hosted booths and attended panels and workshops.

ICPNY invited Cornell to participate in Printfest as a result of a connection made by Plowe during her summer internship with the organization. Plowe is a student in Associate Professor Elisabeth Meyer's advanced class Print Media: Monotype. "I think it was beneficial for art students to talk with their peers about showing and selling their work," Plowe said. Wiley, also taking Meyer's monotype class, appreciated how the event drew people from diverse parts of the art world and across disciplines, from artists to students to art appreciators. "I even had a chance to speak with an attendee whose field is French literature, who drew connections to the artwork through that background," she said.

Demaria is taking Page's advanced class The Artist's Book and Object Multiple. He appreciated being able to talk with curators, gallery directors, and a former director of IPCNY, and also sold several engravings and engraved monoprints. Ulen-Klees, the graduate teaching associate for Page's Introduction to Print Media class, said the students in her class were excited to see the work being done in the advanced classes.

For Page, Printfest was a valuable addition to the Print Week field trip. "Printfest served as both an important extension and integral part of Print Week's other venues. It gave the students on the field trip an opportunity to experience Cornell's participation at this level of printmaking as a viable practice for them to contemplate."

New York Print Week consists of an array of fairs hosted by museums and nonprofit organizations, as well as exhibitions, gallery talks, demonstrations, and openings focused on printmaking.

By Patti Witten