Rio Grande Unveils Little River Print Project

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The University of Rio Grande School of Fine Arts proudly announces the release of its first seven editions of the Little River Print Project.

The faculty-directed, student-run workshop creates fine art prints in collaboration with regional and national visiting artists.

“It’s a unique opportunity to work with professional artists and see how they structure an image,” said Rio Grande Professor of Art and Master Printer Benjy Davies. “It’s unusual to get this level of experience as an undergraduate; It’s more of a graduate-level opportunity. It also offers unique networking opportunities for Rio Grande students.”

The first seven editions of the Little River Print Project include: “Country Kitty’s Meatball Dreamin’” by Kelly O’Brien (Stout, Wis.), “Mashers, Mauls and Mallets” by John Leyland (Ann Arbor, Mich), “Not Satanic” by Gerry Enrico (Point Pleasant, W.Va.), “Pilgrimage” by Katherine Cox (Huntington, W.Va.), “She Never Lived a Life of Sin, The Boredom Just Did Her In” by Adrian Blackstock (Charleston, W.Va.), “Soujourning” by Katherine Cox and “Sundown in Jackson” by Traci Molloy Brooklyn, N.Y.).

Each artist is selected by a committee of faculty and students, invited to Rio Grande to draw, design and create the wood block, etching plate, lithographic stone, transparencies or screens with which to create a series of twenty identical prints. Davies and Rio Grande Visual Arts students prepare the paper and printing surfaces, mix the inks, ink the matrices, register colors, collate, distribute and document the finished edition.

Each edition is split with the participating artist. The Ester Allen Greer Museum and each printer get one print from Rio’s share, with remaining prints available for sale. Those interested can contact Davies at [email protected] or 740-245-7372.

“I love it. … If you really love art and the process, the actually creating of art, then it’s just a miraculous feeling,” said Rio Grande Visual Arts junior Klaire Smith. “It may not be my drawing, but I made this; I’m the person responsible for it.”

Smith and fellow Visual Arts students Samantha Proffitt, Kia Wright and Kayla Malone worked with Davies to produce the first seven editions. Smith estimated the trio logged about 300 hours on the project.

“The project gives me an opportunity to practice the technical skills in printmaking,” Smith said. “I want to go to graduate school for printmaking, so it’s a little glimpse of what my career may be.”

The Little River Print Project started in 2012 and was supported by the Provost’s Academic Excellence Initiatives in 2013-14. The project will continue with three additional prints planned for the 2014-15 academic year.