Undergraduate Overview

This course offers students the opportunity to explore printmedia as a viable contemporary practice. Students will examine the formal qualities of the printed mark as well as issues of multiplicity, replication, and dissemination inherent to the medium. To aid student understanding, this course will balance discussions of relevant artists and thinkers with a range of technical and conceptual approaches. Students will engage in two processes which may include screenprinting, plate lithography, relief printmaking, intaglio, and book arts depending on the faculty. Students will learn additional print techniques like stencils, monoprints, and participate in a Risography print exchange, in conjunction with concepts germane to this diverse and historically significant area of creative production. Guided by assigned readings, presentations, assignments and group critiques students will develop a body of work in dialogue with contemporary printmedia.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore printmedia as a viable contemporary practice. Students will examine the formal qualities of the printed mark as well as issues of multiplicity, replication, and dissemination inherent to the medium. To aid student understanding, this course will balance discussions of relevant artists and thinkers with a range of technical and conceptual approaches. Students will engage in two processes which may include screenprinting, plate lithography, relief printmaking, intaglio, and book arts depending on the faculty. Students will learn additional print techniques like stencils, monoprints, and participate in a Risography print exchange, in conjunction with concepts germane to this diverse and historically significant area of creative production. Guided by assigned readings, presentations, assignments and group critiques students will develop a body of work in dialogue with contemporary printmedia.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore printmedia as a viable contemporary practice. Students will examine the formal qualities of the printed mark as well as issues of multiplicity, replication, and dissemination inherent to the medium. To aid student understanding, this course will balance discussions of relevant artists and thinkers with a range of technical and conceptual approaches. Students will engage in two processes which may include screenprinting, plate lithography, relief printmaking, intaglio, and book arts depending on the faculty. Students will learn additional print techniques like stencils, monoprints, and participate in a Risography print exchange, in conjunction with concepts germane to this diverse and historically significant area of creative production. Guided by assigned readings, presentations, assignments and group critiques students will develop a body of work in dialogue with contemporary printmedia.

Students are introduced to basic intaglio methods such as drypoint, etching, soft ground, aquatint, chine colle, multi-plate printing, and color ink techniques. Use of specific tools and papers is an essential part of the course. Through examples, discussion, and demonstrations students will learn to identify and select methods that suit their expressive needs and concepts.

Students are introduced to lithography through an exploration of stone lithography¿s characteristic dynamic range of direct drawn, painterly and graphic possibilities for image development. Emphasis is placed on gaining a thorough understanding of lithographic principles and printing processes. Class demonstrations and critiques are supported by consideration and discussion of contemporary and historic examples and a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago¿s print study room

Students are introduced to lithography through an exploration of stone lithography¿s characteristic dynamic range of direct drawn, painterly and graphic possibilities for image development. Emphasis is placed on gaining a thorough understanding of lithographic principles and printing processes. Class demonstrations and critiques are supported by consideration and discussion of contemporary and historic examples and a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago¿s print study room

Students learn traditional and experimental approaches to relief printmaking. Techniques covered are woodcut, linocut, wood engraving, relief etching, monoprints, and other press and hand-printing relief processes.

Students learn traditional and experimental approaches to relief printmaking. Techniques covered are woodcut, linocut, wood engraving, relief etching, monoprints, and other press and hand-printing relief processes.

In this course, students acquire technical proficiency in the various stencil printing methods. Individual exploration and development in the medium is encouraged and supported by individual instruction and group critiques.

Artists' Books is a beginning/intermediate level course that focuses on the fundamental techniques of bookbinding so as to be able to design and produce one or an edition of artists' books and boxes. The class begins by learning a range of traditional binding techniques, discussing material choices, and learning about the history of artists' books. Later on breaking out of the box to take risks, explore concepts and unconventional materials will be strongly encouraged for individual projects. In addition, the intention of this class is to meld your own studio work and personal expression with the form of artists' books.

Artists' Books is a beginning/intermediate level course that focuses on the fundamental techniques of bookbinding so as to be able to design and produce one or an edition of artists' books and boxes. The class begins by learning a range of traditional binding techniques, discussing material choices, and learning about the history of artists' books. Later on breaking out of the box to take risks, explore concepts and unconventional materials will be strongly encouraged for individual projects. In addition, the intention of this class is to meld your own studio work and personal expression with the form of artists' books.

Artists' Books is a beginning/intermediate level course that focuses on the fundamental techniques of bookbinding so as to be able to design and produce one or an edition of artists' books and boxes. The class begins by learning a range of traditional binding techniques, discussing material choices, and learning about the history of artists' books. Later on breaking out of the box to take risks, explore concepts and unconventional materials will be strongly encouraged for individual projects. In addition, the intention of this class is to meld your own studio work and personal expression with the form of artists' books.

This class introduces students to the concepts and production of distributable artists' objects. Working closely with faculty, students will develop projects to be printed on the Heidelberg offset press. Utilizing this high-volume printing process, students¿ potential outcomes may include but are not limited to prints, books, zines, posters, stickers, cards, and packaging. Image creation methods include digital, photo, collage, and hand-drawing. Adobe Creative Suite and a variety of binding and packaging techniques will be demonstrated.
Through hands-on examples, readings, discussions, and visits to special collections, such as the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, students will acquire knowledge of a wide range of historical and contemporary artworks made in multiple. Students will apply this knowledge and their new technical skills to inform their planning and execution of printing and publishing projects.
Over the semester, students can expect to complete 3-6 multi-color offset projects and participate in two critiques.

This class introduces students to the concepts and production of distributable artists' objects. Working closely with faculty, students will develop projects to be printed on the Heidelberg offset press. Utilizing this high-volume printing process, students¿ potential outcomes may include but are not limited to prints, books, zines, posters, stickers, cards, and packaging. Image creation methods include digital, photo, collage, and hand-drawing. Adobe Creative Suite and a variety of binding and packaging techniques will be demonstrated.
Through hands-on examples, readings, discussions, and visits to special collections, such as the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, students will acquire knowledge of a wide range of historical and contemporary artworks made in multiple. Students will apply this knowledge and their new technical skills to inform their planning and execution of printing and publishing projects.
Over the semester, students can expect to complete 3-6 multi-color offset projects and participate in two critiques.

Students develop intaglio techniques at an intermediate and advanced level. Demonstrated techniques include drypoint, etching, engraving, aquatint, sugarlift, spitbite, whiteground, softground, multi-plate printing, photographic and digital image making, as well as a variety of experimental approaches to plate making and printing. Skills taught in this course build on those acquired in beginning etching, and students will expand upon previous projects and develop new approaches to exploring content and understanding intaglio techniques.

Advanced exploration is encouraged in the screenprinting medium. Emphasis is placed on individual experimentation, development and the refinement of technical skills. Processes offered include large format printing, 4-color separation, and other advanced traditional photographic and digital techniques.
In this intermediate and advanced screenprinting class, students will further explore the use of screenprinting techniques in order to strengthen their studio practice. Processes explored may include hand stencil techniques, stencil blockout progressions, light sensitive stencils with hand-drawn and photo-based imagery, spot and process coloring, color registration, and alternative surface techniques. Students will also be exposed to historical examples of the applications of screenprinting through the Prints and Drawings Study Room at AIC and/or the Joan Flasch Artists Books Collection. Because this is a 3000 level course, students should already have a working knowledge of screenprinting techniques.

Many printmakers make sculptures. Many sculptors make prints. This course focuses on the connections between relief printmaking and welded metal sculpture. When an artist is interpreting the same idea between two and three dimensions, the forms take on new lives and previously unseen relationships are formed. This class will meet in the Printmedia shop with metal fabrication instruction and assignments occurring in the metal shop.

Students will learn metal fabrication and welding processes including oxy/acetylene welding, MIG welding, and shaping sheet metal using a torch. In the print shop, students will learn a variety of relief printing processes with a focus on layering. Students will utilize hand carving, CNC routed matrixes, and painterly marks. By zooming in and out on small formal moments, ideas will be translated and remixed across dimensions. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of artists working between sculpture and printmaking/drawing including Martin Puryear, Kiki Smith, Richard Hunt, Judy Pfaff, Willard Boepple, Richard Rezac, Ruth Asawa, Leonardo Drew, Alyson Shotz, Fred Wilson, Joan Jonas, David Nash, Wangechi Mutu, Jannis Kounellis, Frank Stella, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Jenny Holzer, Huma Bhabha, Ann Hamilton, Rachel Whiteread, Do Ho Suh, Christopher Wool, and Ursula Von Rydingsvard.

Students will complete a series of small to midsize sculptures in tandem with a series of relief prints. The class will culminate in a mock exhibition where student¿s sculptures and prints will interact as the viewer¿s body moves through the space.

Advanced Artists' Books is an intermediate to advanced course for students with prior experience in bookmaking who are ready to deepen their technical skills and conceptual approaches. The class emphasizes integrating visual and written materials across sequential pages while exploring advanced binding techniques and experimental structures. Students will be challenged to pursue complex, personalized projects that require critical thinking, risk-taking, and creative use of materials. Alongside technical development, the course highlights analysis of contemporary practices in book arts and encourages students to expand their understanding of how book forms function as both artistic objects and modes of communication. Midway through the semester, students will participate in a group exhibition at the Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection (JFABC), providing a professional platform for showcasing their work.

This course will look at the inseparable link between comic stories and how they are reproduced. In the first half of the semester, we will gain familiarity with screenprint and risograph printing techniques, look at historical and contemporary examples of how artists employ print technology to tell stories and do in-class exercises. In the second half, students will produce their own printed comics and discuss them in group critiques.

This course will look at the inseparable link between comic stories and how they are reproduced. In the first half of the semester, we will gain familiarity with screenprint and risograph printing techniques, look at historical and contemporary examples of how artists employ print technology to tell stories and do in-class exercises. In the second half, students will produce their own printed comics and discuss them in group critiques.