Our 43rd National Print Exhibition was juried by professional artist and educator, Marianetta Porter and includes 57 contemporary US artists working in a wide range of printmaking mediums, including intaglio, relief, lithography, screen prints, mono prints and artist books.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 23 from 5-8pm, sponsored by Crestwoods Frame Shop & Gallery.

Exhibiting artists: Soulaf Abas, Christine Abbott, Jay Arpin, David Avery, Janet Ballweg, Brandin Baron, Braeden Baston, Mary Becker, John Bergmeier, Sarah Bogdal, Kate Borcherding, Jody Bruns, Jonah Buehnner, Alan Bundza, Keith Buswell, Karen Brassat Butler, Graham Carraway, Kyle Chaput, Kevin Cummins, Michael Loren Diaz, Lauren Emeritz, Sally Frank, Katherine Fries, Donald Furst, Mary Gordon McFall, Carol Hayman, Yuji Hiratsuka, Theresa Hultberg, Jayne Reid Jackson, Joyce Jewell, David Johnson, Sarojini Johnson, Kazhia Kolb, Jace Laakso, Teddy Lepley, Kathy McGhee, Emmett Merrill, Rachel Mindrup, J. Marc Mueller, James Mullen, Carol Myers, Kristin Powers Nowlin, Colleen Pike-Blair, Andrew Polk, Endi Poskovic, DeAnn Prosia, James Quigley, Lilliana Reinoso, Kevin Schroeder, Kaleena Stasiak, Maya Stern, Aren Straiger, Tyler Thenikl, Naomi Velasquez, Karen Waggoner, Linda Whitney, and Brandon Williams.

Juror Statement

By Marianetta Porter

Artlink’s 43rd National Print Exhibition showcases the depth and dynamism of the printmaking medium. As a visual art form, printmaking embodies unique qualities that set it apart from drawing or painting. Its basic processes involve the transfer of an image from one surface called a matrix (such as a stone, block, plate, etc.) onto another, usually paper. To make a print, the artist typically creates an image on a flat surface. The surface is then inked and pressed against paper to create a print. The simple repetition of this process allows multiple copies to be made. The investment of time and labor required to meticulously produce each print belies this seemingly simple task. The 43rd National Print Exhibition celebrates the care, attention and dedication each artist has brought to this creative endeavor.

Printmaking, while rooted in age-old traditions, remains open to a multitude of approaches and processes. Contemporary artists are expanding the range of printmaking technologies to explore both analogue and digital techniques. In this exhibition, traditional techniques of woodcut, intaglio and lithography stand alongside experimental and collaged works, making for a cornucopia of artistic delights. The connections and synergies created between the works reflect the poetry as well as the endless possibilities inherent in this beloved medium.

Juror Awards

It’s hard to qualify judgements in art. Yet there are consistent qualities that make good artwork “good”: Evidence of visual acuity (a sensitivity to form, space, texture and color in a composition), technical dexterity, creative design approaches both in thinking and in making, as well as an understanding of the work’s content in relationship to surrounding contexts.

In addition, there are also qualities that make an artwork meaningful: It captures life as it happens and/or documents its passing. It presents us with unique, interesting points of view. It calls to mind contrasts and draws similarities. Good art makes new things seem familiar and familiar things new again. It is magical and mysterious—on a two-dimensional surface, art can seduce us into an experience of spatial depth, movement and the passage of time. Art draws us close and takes us far away. It shows us the world through our own reflections and accentuates the texture of things. Art expresses and evokes emotions, translating those feelings into a universal language we can all understand. These thoughts guided my selection of the 43rd National Print Exhibition award winners. Each artist, in their own way, has beautifully merged form and meaning(fulness) into innovative, compelling visual prints. Though speaking of photography, Matt Hardy’s words ring true: “Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing that beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph”. The artworks chosen for recognition embody these sensitivities, sensibilities, and the excellence that photographer, Matt Hardy so eloquently speaks of. Congratulations to the award winners—thank you for “seeing and composing that beauty”.

Thanks to all of the artists who have shared their works with us...and to those who have given generously to make this exhibition possible. It has been an honor.

1st Place: “Window Columns” by Christine Abbott

2nd Place: “Outcrop” by Mary Gordon McFall

3rd Place: “Ungrateful” by Michael Loren Diaz

Honorable Mentions to “Hope” by Lauren Emeritz, “Afternoon Excursion” by Kathy McGhee, “Routine” by Rachel Mindrup, “Earth and Sky” by Carol Myers and “St. Louis, 2017: The Beauty of America” by Kristin Powers Nowlin.

About the Juror

M.F.A., University of Michigan, 1983

B.F.A., Hampton University, 1975

Marianetta Porter has worked as a product designer for Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and for Ford Motor Company. She served on the faculties of the School of Design at North Carolina State University and University of Michigan’s Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design. Awarded the UM Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, Porter was granted Professor Emeritus status in 2021.

Porter is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Smithsonian Senior Research Fellowship Award, the Smithsonian Laureate Award, and Rockwood National Fellowship Award. She has served as a visiting artist at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, the Art Institute of Chicago’s Ox-Bow Program and East Carolina University. Her work has been exhibited widely including in Bremen, Germany and Beijing, China, as well as at the California African American Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Charleston’s Spoleto Festival, the Harriet Tubman Museum, the Charles H. Wright Museum, and the Hampton University Museum of Art.