Anchor Graphics: 25 Years of Printmaking

Anchor Graphics: 25 Years of Printmaking,
An Anchor Graphics retrospective exhibition.
October 17, 2019- January 24,2020
Opening reception: Thursday, October 17, 2019
Hokin Gallery, 623 S Wabash Ave, 1st Floor, Chicago, IL 60605 

Curated by Chris Flynn, former Master Printmaker at Anchor Graphics

Anchor Graphics was a non-profit fine art press that brought together, under professional guidance, a diverse community of youth, emerging and established artists, and the public. Their aim was to advance the fine art of printmaking by integrating education with the creation of prints. The press was founded by David Jones and Marilyn Propp in 1990. It later became a program of the Art + Design department within Columbia College Chicago’s School of Fine and Performing Arts in 2006 and continued its mission within the college until 2015. 

Reflecting on the start of Anchor Graphics, founder David Jones says, “Our priority was to have a professional, community-accessible fine art print shop, but also a place where artists could work that was conducive to creative risk-taking. It would be a place where their ideas and imagery would be respected, and the artists’ creativity encouraged and facilitated.” Their model was “one of complete collaboration.”   

Anchor Graphics: 25 Years of Printmaking celebrates Anchor Graphics’ ten-year partnership with Columbia College, and their work as an important center for printmaking in Chicago for over twenty-five years. The exhibition features artworks created through two of Anchor Graphics’ central printmaking programs: Published Editions, where artists collaborated with Master Printers, David Jones and Chris Flynn, on all technical aspects of production; and the Artist in Residence program, which supported the national printmaking community by granting uninterrupted studio access to printmakers from all over the United States. It is organized and managed by students in the Hokin Project, a Gallery Management practicum course.

The Hokin Project is an arts management practicum course that provides students of all majors with professional experience in the development, curation, and execution of exhibitions, including programs and events at the Hoking Gallery. The project operates through student run collaborations between the Business and Entrepreneurship Department and the Department of Exhibitions, Performance, and Student Spaces (DEPS) of Columbia College Chicago.

Participating artists:
Katrina Andry, Michael Barnes, McArthur Binion, Phyllis Bramson, Nyame Brown, Alison Carey, Paul Catanese, Elke Claus, Sue Coe, Don Colley, Nick Conbere, Daniel Greenberg, Kevin Hass, Krista Hoefle, Laurie Hogin, Richard Hull, Margo Humphrey, Industry of the Ordinary (Adam Brooks and Mathew Wilson), John Jacobsmeyer, Zoltan January, Mary Jones, Anita Jung, Lauren Kussro, Leonard Lehrer, Alan Lerner, Beauvais Lyons, Kerry James Marshall, China Marks,Taryn McMahon, Alain Douglas Parks, Kathryn Polk, Richard Repasky, Kay Rosen, Jeanine Coupe Ryding, Hollis Sigler, Nicholas Sistler, Slated Portfolio (Ed Paschke, Tim Anderson, Chris Flynn, Richard Hull, Michiko Itatani, Teresa James, Ayanah Moore, Marilyn Propp, Karl Wirsum.), Megan Sterling, Fred Stonehouse, Karl Wirsum, Jonathan Thomas, Lenore Thomas & Justin Strom and Saya Woolfalk.

Exhibition Contact: Bob Blandford, rblandford@colum.edu
Gallery Hours: Monday- Friday 9 a.m.- 8 p.m., Saturday 10a.m.- 5 p.m.  Sunday, Closed