TODAY COULD BE THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!

Ben Blount, Chicago-area letterpress printer, teacher, and designer had an action-packed few days last week with printmaking students from Western Michigan University, high school students with the language arts Academically Talented Youth Program (ATYP), 4th and 5th graders from Lincoln International Studies School and adults in an all-day letterpress workshop. He also gave a lecture at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center and attended the opening of his exhibition titled Present Perfect here at the KBAC Gallery. We did give him a bit of time to grab a few gulps of water, a bite of a sandwich, and some sleep.

Each group was instructed on the basics of letterpress printing with wood type. The youngest had the opportunity to print bookmarks and talk about the importance of powerful words.  The older kids, with over two hours in the studio instead of just 40 minutes, created posters with their favorite song lyric or quote. Some of the older students worked in teams, some on their own. They laid out their words with care and mixed their favorite colors with ink. At one point, four presses were in use at the same time which could have been quite chaotic, but the level of concentration was high, and some great work was created. 

No one had done anything like this before. In fact, none of them even had an inkling of what letterpress is and its importance in history. This made the excitement of experiential learning in a different environment even more effective.

A few observations from these students:

“I had no idea how this worked. I thought posters like this were screen printed. It’s like putting together a f*#king cool puzzle.”  -- WMU print student

“It was a remarkable way to spend an afternoon:  it was challenging and fulfilling. I created an uplifting message to myself that I going to hang in my room” - High school ATYP language arts student

“I’d like to do this as my job!” – 5th grader

“If I made a poster it would say ‘Racism Isn’t Nice’ ” – 5th grader

We are so fortunate to bring in talented guest artists like Ben. Every student that left the studio learned something new. Visiting artists always open the eyes of the students they reach and the visitors that experience their work in our gallery. Many thanks to Special Collections & Rare Books and the Visiting Scholars and Artists Program at WMU for co-sponsoring this experience. Ben’s letterpress work remains in our gallery through Art Hop on November 4.  Please stop by!

Jeff, Katie and Lorrie

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