February 21, 2013
Richmond Center for Visual Arts, room 2008
5:30 p.m.
Michael Sims established The Lawrence Lithography Workshop in 1979 in Lawrence, Kansas as a contract printing and teaching facility for local and regional artist. It provided a place where artists with little or no printmedia experience could collaborate with a master printer to produce original lithographs. It was one of the very few independent presses in the Midwest. Over time, the workshop expanded its operation beyond contract printing for local artists to an increased emphasis on publishing regional and national artists. Today most projects are done on an invitational basis with TLLW acting as the primary publisher or co-publisher, though contract printing remains a significant part of the business.
Sims received his M.F.A. in printmedia in 1971 from Ohio University and began teaching lithography and drawing at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He has also taught at Western Michigan University, Centro de Ensenafzua Graficas (Center for the Study of Graphic Arts) in Caracas, Venezuela and Western New Mexico University.
To date, The Lawrence Lithography Workshop has collaborated with over 130 artists from across the United States. Among them are: Ron Adams, Nick Bubash, Paul Brach, Susan Davidoff, Archie Scott Gobber, Julie Green Robert Green, Edward Henderson, Peregrine Honig, Tom Huck, Benito Huerta, Gesine Janzen, Luis Jimenez, Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton, Mike Lyon, Alden Mason, John Newman, Ed Paschke, Zigmunds Priede, Warren Rosser, Miriam Schapiro, Roger Shimomura, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Robert Stackhouse, Robert Sudlow, Akio Takamori, Theodore Waddell and William Wiley.