Richmond Center for Visual Arts hosts exhibition highlighting contemporary prints from WMU Art Collection

Contact: Katie Mumby

January 9, 2023

Wprls include “Passport” by Robert Rauschenberg and the print “Historical Culture” by Jan Voss. — The new exhibition features on the left “Passport” by Robert Rauschenberg and to its right the print “Historical Culture” by Jan Voss. The works are part of a specialized subcollection that includes 70 pieces within the larger University Art Collection.

From left to right, prints by Robyn O'Neil, Ruth Zachary, Gesine Janzen and Warrington Colescott.

Prominently featured on the right is the print the print “Blackburn” by Ron Adams with a print to its left by Robert Motherwell and another by Cy Twombly. — Prominently featured on the right is the print “Blackburn” by Ron Adams with a print to its left by Robert Motherwell and another by Cy Twombly.

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—An art exhibition of 70 prints demonstrating an incredibly wide-ranging history of printmaking will be on display at Western Michigan University beginning Tuesday, Jan. 17.

The James W. and Lois I. Richmond Center for Visual Arts (RCVA) will feature the exhibition “Wall x Paper: Contemporary Prints from the University Art Collection,” through Feb. 25. The display is in concert with the presentation of “Girl’s Own Guide,” an exhibition by Ginger Owen-Murakami in the Rose Netzorg and James W. Kerr Gallery, which is also open to the public.

Rooted in the belief that learning directly from art objects remains absolutely key, the main purpose of the print collection is to enrich the educational experience of Frostic School of Art students, faculty and staff.

A specialized subcollection within the larger University Art Collection, the print collection was initiated in 1969 by Curtis Rhodes, professor emeritus of art, and today includes more than 800 works on paper. Originally housed in the Frostic School of Art’s previous home, Sangren Hall, the collection relocated to the then newly built Richmond Center for Visual Arts in 2007. Nichole Maury, professor of art and curator of the print collection, assumed oversight of the print collection in the early 2000s and worked with graduate student Patrick Trimbath to rehouse and reorganize it.

The collection includes works from diverse processes, techniques and aesthetics, the print collection continues to serve as a flexible and evolving teaching device. This exhibition features artists from both the print and general collection whose work pushes boundaries and challenges established traditions of artmaking.

“Wall x Paper” includes an extensive and assorted array of contemporary artists, including Laylah Ali, Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton, Sol Lewitt, Robert Rauschenberg, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Roger Shimomura and Cy Twombly, among dozens of other notable artists.

For more information, contact Katie Mumby, coordinator of exhibitions at (269) 387-2455 or by email.

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