syllabus — ART 229 — Beginning Printmaking

Exhibition Review
Printmaking & Social Commentary

a brief description:

The ability to create multiple identical prints allows printmakers to spread a message to a larger audience. This has been an asset throughout history, as revolutionaries and agents of change have turned to printmakers and the printmaking process to spread their ideas. We now have many technologies that can produce multiples, yet the connection between printmaking and social, political, or cultural change remains important for many artists working in the medium.

For this assignment, you will access one of the 3 sources below, then choose one print (any type of relief, intaglio, planographic, stencil, or monoprint; no digital prints for this assignment) that deals with a social, political, cultural, or global issue. The message in the print may be obvious and central to the imagery, or subtle and contextual.

1) Visit the exhibition “Ink As Witness: Chicago Printmaking Collectives, Alternative Media, & Social Justice”
Chicago Justice Gallery, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)
1344 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607
Hours listed on website (please check before you go)
Tues by appointment; Wed 12-5pm; Thurs 12-5pm; Fri 12-5pm; closed Sat-Mon and select holidays
Galley contact: sjichicago@uic.edu
Exhibition Dates: September 25, 2026-July 9,2027

2) Visit the exhibition Press & Pull: A Legacy of the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
Gallery 400, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)
400 S Peoria St, Chicago, IL 60607
Hours listed on website (please check before you go)
Tues-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat 12-5pm; closed Sun-Mon
Galley phone: 312-996-6114
Exhibition Dates: September 11, 2026-December 12, 2026

3) Search the DePaul Art Museum Collections, accessible online or in person by appointment.
ONLINE
DPAM collection online (search the entire collection or check out the tabs for “works on paper” or Latinx Acquisitions”
Check out the resource guides as well
IN PERSON BY APPOINTMENT
Virtual or in-person discussions are available by appointment from Mon-Thurs 10am-3pm. Please email artmuseum@depaul.edu or complete this form.

You will then research and analyze the print, and write a paper explaining it as if you were writing a museum guide about the work for an uninformed viewer.

required content items for the paper

• Include an image of the work you are writing about. A photograph of the work, a picture of the work in exhibition materials, or a screenshot of an online image are all appropriate. In the rare case that an artwork in an exhibition has a “no photography” sign, just let me know when you submit the paper.
• List the specifics of the work you select (this can be in the body of the paper or as a list) Include: the artist, title, year created, medium, estimate of size if possible, where you saw it, and any other information you find relevant. The medium should specify the kind of printmaking used (see the example section below).

1) CONTEXT: Provide a brief synopsis of the political or cultural concept / topic at hand. Please describe the topic even if it is obvious or contemporary and the reader is likely familiar with it. Why is this an issue for people in this time period? Include a description of the various points of view held by individuals at the time. What is the mood or prevailing social climate of this time period? What are the opposing opinions?

2) ARTIST POV: What point of view does the print show regarding the concept / topic. Of the points of view you identified above, what do you believe is the artist’s point of view? What tone does the artist demonstrate in the print (ex: educational, questioning, critical, alarmist, supportive)? What is the artist is hoping to achieve?

3) DESCRIBE: Assess how the artwork references this topic through its use of details, imagery, symbolism, words, etc. Show the reader the elements of the print that help a viewer understand the topic. Are there details that could help change a viewer’s mind or influence them? Are there aesthetic details that help the viewer stay engaged, or that seem familiar or reference something else?

4) PRINTMAKING: How does the medium of printmaking contribute to the concept, topic, or impact of this piece.

5) CURRENT MOMENT: Relate the print to our current moment in time. How might interpretation of the print shift when viewed through today’s lens? Does it take on new meaning or remain the same? How is the topic of the print relevant now? Why do you think a curator of an exhibition would select this work show at this time?

note: these are items that will be added to the next paper assignment –
they are not required for this paper

1) Expand on how medium of printmaking contribute to the concept, topic, or impact of this piece. Consider the history of printmaking, the versatility of processes, the methods of production, or the nature of multiples. Relate the form of the print to its content/concept.

2) As someone who has made prints, offer insight into how this print was produced (ex: which of the 4 main printmaking methods it falls under, what related processes exist, what tools or equipment might be used, whether the size of the work would complicate production, etc.) Use Printmaking terminology covered in class as needed.

3) As someone who has made prints, assess the formal elements of the work (ex: how the aesthetic/style contributes to the message or engages a viewer, what color choices were made with regard to ink and paper and why.) Use Printmaking terminology covered in class as needed.

4) As someone who has made prints, help your reader understand a specific part of the process that contributed to making this work, or a challenge the artist would have encountered. (Explain something only a printmaker would understand, and share what you’ve learned from this hands-on experience.)

the format:

• Include an image of the work you are writing about.
• 700-1000 words (roughly 2-4 pages, depending on formatting).
• Include your name at the top of the paper or as a header/footer.
• Use legible font and standard margins.
• This paper will be graded as if it is an English composition: spelling, typos, grammar, and paragraph structure will all affect the final grade.
• Citations of sources are incredibly important! This means citations within the body of the paper like a normal research paper and also including a works cited list at the end. I highly suggest the use of gallery guides and other printed gallery materials, but they must be cited if you use them.
  
  Helpful information for citing sources: http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/
  See both “citing sources within your paper” and “assembling a list of works cited.”

Example of using a works cited and citing sources in the body of the paper (multi-page PDF)

Citation Quick Guide:

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html

Use Owl at Purdue for additional writing help: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html

submission:

1) Save your paper as a Microsoft Word Document (I will also accept PDF as needed)

2) Submit on your paper D2L in the appropriate submissions folder by the due date.

optional resources:

· Printmaking terminology

· Use outside sources and existing museum guides or museum wall tags as you analyze the work, explain historic context, and write this paper. As always in college papers, cite these sources.

· DPAM’s resource guides for past exhibitions have great information and they are curated around themes and ideas, including the themes of this assignment!

· DePaul’s Writing Center is a great (free) service that can help you plan, revise and edit written assignments, double check citations, and review other aspects of your writing. This is not a service just for “bad writers”— many talented writers use this service or similar services!

• All Printmaking is Political (article free through the Walker Museum)

example prints with impact

· The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer (woodcut, 1498)

· The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King-Street Boston by Paul Revere (engraving, 1770)

· The Plan of a British Slave Ship reprinted by the Plymouth Abolitionist Committee (relief print on paper, 1788)

· The Disasters of War by Francisco Goya (etching, aquatint, engraving and drypoint,1810-1820)

· The Great Wave off Kanagawa / Under the Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (Ukiyo-e / woodblock, c. 1831)

· I Want You for the US Army by James Montgomery Flagg (chromolithograph, 1917)

· See America (series) by various artists working for The Works Progress Administration (color silkscreen,1935-1943)

· We Can Do It! by J. Howard Miller (commercial lithograph,1943)

· Sharecropper Elizabeth Catlett (color linocut on cream Japanese paper, 1950s)

· Silence = Death by Silence=Death Project Collective / ACT UP (Offset lithograph, 1986)

· When racism and sexism are no longer fashionable, what will your art collection be worth? (poster) by the Guerrilla Girls (offset lithograph on white wove paper, 1989)

· Prints by artists in the Just Seeds cooperative