By JENNIFER K. BAUER
LEWISTON — One of the most interesting things about the art of printmaking is that humans have found so many ways to make their mark.
The exhibit “Off the Press,” opening Friday, April 11 at the Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts & History, explores the marks of Clarkston artist Joel DeTray, whose range of techniques include intaglio, linocut and monotypes.
“His work alone encompasses many different kinds of printmaking,” says exhibit curator Kelsey Grafton.
DeTray is probably best known for his more-than-25-year career as a custom jewelry maker, but his print work is prolific. He retired his retail store in October to re-establish the business as his studio.
The center’s exploration of printmaking journeys through time to the early wood engravings of work by legendary Western artist Frederic Remington.
“Dramatic Moments: Frederic Remington, Early Engraving, 1882-1883” is a collection of vintage Harper’s Weekly prints consisting of more than 25 large-format works on loan from the collection of Lee Silliman of Missoula, Mont.
Remington journeyed out West in the 1880s in the fading days of the frontier. The sketches and paintings he mailed back carried an air of authenticity among Easterners.
He sold his early work to Harper’s Weekly, which later sent Remington to Arizona as an artist-correspondent to cover the government’s war against Geronimo. The magazine later launched a promotional campaign to raise Remington’s status to rank among America’s top illustrators, according to the website www.frederic-remington.org. Today he is considered one of the West’s most famous fine art painters.
Silliman, a retired high school teacher and part-time photo archivist for the Powell County Museum and Arts Foundation in Deer Lodge, Mont., will discuss the collection at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 11 at the center.
Printmakers’ tools will be on display, and a variety of hands-on workshops are planned to coincide with the exhibit, which runs through May 23. Tony Sittner of Lewiston will present Introduction to Letterpress printing Saturday and April 18. Lewiston artist Ray Esparsen will offer a class in Relief Printing May 1. Moscow artist Laurel Macdonald will teach linoleum prints May 5. DeTray will teach drypoint technique May 14 and 21. Details and registration are available online at www.lcsc.edu/ce or by calling (208) 792-2447.
In addition to the printmaking exhibit, work by area children will be on display in the upstairs galleries. The Stephen Lyman Memorial Children’s Art Exhibit will be shown in Galleries V and VI, accompanied by the “Pet Portrait Project” by Grantham Elementary Grizzlies’ Arts Program in Gallery VII.
If you go
What: “Joel DeTray: Off the Press” and other exhibits
When: 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 10 — Opening reception 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 11 — Lecture on the Remington collection by Lee Silliman 1 p.m. Saturday, April 11 — Second Saturday family art day
Where: Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts & History, 415 Main St., Lewiston
Cost: Free
Of Note: Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Docent tours can be scheduled by calling (208) 792-2243.
