The WVU School of Art and Design is presenting a historical look at the WVU Art Museum’s print collection in an exhibition titled: “From the Ground Up”.
The exhibition is located in two galleries in the Creative Arts Center and is split into two smaller themed shows. “Influential Prints from History” is being shown in the Paul Mesaros Gallery and focuses on historical prints from Goya to Bellows to Rauschenberg. “Critical Prints of Today” is being shown in the Laura Mesaros Gallery and features more contemporary artists like Tony Fitzpatrick, Nicola Lopez, Arturo Herrera, and Enrique Chagoya. Curator Bob Bridges did a fantastic job of digging deep into the collection to find highlights that would appeal to a wide audience.
In conjunction with this exhibition, WVU alumnus and Pace Prints Director Jacob Lewis gave a public lecture on Thursday, Jan. 19th. He was also gracious enough to have a small discussion with my Advanced Printmaking class. Both of Jacob’s talks were engaging and informative. He talked about how he got from Morgantown, WV to New York, his quick successes, and gave us insights as to what it takes to create a series of prints at Pace.
A 2007 NYT article about Jacob Lewis: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/fashion/08lewis.html?pagewanted=all
A recent Daily Athenaeum article about the exhibition: http://www.thedaonline.com/a-e/historical-prints-on-display-at-cac-1.2749322#.TyFzOCPw9Hk
WVU Press release about Jacob’s visit and the exhibition: http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2012/01/18/printmaking-exhibitions-on-view-at-wvu-s-mesaros-galleries-jan-19-march-8
Joseph Lupo 
Leave a Reply