50 years of printmaking and research at Normal Editions Workshop celebrated with events at University Galleries – News

University Galleries is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Normal Editions Workshop in a big way.

A full schedule of events, all free and open to the public, is being hosted by University Galleries in Uptown Normal in honor of the collaborative print research and publishing workshop within Illinois State’s Wonsook Kim School of Art. That includes an exhibition, Collaboration in Progress: Normal Editions Workshop at 50, which runs through March 25. Details for all events are listed on the University Galleries website. 

Director and Chief Curator of University Galleries Kendra Paitz, MBA ’06, M.A. ’11, said planning for this historic occasion has been fulfilling work.

“This has been very exciting to work on, a real milestone,” she said. “We have chosen a selection of 50 prints created over the 50 years—a team of us collectively selected the works—and we wanted a range of artists and different types of works created at Normal Editions by visiting artists, faculty, and alumni.”

The exhibited works, she said, are not installed chronologically.

“Our entrance, however, is bookended by the first work and the most recent,” she said.

Paitz said it has been a team effort that required the contributions of many. She praised Lisa Lofgren, M.F.A. ’12, registrar and office coordinator for University Galleries; and Wonsook Kim School of Art Associate Professor of Art Morgan Price, acting director and master printer at Normal Editions, for their dedication to the project. 

“For many exhibitions, an artist and I are working closely on the list of works to include and the layout for the exhibition, but for this, Morgan, Lisa, and I were working together, along with other members of the team,” Paitz said. “Plus, Lisa helped print one of the works when she was a graduate student working at Normal Editions, and she has developed one of our key public programs for this exhibition.”

Paitz and the team at University Galleries are always looking to provide professional development for students, and this anniversary project became the perfect opportunity.

Dianna Miguez, a graduate student in the school of art, designed title signage. Undergraduate student Kaili Stanford helped with planning and spacing to determine how to make 50 prints fit with another exhibition in the gallery space. She also helped with installation, art handling, and brainstorming. Holly Filsinger, M.A. ’23, gallery assistant, took on several tasks throughout the planning and promotion of the exhibition. Tanya Scott, curator of education for University Galleries, and graduate assistants Christina Dababneh and Raya Okorley created a scavenger hunt for the exhibition and a public art-making workshop.

Normal Editions Workshop was established by Distinguished Professor of Art Emeritus James D. Butler and printmaking faculty members Harold Boyd and Raymond E. George. Butler was on faculty from 1976-2009, and his Illinois State career and the workshop began the same year.

“Yes, it started my first year in 1976,” Butler said. “When I came to ISU, I had already started a visiting artists program at SIU-E in 1975, so when I moved here it was with the understanding that there would be a similar program established here. I was doing printing for visiting artists from 1970-75, and it was a lot to bring in the artist, work with my students, while showing my own drawings and paintings in addition to teaching.”

Richard Finch was director of Normal Editions for 37 years. Veda Rives Aukerman, who served as interim director and director for 11 years, started as a student, was a staff member, then followed Finch as director and master printer of the workshop.

“In the beginning, Richard and I worked together on it,” Butler said. “But ultimately, he handled everything.”

Butler, who taught lithography, said the goal was to create a contract print research facility where the best of the best could come and be educated. The concept worked, he said, as some of those elite students went on to teach at universities, sharing many of the ideas they learned at Illinois State.

A primary event of the milestone celebration will be a panel discussion and reception at 4 p.m. on Friday, February 13, at University Galleries. Price will moderate the panel that will include Butler, Finch, and Rives Aukerman.

“It will be a conversation in the space surrounded by the art,” Paitz said. “I’m looking forward to an exciting and productive conversation with the four people who are the core of Normal Editions across its 50-year history.”

Another key event is the public creation of a progressive print. Printmaker Lofgren will lead participants in this all-ages workshop where they will each add a mark to a copper printing plate that will keep changing, mark by mark. Stop by on Friday, February 20, between noon and 7 p.m. to make your mark and receive a print of the work.

Butler, who lives in Bloomington with his wife Kathy, hasn’t stopped creating art.

“I’m in my home studio most days and for as many hours as possible,” he said. “I am an artist. That’s what I am. This is what I do. Once I quit teaching, I could devote myself full-time to my art. There are things I want to do with the art. We do leave a heritage, and we want the work to survive us.

“I was listening to Willie Nelson’s new album, and he’s 92 and still making music. Jasper Johns is 95, and he has a show in New York right now. They’re both inspiring. There’s no guarantee you’ll get that many years, but the goal is to continue to make significant art.”

So, how does it feel to have something you started carry on for half a century?

“Well, 50 years of this is remarkable,” Butler said. “We weren’t sure we’d get to 25 years, and now we’re at 50. It is fulfilling to know that a program like this could continue to sustain itself, but it’s also thanks to the work of Richard and Veda and all the undergraduate and graduate students who have gone all over the world doing great things.”