Kutztown University Prints 1987 to 2019

Evan Summer, Professor of Printmaking at Kutztown University, 1984-5, 1987 to 2019

I’m happy to see these student prints become part of the permanent art collection of Kutztown University. I wanted to share with you how this print collection came into existence. As the Professor of Printmaking, I saved high quality student prints at the end of each semester. These prints were selected from two courses -- Introduction to Printmaking and Printmaking Studio, the advanced course that could be repeated. My intention was to borrow these for one semester for exhibitions around campus, but many were never picked up. In addition, there were class portfolios and a few prints by faculty members and visiting artists who worked in the Kutztown University printmaking studio. 

I retired in 2019 and left these prints in flat files at the university. After I left, Leslie Friedman was hired to teach printmaking courses and found all these prints, many of which were truly outstanding. Covid came shortly after and delayed any action on the prints. Tracking down past students and returning the prints would have been almost impossible.

It was suggested that the prints could be given to interested students or sold cheaply to fund current students going to printmaking conferences. I felt the prints were very good and should be kept together as a collection. Others agreed, and the project was supported by a Strategic Initiative Grant from Kutztown University and the Marlin and Regina Miller Gallery of Kutztown University.

I felt that it was important to keep the works at the University. Leslie and I went through them and selected about 200, although most exhibition spaces can only accommodate a small fraction of that number. We received a grant from the University to preserve and exhibit them. About 35 were selected by the staff at Frontline Arts for the first exhibition of this collection.

While these prints were from my classes, students also benefitted from excellent teaching in drawing, painting and design courses.

There are many other people who deserve thanks for this project, from student workers to the president of the university. I’m listing them in alphabetical order. 

Lorin Basden Arnold

Leslie Friedman

Joy Gonzalez

Ann Marie Hayes-Hawkinson

Kenneth Hawkinson

Rachel Heberling

Madison Jackson

Lindsey Knipe

Angelina Nguyen

Bradley Shope

Karen Stanford

Julia Sweeney

Kath Yarkosky

Hadley Yates

I invite any of you to send me corrections. A lot of information was missing. Spelling, dates and names may be wrong. I definitely see this as a project in progress. If anyone reading this has further information, please email me at evan.summer@gmail.com. 

Dimensions are in inches, Height before width.