West Virginia University School of Art and Design students are currently showing their works at the Artists Image Resource, a non-profit gallery and fine art press located in Pittsburgh, through April 19.

The WVU student works are part of two exhibitions, titled “Old hat” and “Confluence.”

There will be a reception for the exhibitions on April 19 at the gallery from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

Since 1996, printmakers at AIR have been creating new work and also exhibiting the work of artists from all over the world.

WVU art students have been taking part in semester-long residencies at AIR for the past 10 years. The proximity of WVU to Pittsburgh, and the close relationship between AIR Director Robert Beckman and WVU Printmaking professor Joseph Lupo has nurtured this distinctive program.

The exhibition “Old hat” features the work of WVU undergraduate printmaking students Sam Boehm and Alex Martin, who created the works during their residency at AIR this year.

“Confluence” features artwork made by several WVU School of Art and Design graduate students working in various media, such as ceramics, printmaking and sculpture. The MFA students in the exhibition include Ryan Brislawn, Nate Ditzler, Megan Gainer, Violet Goode, Brett Herron, Kaitlyn Hunter, Sarah Olsen, Meghan Olson, Silas Spellman and Xia Zhang.

“The School of Art and Design’s printmaking program has been sending student interns to AIR since 2004,” said Lupo, who is head of the Printmaking program at WVU. “The students travel to Pittsburgh one day a week to work at the gallery. They work on current AIR projects and also make their own artwork using AIR’s facilities.

“Both the internship and exhibition are unique aspects of the School of Art and Design printmaking program,” he said. “It is unusual for undergraduate students from any art program to have the opportunity to show their work at an established gallery like AIR.”

AIR is located at 518 Foreland Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. For more information, contact Director Robert Beckman at rbeckman@artistsimageresource.org or see the website at: http://www.artistsimageresource.org/.

For more information about the student works and the School of Art and Design MFA programs in studio arts, contact Joseph Lupo at Joseph.Lupo@mail.wvu.edu,or phone 304-293-2703.

-WVU-

cl/4/9/14

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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