A Peek at the U of M Malcolm Myers Print Shop, and the Print Grad Workspace

This post is specifically for my magnanimous professor Liz Roth's BFA Capstone class.  I've been meaning to post regarding the Graduate experience (since it may be the biggest thing doing in my current repertoire), and this is a perfect excuse.  This blog will inevitably account fir many of the things I did between my B.F.A. and grad school - all lovely experiences, but they should sum up all of the reasons why I was ready for MFA work.  I feel very fortunate to be in this program and live where I do.  I have found a place to learn teach and live, as well as the time to create a body of work that has taken an inspired turn in the last two years.

A view of a corner of my studio.   It's always really dark in here.

A few words about my application process.  I applied to seven schools, and was accepted to 5.  I staggered between private art academies and big state schools.  My first pick was Madison, a top print school.  Applying was arduous and I spent a couple months gathering materials for every package.  Each school wanted something different, in a different order, shape and size.  It took a while to get it all together, and get letters and such, but when I put it in the mail I had no idea I would have so many options.  I met the deadline by several months in some cases, which helped I think.  I applied to each school for a different reason.  Some by the city they were in, some by the acclaim or recognition, others by the affordability, and some merely by recommendation of a trusted source.  Casting a wide net proved invaluable because I decided on what was initially not even in my top three desired programs.    Making this decision was hard after being sought after by so many sources, which was really a thrill.  But visiting each school and meeting students and faculty was a crucial point in my process.  I came to the Twin Cities, and I sincerely love it (7 months of the year).  The facilites are immaculate, and Jerry Krepps and Jenny Schmid made me feel at home right away.   Other grads painted an attractive picture of grad living - only some of which ended up being true for me.

My graduate studio, also known as "Old Man Brockman's Workshop."  Only by me.

I knew coming out of my BFA at OSU that I wanted more studio time, and I wanted to teach.  Few schools offered a guarantee of both.  But U of M was offering a stipend, terrific location and facilities, and faculty I admired and wanted to work with.  It also offered three years as opposed to two - which was a deal breaker for many other programs.  More time is better (especially in the current economic climate) given the gradual nature of my studio practice and research habits.

I did some video that day.

The program breaks 60 total credit hours into three years, roughly 10 a term.  6 must be outside the art department, and 3 must be art history.  The rest may be independent study, or anything you desire.  It sounds easy on paper, but factor in 12 hours a week in class plus TA duties makes the first year pretty slim on studio time.  In my second and third years I have been allowed to teach my own course intro printmaking.  This is comparable in the amount of work, but double the responsibility.   I was also the shop manager in my second year.   Here's a look at our shop.

(Insert joke about the size of a man's roller here.)

Print Grads have our own shop with an etching press, litho press, and various other goodies.

From the Grad-Land to the Malcolm Myers Shop.

 Our Relief/Intaglio Shop has 6 presses, three newer Takach, two Conrad, and one Brand - which vary in size from very small to absolutely huge (see my earlier posts).  

This where I teach.  You can tell because I write all over everything.

Grounds and Aquatint area.

Our acid room has three vertical ferric baths, and room for two large horizontal baths.

We have a great Clea Room for archives, paper tearing and Critiques.

The Litho area has for big presses - two older and two newer Takach.  I was printing a stone at this time.

We have a vast number of stones in varying sizes.  Here is our graining area.

Our screen area has five vacuum tables (and a large one not pictured in the grad space).

Our spray room and emulsion remover soak tanks.

Here are our exposure units - one plate maker and one large commercial exposure unit.  

This is where printmakers do anything photo based: i.e.: Z-Acryl, Photo-litho, Photo screen

We stretch our own screens on this bad boy right here.

So there's a peek at our shop.  You can see some more of  the magic that happens here by looking at the Bohemian Press MAPC photo album, or the Blood Vengeance Blog.  Also please peruse the link to the top left of the page here, and those on the Bohemian Press blog page.  What good is this if I can't shamelessly plug my junk?

In closing, the grad experience has met a lot of my expectations, fell short of many others, and exceeded a few.  I have great people around me here, and know I will miss having all this at my disposal.  I owe a lot of this experience to Bill Goldston, without whom I may never have considered applying here.  My experience at ULAE was a game changer.  Bill is an OSU alum and a U of M alum, and has made a lot possible for me.  You can read about that in previous posts.  Liz Roth, Sallie McCorkle, Angie Piehl, Mark Sisson, and Jack Titus did a lot for me as an undergrad.  They are great allies, supporters, resources and sounding boards, and I'm lucky to have learned from them.   Feel free to contact me with questions - I know this was a very broad and surface level glance at the world of graduate school.  It is also very specific to my experience.  Looking back at older posts might help, but I will say that graduate school should be something you really want to do if you apply.  Going into it half-hearted will provide diminishing, discouraging returns.  If you do it - cast a wide net and have an open mind.  Don't put all your eggs in one big-name program.  You may get a lot more, for a lot cheaper at a state school with a broader area of specialization.  It has been worth it for me.  I wanted the time and I'm glad I have it.  Cheers.

I am currently obsessed with Intaglio.  Behind is detritus from my puppetry exploits, 

as seen on my youtube and vimeo channels.

Still figuring this guy out.

Sunrise!  Flee!