Watkins & Hatch Celebrate Rolling Stones’ 50th
‘Paint It Black’ exhibit reception set for August 23 in Currey Gallery
Watkins College of Art, Design & Film and Hatch Show Print present Paint It Black, an exhibit which celebrates 50 years of the Rolling Stones
through original letterpress posters designed by Watkins Graphic Design students. The show, which runs August 10–26 in the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Gallery on campus, is the result of a continuing collaborative workshop between Watkins and Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America.
A closing reception for the gallery show is set for Thursday, August 23, from 5 to 7 p.m., and is free and open to the public.
Using a variety of wooden type and wooden image blocks from Hatch’s extensive collection, each student created a hand-set, oversized poster based on a classic Rolling Stones’ song, such as “Paint It Black,” “Wild Horses” and “Dead Flowers,” to mark the legendary band’s half-century milestone. The students also spent time creating various other letterpress posters and T-shirts from the vast Hatch resources.
Watkins Associate Professor Steve Wilkison organized the one-day summer workshop, with assistance from Hatch manager/curator/chief designer Jim Sherraden and printmaker Celene Aubry, for eleven juniors and seniors in the Graphic Design department.
“In this day of iPads, iPhones, computers and digital art, working in a traditional medium such as letterpress printing, under the guidance of the most accomplished creators in that field, remains vitally important to the development of aspiring designers and artists,” said Professor Wilkison. “Students learn to transfer their creativity into the ink and onto the paper through a truly hands-on experience that challenges and sharpens their design skills.”
Currey Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, 2 to 4 pm. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.watkins.edu.
Hatch Show Print is a division of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. For more information, visit countrymusichalloffame.org/our-work
About the Graphic Design program at Watkins
The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design at Watkins College begins with a strong foundation in the basic principles and elements of design and typography. The curriculum then builds in complexity until students graduate with a professional, high quality, entry-level portfolio that shows technical competence, solid knowledge of design principles and highly conceptual solutions to communications problems in print, illustration and web-based and interactive media.
Watkins Graphic Design students and alumni are consistently among the most honored in the country through their submissions to regional, national and international advertising design competitions, particularly in the student and professional categories of the ADDY Awards (hosted by the American Advertising Federation). At the 2012 Nashville Student ADDYs, Watkins won more top-level awards than any other school competing, claiming nine Golds (two more than last year) and two (of the four) Judges’ Choice Awards; overall, 70% of Watkins students who entered received awards.
Watkins students continue to blanket Nashville and the region with their intelligence, visual wit and creativity through unique opportunities with several beloved Nashville community events. In the past several years, their talents have been chosen to promote signature happenings such as the American Artisan Festival, the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival, Music City Hot Chicken Festival, Nashville Sister Cities Program, Nashville Symphony and Nashville Opera performances, and Murfreesboro’s JazzFest, among others.
Pictured at the workshop are: (standing) Kristen Fowler, Ily Phelps, Ann Gowan, Jill Thompson, Hatch’s Jim Sherraden, Watkins professor Judith Sweeney O’Brayn and Richard Cook, with (front row) Watkins professor Steve Wilkison, Giada Coppi, Johnny Whitman, Josh Rowe, Hatch’s Celene Aubry and Watkins Graphic Design department chair Dan Brawner