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2019 Wichita Art Museum Print Forum: Aquatints

The Forum offers an afternoon of illustrated talks on the history, process, and expressive qualities of aquatints. The talks expand upon WAM's exhibition "Charles Capps: Prairie Print Maker". Capps was devoted to aquatint as a print medium and celebrated for his mastery of the technique. The Print Forum speakers will explore the special abilities and contributions of Charles Capps and the Prairie Print Makers.

1:30 pm: Director's Welcome
1:40 pm: Sarah Bane, PhD candidate, University of California, dissertation on the Prairie Print Makers
2:40 pm: Reuben Saunders, print dealer and owner, Reuben Saunders Gallery, Wichita
3:30 pm: Barbara Thompson, independent art historian and granddaughter of C.A. Seward
4:30 pm: Forum Q & A discussion with audience and speakers
5 pm: Print Forum Reception, Dr. S. Jim and Darla Farha Great Hall
5:45 pm: C.A. Seward Dinner and Birthday Salute to Charles "Chili" Capps, The Muse Cafe

The afternoon Print Forum is free and open to the public. Galleries close at 5 pm.

About the Prairie Print Makers Group
The Prairie Print Makers group was formed on December 28, 1930, when 11 of the best artists in Kansas gathered in the Lindsborg studio of artist Birger Sandzén. Planning to offer affordable artwork that would appeal to collectors, the Prairie Print Makers created etchings, silkscreens, linoleum cuts, block prints, and lithographs. The group boasted 47 active members and over 100 associate members. The collective continued until 1965--creating 34 gift prints between 1931 and that year.

Leading the formation of the group was artist C.A. Seward (pictured at left). Seward settled in Wichita in 1907 and soon after established one of the few fine printing services outside of New York City, wrote a foundational text on lithography, organized low-cost traveling exhibitions, and helped to establish the Prairie Print Makers. His efforts fostered a vital arts community in Wichita with a singular goal--to bring art into everyone's life.

Please visit the 'External Link' below for more information.
Relevant research areas: North America, 20th Century, Etching
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