Surface Impressions intends to connect artists and audiences to the 21st century language of relief printmaking as a viable artistic engagement for today.

Seventy-five prints will be selected by Juror Mark Pascale, the Janet and Craig Duchossois Curator of Prints and Drawings, the Art Institute of Chicago. Fifty prints will be on display at the LUX Center for the Arts, and 25 will be on display at Constellation Studios.

This inaugural biennial of relief prints here in the center of America will showcase artists from around the country and abroad, all selected from an open call for entries. The works on exhibition focus on the role of the relief print as a means of cultural critique and exploration of this ancient but newly invigorated discipline as practiced and defined by today’s artists.

The LUX Center for the Arts, in cooperation with Constellation Studios, will present ‘Surface Impressions,’ an ambitious exhibition focusing on hand-produced relief prints from woodblock, linoleum cut, wood engraving, and mixed media relief prints.

This showcase will bring fine art prints to the forefront, enabling Lincoln, the LUX Center for the Arts, and Constellation Studios to join in a world-wide conversation about creative innovations in prints.

Dates + Details:
December 1, 2019 – Open for Submissions (online)
April 1, 2020 – Deadline for submissions
April 15, 2020 – Artists Notified
June 3-6, 2020 – Juror events, opening, award selection
Summer 2020 – Events, workshops, steamroller printing

Eligible works: Original fine art prints from woodblocks, wood engravings, linoleum, and alternative relief surfaces; prints are to be printed on paper; created in 2017 to 2020.

All national and international artists (18 years and older) are eligible to enter 3 works.

Please visit the 'External Link' below for more information and to access the application (those details may be TBA; please check back soon, if so).