The Print Collective teams up with the Mennello Museum to show generations of art

The Print Collective, an organization consisting of UCF art students, and the Mennello Museum of American Art put together an exhibition celebrating the long life of Flying Horse Editions, works of art from different periods of time hung on the walls — but this was not a typical art show.

While art hung on the wall and sat in display cases, The Print Collective taught basic printmaking techniques to gallery visitors, as well as teaching about its usefulness.

Paul E. Finch, senior studio art major with a focus in painting, said printmaking makes images more accessible for viewers and artists because of their versatility and the ability to sell multiple prints as originals. Finch, a co-president of The Print Collective, considers printmaking essential for artists.

“It would be foolish for professional artists not to become comfortable with printmaking,” Finch said.

Flying Horse Editions is an initiative started in 1992 by professors Robert Reedy and Robert Rivers as a community outreach program. This initiative introduced printmaking to UCF, and now the UCF Center for Emerging Media contains some of the nation’s best printing presses.

The Print Collective will be working in this exhibit as Artists-in-Action until August, putting on workshops for adults and children. Last Thursday, The Print Collective held a workshop for teachers in local schools to show inexpensive art projects to use in their classes. Some of the supplies used were Plexiglas, tempera paint and Q-tips.

Out of this event will come Roll It! Community Printmaking Festival, where prints made by the gallery visitors will be incorporated by Flying Horse Editions Director Theo Lotz. The event is titled “Roll It!” because the pieces will be put together by being rolled over by a steam engine.

Lotz has seen both sides of art exhibits, from being a curator at Rollins to being involved in the production. Being on both sides of the equation has been a worthwhile challenge, he said. Lotz has had the job of director for almost three years, and he said it’s the best job in town. Lotz finds that all artists have at least one thing in common.

“Everyone is looking for the same results: to do an outstanding, interesting project,” Lotz said.

Debbie Fahmie, adjunct professor at UCF and fine- and performing-arts director at Osceola schools, believes art is an essential part of life and therefore an important part of education. Fahmie taught music to elementary school children for 20 years.

The seasoned educator now teaches about arts integration in the classroom at UCF. One of her class assignments is to go to local cultural resources, and Fahmie often recommends Mennello Museum of American Art because of its emphasis on folk art and local artists.

“Local artists are the perfect example of the creativity of mankind,” museum founder Michael Mennello said

Mennello chose to host Flying Horse Editions because he finds UCF’s printing press work remarkable. Seeing 200-300 people of all ages from different walks of life on a Friday night at this exhibition did not hurt, either.

“This shows that art transcends ages and attracts all sorts of people,” Fahmie said.

Mennello spent most of his life admiring expressionist work but finds printmaking interesting to observe.

Along with bringing together different generations and people from different parts of the community, this exhibition let the viewers interact with the art. The co-presidents of The Print Collective hosted a room for anyone who wanted to make prints.

Anna Cruz, junior art major specializing in painting and one of the co-presidents of The Print Collective, started printmaking last semester and immediately joined The Print Collective for opportunities like this one.

Finch has been involved for just more than a year and cites the opportunities as a great reason to join. He also finds the group to be a comfort he needs while working in a difficult medium.

“Printmaking can be daunting if you go it alone; it’s good to have a support group,” Finch said.

The Print Collective showed people different types of printmaking such as book making, woodcutting, relief printing and screen printing. One of the relief tables used vegetables as a tool, while the other tables used conventional supplies.

Mary Palmer, art consultant at Mary Palmer & Associates, LLC, and professor emerita at UCF, helped set up this exhibition because of her passion for education and bringing unique opportunities to the community.

Palmer considers the print work at Flying Horse Editions to be some of the finest work at UCF. Palmer, as well as the others who helped put this exhibition together, considers UCF to be a staple of the Central Florida community and an obvious choice for shows like this.

The exhibit will be on display through August 12.