Collaborative sketchbook drawings created by Rachel beer and Alex Bridges in the summer of 2022
Meeting of Makers, Merging of Space
Meeting of Makers, Merging of Space (documented below) was a non-traditional, multidisciplinary exhibition collaboratively curated by Northern Illinois University printmaking graduate students Rachel Beer and Alex Bridges in the Fall of 2022. The exhibition featured works by artists Marilee Salvator, Lauren Kussro, Claire Whitehurst, Masha Ryskin, Laura Berman, Holly and Al Wong, and Nandini Chirimar. The Meeting of Makers exhibition went on to travel to the Clara M. Eagle Gallery at Murray State University in Kentucky.
Work by Marilee Salvator
Work by Holly and Al Wong
Works by Lauren Kussro
Works by Laura Berman
Works by Nandini Chirimar
Work by Claire Whitehurst
Works by Masha Ryskin
Taking Shape
Taking Shape (documented below) was a collaborative printmaking installation created over several months with the help of many people. The project originated as a companion project to the Meeting of Makers Exhibition. In the fall of 2022, co-curators Rachel Beer and Alex Bridges invited Marilee Salvator and Laura Berman (two of the artists featured in Meeting of Makers) to the NIU campus as visiting artists through the Graduate Colloquium Program to conduct a week of collaborative printmaking workshops.
Taking Shape began with a series of collaborative drawings created through the mail between Alex, Rachel, Marilee, and Laura. These drawings were then laser engraved onto woodblocks and burned into screens. The images were then printed in collaboration with the visiting artists and the various printmaking classes over a period of four days. Once all of the material was printed, everyone worked together to cut it out and install it intuitively in the gallery.
