Printmaking Studio, Simons Center for the Arts

There are many spaces at the College that are meaningful and memorable to me. There’s the Cistern Yard, with the serenity of all of those beautiful live oaks. There are the painting studios on top of the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts, as well as the independent painting studios, where I spent many hours. However, what really felt the most like “my space” was the printmaking studio in room 111 of the Albert Simons Center for the Arts.

I first learned about the print studio through a painting classmate – she was in a printmaking class and suggested that I try it. So, as a junior, I registered for ARTS 218: Printmaking I.

I immediately liked the look of the studio, with the graphic print on the outside of its door and the printing presses, wooden tables and various tools, inks and cleaning agents on the inside. All of these items became very important in my own printmaking process.

I felt comfortable and open to this new experience. The energy in the room ranged from relaxed, with the calm and satisfied faces of classmates finishing up their work, to impassioned, with the anxious and focused faces of students working all hours to get their visions for their prints just right.

Soon, the walls inside of the studio would become prime real estate for students’ work hanging to dry, and my classmates and I would hang around, patiently waiting to hear studio arts professor Barbara Duval tell us, “That’s a good print.”

I will never forget Professor Duval, who gave constant support, encouragement and knowledge, or her assistant Kate MacNeil ’11, who was always helpful and mindful of our work.

–Lori Leist ’13

Leist, a 2013 December graduate, was recognized during the 2014 spring commencement weekend
with the Seltzer Prize in Studio Art and was named a School of the Arts Scholar.