On Monday, October 24th, first year graduate students from Buffalo State's Art Conservation Program visited WNYBAC to get an introduction to letterpress printing. They printed a quote handset in metal and wood type onto paper they had made by hand. The students chose to print a quote by Caroline K. Keck (the founder of the Art Conservation program at Buffalo State) that is relevant to their program: "They will know how to use their hands, and not just talk about what should be done, damn it." It was taken from correspondence between Georgia O'Keeffe and Keck, circa 1970.
WNYBAC will be forging a stronger relationship with the ArtCon department in the coming years, because an integral part of conservation is re-construction, and the key to accurate re-construction is knowing how an object was constructed. By bringing students in and teaching them how to print, they garner a clearer understanding of how many of the books and documents they are charged with preserving were originally made.
Thanks to Professor Judith Walsh for her help in organizing this outing, and thanks to all the students for making it fun and engaging.
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