CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: TSU Art and the Nashville Sign Project

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS:
TSU Art and the Nashville Sign Project



The Nashville Sign Project is a celebration of Nashville through letterpress (and other forms of printed ephemera that mediate on letterpress and/or the poster form). Tennessee State University’s Department of Art initiates the project alongside acclaimed artist Carl Pope. The project will culminate in a group exhibition at Tennessee State University’s Hiram Van Gordon Memorial Gallery in October 2010.

Assignment Guidelines
-The work must be a reflection on letterpress or the poster/banner form
-The work can be any medium that considers the above reflection including digital work, video, painting, crochet, projection, drawing, etc. *
-Any quote or slogan by you, your friends, family or famous Nashvillian
-You must include the quote’s author
-Quote no more than ten words in length
-Banners have no word limit
-Past, present or future Nashville can be the subject of the quote
-To participate contact Jodi Hays Gresham, curator, gallery@tnstate.edu

Letterpress: a very brief history
Letterpress, one of the earliest forms of printing text on paper, is a form of relief printing where the image surface is raised and the resulting image is pressed into the paper. Johann Gutenberg was the father of letterpress printing in Europe, but the Chinese had developed similar types of relief printing as early as the 2nd century A.D. Most of these early texts were printed from type carved from blocks of wood.
When the art of papermaking was introduced to western civilization in the 12th century it allowed printed texts to flourish. By the 15th century A.D., paper was abundantly available throughout Europe. This abundance, along with inventions such as moveable type (characters cast as individual letterforms) and mechanical presses allowed the number of printers and printed materials to soar. A rising literate middle class and movements including the Reformation and religious wars fueled much of this increase.
Today, much remains the same with letterpress printing. Text and image is still printed from a raised surface pressed into the paper. Movable type is still in use. However, the computer revolution has opened many new doors, but the distinguishable characteristics of letterpress remain unchanged. Text and graphic elements can be created digitally on computers and transferred to paper using photopolymer plates and metal engravings. Even with the current renaissance in letterpress printing, one thing hasn’t changed… each impression is still printed by hand, one color at a time.

Broadsides (Letterpress) Posters for Public Announcement, Nashville
Printed on one side only, broadsides were used to issue public decrees, new laws and general announcements. Usually they were quickly and crudely produced in large quantity and distributed free in town squares, taverns, and churches or sold by chapmen for a nominal charge. Broadsides are intended to have an immediate popular impact and then to be thrown away. Posters and items printed for short-term consumption are referred to as printed ephemera.

Hatch Show Print is one of America's oldest surviving show-poster printers, and it opens its doors to visitors who want an intimate view of printing's historical past. Founded in 1870, this still-working letterpress shop is credited with ...Hatch Show Print, also on Broadway, is one of America's oldest surviving show-poster printers, and it opens its doors to visitors who want an intimate view of printing's historical past.



* With few exception, artists must make arrangements for particular projection needs, please speak to Project Curator on specific technical questions.