News Article

Delta National Small Prints Exhibition Dedicated to Evan Lindquist

Jim Toia
Angels, Devils, Idiots and Sages, 2022
mushroom spore print, 12.5 x 19 inches

JONESBORO — This is the 29th year for the Delta National Small Print Exhibition (DNSPE) hosted by Bradbury Art Museum (BAM) at Arkansas State University.

Two solo exhibitions will also be presented including "SunSoilSkin&Bone" from artist Jillian Marie Browning, and "Informing the Present," an installation by M. Robyn Wall. 
 
An opening reception will be held from 5 until 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23. The exhibition continues through Wednesday, Feb. 26, at BAM, located at Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive. Admission to both the reception and exhibitions is free. 

DNSPE was founded in 1996 by emeritus professor of art Evan Lindquist, who taught at A-State from 1963 until 2003. This year the event is dedicated to Lindquist, a master engraver, who died in December of 2023.  
 
"His intention in founding DNSPE was to provide the students of A-State with a resource to learn about printmaking as it changed over time," said Madeline McMahan, assistant director and curator at BAM.

Each year, printmakers from all over the country apply to be part of the exhibition and their works are chosen by a juror, creating a fascinating cross-section of the print world as it exists in a given year. 

“These artists show us how printing traditions endure, and they show us how printmaking has expanded. Mezzotint, as used by Jacob Crook, is a historical method which can be traced back to the 1600s; mushroom spore printing, seen in the work of Jim Toia, is more experimental and is adapted from mycology,” added McMahan.  

The prints in the 2025 DNSPE were selected by juror Pedro Barbeito, associate professor at Lafayette College and director of the Experimental Printmaking Institute. 
 
“I love printmaking, its history and how artists have been using it over the centuries as a medium of expression, dissemination and collaboration,” said Barbeito in his juror's statement.

“My approach to printmaking, not dissimilar to how printmaking techniques were developed throughout history, is to integrate commercial and industrial printmaking techniques into traditional fine art print practices. The prints I selected for the Delta National Prints Exhibition are made through an array of approaches and technologies. 

Barbeito was tasked with selecting approximately one 10th of the total submissions, which were greater in number this year than any year in DNSPE’s history.

Of his selections, he concluded, “Ultimately, the works I selected are the ones that I found the most enigmatic, as well as beautiful, made with care and technical expertise.”

Purchase and merit awards will be announced upon the exhibition opening. 

On view alongside DNSPE will be two related exhibitions of print media. “SunSoilSkin&Bone” by Jillian Marie Browning features cyanotypes on fabric, an alternative photographic printing process. 

“Informing the Present” will showcase the installation work, printmaking, and papermaking by M. Robyn Wall, an A-State assistant professor of printmaking.

The museum hours are from noon until 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information about Bradbury Art Museum or to learn how to support future exhibitions, one may call the museum at 870-972-3687.