A print of Abe Lincoln created by a student in one of instructor Don VanAuken’s printmaking classes.
Kellogg Community College students will trade their textbooks for sketchbooks in instructor Don VanAuken’s Fundamental Printmaking class this summer.
While some outside reading may be required, the sketchbooks will be the focus when it comes to working out ideas for the three prints students will complete as part of the class, VanAuken said.
“This is a productive and energetic class that would be a great way for students to develop new skills this summer,” VanAuken said. “Students will discover the basics and fundamentals of relief printmaking in a studio format, including studio safety, editioning in the print medium, and more.”
The two-credit class, listed as ART 281: Art Special Topics in KCC’s Academic Catalog, will run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, May 15 through Aug. 2, in room 220 of the Davidson Visual and Performing Arts Center, on campus at 450 North Ave. in Battle Creek.
According to VanAuken, students will learn:
A print of an ewok created by a student in one of instructor Don VanAuken’s printmaking classes.
- Basic techniques and design principles as applied to the medium of relief printmaking
- How to create two-dimensional works of art by applying the elements of design and principles of organization
- How to critique their work and the work of others
- To begin to understand and articulate in writing their personal experience with the creative process
- To cultivate their appreciation of works of art in the printmaking medium
Students will finish the class with multiple editions of at least three original prints created as a result of their instruction in class.
VanAuken said the class has practical applications for students of all disciplines.
“As a two-credit course, this would be a good fit for students in the art/design programs, but also anyone interested in an elective that will teach them technical and creative skills that are applicable to many disciplines, including STEM,” VanAuken said.
A Michigan native, VanAuken is a working artist who has exhibited his work at dozens of locations in the U.S. and abroad, including at KCC’s own Eleanor R. & Robert A. DeVries Gallery. His education includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design; a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Ohio University; post-baccalaureate studies at the Accademia Bella di Arti in Perugia, Italy; and a summer residency at Campbell Center for Historic and Art Preservation Studies in Mount Carroll, Illinois. VanAuken has also taught art at several institutions, including KCC, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Olivet College and Ohio University.
For more information about this class, contact instructor Don VanAuken at vanaukend@kellogg.edu.
Pictured above is a colorful print of a bird and a landscape, created by a student in one of VanAuken’s printmaking classes.
Register for Summer Classes
Registration for classes offered during KCC’s Summer 2018 semester is open now! For more information, visit www.kellogg.edu/registration.