Exhibit: Blake in the Heartland

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I’m happy to announce that the exhibit Blake in the Heartland has opened, and that Tiffin University is hosting a number of events this week related to this exhibit that are open to the public. Organized by Lee Fearnside and James Rovira of Tiffin University, Blake in the Heartland is a celebration of the work of British poet and printmaker William Blake, who continues to inspire responses to his work in art, television, film, and music.

This exhibit features reproductions of Blake’s works by Blake scholar and curator Dr. Michael Phillips, who has curated major Blake exhibits at the Ashmolean at Oxford, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate in London, the University of Toronto, and the Petite Palais in Paris. Dr. Phillips will be lecturing on his curating experiences as well as on Blake’s printmaking methods.

It also includes creative responses to the work of Blake by regional artists Robert McFate (Ohio) and Emily Brandehoff (KY), who originally developed these works for the exhibit INNCE/EXPCE. Curated by Keith Banner, this exhibit ran from June 28th to August 10th, 2013 at Thunder-Sky Gallery, Inc., in Cincinnati, OH.

Schedule of Events

April 8th

9:30 a.m. – Lecture by Dr. Michael Phillips on his curating experiences. Lecture presented in the Diane Kidd Gallery (coffee and light refreshments served).

1:00 p.m. – Printmaking demonstration for Tiffin University students in Hayes Center Room 111. Space is limited and registration is required; email fearnsidel@tiffin.edu.

6:30 p.m. – Lecture by Dr. Michael Phillips, “Printing in the Infernal Method: William Blake’s Method of Illuminated Printmaking” in Chisholm Auditorium (Frank’s Hall).

April 9th

9:30 a.m. – Demonstration of Blake’s printmaking techniques in Hayes Center Room 111 for area high school students. Space is limited and registration is required; email fearnsidel@tiffin.edu.

5:30 p.m. – Closing reception with artists’ talks in the Diane Kidd Gallery.

About William Blake

William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, printmaker, and painter whose work engages such topics as the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, slavery, psychology, mythology, politics, and religion. Blake continues to inspire artists in a variety of media. Lines of Blake’s poems or his visual works unexpectedly appear in films such as Mean Streets, Bladerunner, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Dead Man, and Red Dragon. He has been particularly influential in music since the 1960s, inspiring the name for the band The Doors as well as several musical adaptations of his poems. More recently, Martha Redbone’s 2012 album The Garden of Love sets twelve of Blake’s songs to blues and folk music.

The exhibition is available for public viewing from March 19 through April 9, 2015.

Dr. James Rovira and Prof. Lee Fearnside would like to thank the Ohio Arts Council for the grant that helped make this exhibit and related events possible, and Columbian High School of Tiffin, OH for their letter of support, which helped us acquire the grant. We would also like to thank Tiffin University’s Alumni Association, the School of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Graduate and Distance Education for their support.

For more information, contact Lee Fearnside, Director of the Diane Kidd Gallery, at 419-448-3427 or by email at fearnsidel@tiffin.edu.

If you are interested in having Michael Phillips visit your institution, or would like more information about a possible visit, please email James Rovira at jamesrovira@gmail.com.