Printmaking: Academic Program
Undergraduate students can earn the Bachelor of Art (BA) degree in Art or the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Art, with an emphasis in printmaking. Graduate students earn the Master of Fine Art (MFA) degree with an emphasis in printmaking.
The BA degree has a deeper and wider general education foundation than the BFA degree. The BA degree provides flexibility for combining the study of art with another field of study as a required minor. BA students can use their art electives to focus on the studio area of their choice, such as printmaking. Students can choose to enter the BFA Studio Art program during the regular UM admissions process. After completing the foundation core and having a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 and 2.5 GPA in all art and art history courses, BFA students participate in the BFA Foundations Review to stay in the BFA degree. BFA students then gain wider training across the studio areas, gain depth in their area of emphasis, build a professional portfolio, and hold a final thesis show.
The MFA degree is a three-year program that prepares students to teach at the college level and work as a professional artist. The third year is dedicated to the creation of a MFA thesis exhibition.
Printmaking Courses
The printmaking area offers students a unique intersection of traditional techniques paired with contemporary digital practices. Beginning students will learn various traditional printmaking methods including relief, intaglio, lithography, and silkscreen. As they advance, they will explore contemporary digital practices and how those techniques are applied in contemporary studio practice.
The featured courses below provide more detail and samples of student work.
Here are all printmaking courses.
Art 366. Letterpress. Fundamentals of typesetting and principles of typography; use of movable type and hand-operated printing presses.
Art 371. Introduction to Printmaking. Introduction to historical and contemporary studio practice of printmaking; explore traditional techniques in intaglio, relief, screen process, lithography, and monotype.
Art 372. Intermediate Printmaking. Continuation of exploring traditional print processes with the incorporation of contemporary digital practices; digital strategies for creating images in screen printing, intaglio, lithography, and digital printing; develop meaningful content in conjunction with the acquisition of technical skills.
Art 373. Book Arts. Exploration of handmade books, including alternative bookbinding structures and successful integration of printed image and text.
Art 471. Advanced Printmaking. Individual exploration of relief, intaglio, planographic, and new techniques of printmaking.
Art 566. Letterpress Printing. Typesetting and letterpress printing with experimentation of materials and conceptual development; use of movable type, photopolymer plates and hand-operated printing presses.
Art 571. Printmaking. Special problems in printmaking with emphasis on individual development.
Art 573. Book Arts. Exploration of handmade books, including alternative bookbinding structures and successful integration of printed image and text.
Art 671. Printmaking. Special problems in printmaking with emphasis on individual development.