One More Run

Mark Lunning’s Open Press Ltd. has quietly been spreading the gospel of printmaking in the Baker neighborhood for 25 years, which is pretty remarkable in an environment where galleries and studios can come and go in the blink of an eye. During that quarter-century of overseeing pull after pull of...

By Susan Froyd

April 3, 2014

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Mark Lunning’s Open Press Ltd. has quietly been spreading the gospel of printmaking in the Baker neighborhood for 25 years, which is pretty remarkable in an environment where galleries and studios can come and go in the blink of an eye. During that quarter-century of overseeing pull after pull of etchings, intaglio, monotypes, woodcuts and silkscreens, Lunning has almost single-handedly kept the art and craft of fine-art printmaking alive in the local art community, as a mentor, artist and master printer. How many artists have passed through the studio’s open doors? Hard to tell, but more than 25 of them banded together to show their work in the Open Press 25th Anniversary Exhibit, which opened at the McNichols Building in January.

Tonight, as an official kickoff to Mo’Print — printmaking’s biennial equivalent of the Month of Photography that took over local galleries last spring — Lunning and friends will host a free artists’ reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at McNichols, 144 West Colfax Avenue; the anniversary show continues through April 12. Most of the other multiple Mo’Print exhibitions and events will unfold beginning in March; for a complete schedule, visit moprint.org.
Saturdays, Sundays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Fri., Feb. 28, 5:30-8 p.m. Starts: Jan. 11. Continues through April 12, 2014

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

Contact: Susan Froyd

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