Just Letters | Curated by Jeffery Wetzig

Opening Reception with Lynne Avadenka and Robyn Stoller Awend: Friday, October 31st from 10am - 11:30am, Olson Gallery, CLC Building, 2nd Level

Reception and Letterpress Demonstration with David Wolske: Thursday, November 6th from 6pm - 8pm, Artist Remarks and Demo Begin at 6:15pm in the Olson Gallery, CLC Building, 2nd Level

Closing Reception with Ingrid Ankerson: Thursday, December 11th from 1 - 3pm, Artist Remarks begin at 1:30pm in the Olson Gallery, CLC Building, 2nd Level

An exhibition exploring letterpress printmaking distilled down to works about the letters themselves. The artists included create works across a multitude of media: works on paper, video, digital prints with analog origins, quilts with letterpress printed textiles, and artist books. Innovatively using letterpress to abstract, design, and transform some of the most familiar shapes in our everyday lives and inviting the viewer to ponder the formal qualities of Just Letters.

Artists Include: 

Ingrid Ankerson is an educator, graphic designer, maker, and letterpress printer based in southeast Michigan.

Lynne Avadenka is a Detroit-based artist/printmaker. She is known for her works that explore text and image, the physical and philosophical idea of the book, and the mystery and beauty of visual language.

Robyn Stoller Awend Words and word fragments inspire her letterpress prints and mixed media installations, exploring identity and various cultural influences.

Laura Brown Laura Brown is a Minneapolis-based printmaker and textile artist who works with salvaged materials to make community-oriented artwork with a colorful and graphic sensibility. 

Font Love Studio is a small letterpress studio in NE Minneapolis, Minnesota operated by Elana Wolowitz Schwartzman.

Chris Fritton is a poet, printer, and fine artist, who has over two decades of experience writing, printing, and making his own books, in addition to collaborative efforts with other authors and artists. 

Alan Kitching is based in the UK and is one of the world's leading practitioners of letterpress typographic design and printmaking. Alan is renowned for his expressive use of wood and metal letterforms, and he's had his work featured by major galleries, magazines and brands throughout the world.

Dr. Ane Thon Knutsen is a Norwegian graphic designer, researcher, artist and letterpress printer. She works as an associate professor and artistic researcher at The Oslo National Academy of The Arts and from her private letterpress studio in Oslo.

David Wolske is a typo/graphic designer, artist, and educator. His interdisciplinary practice combines the traditions of letterpress and printmaking with digital tools and design thinking.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) will be hosting a series of workshops in partnership with our show - please check out their offerings: 

Type as Image: Experiments in Letterpress
with Lynne Avadenka
Saturday, November 1; 10am–4pm CT

Alphabet Alchemy
with Ingrid Ankerson
Saturday, December 13; 10am–4pm CT

Image information: Just Letters, created and printed specially for this show by Jeff Wetzig, 2025