Just Letters

Events Performing and Visual Arts Art Galleries

Just Letters
Date Thursday, October 30 - Friday, December 19, 2025
Location Olson Gallery - View maps and directions
Bethel University
3900 Bethel Dr St Paul MN 55112

Event Description

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.

Exhibit on view: October 30-December 19, 2025

Opening Reception with Lynne Avadenka and Robyn Stoller Awend: 10 - 11:30 a.m. Friday, October 31 2025 | Olson Gallery

Reception and Letterpress Demonstration with David Wolske: 6-8 p.m. Thursday, November 6, 2025 | Olson Gallery

Closing Reception with Ingrid Ankerson: 1-3 p.m. Thursday December 11, 2025 | Olson Gallery

 

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:

Saturday, November 1, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Alphabet Alchemy

with Ingrid Ankerson
Saturday, December 13, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Questions?

Please contact the Department of Art and Design at cas-art@bethel.edu.

Full Calendar