“Litho-Literacy!,” an exhibition of lithographic prints by Southeast Missouri State University student artists honoring 100 Years of the Newbery Medal, is now on display in Kent Library.
The free exhibition is open through August 2022 and is located on the library’s third floor by Special Collections and Archives.
The Newbery Medal has been awarded each January since 1922, in honor of the publisher John Newbery, the first to profitably publish children's books. The Newbery Medal is awarded "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to literature for children published in the U.S. during the preceding year." A full list of the books is available on Kent Library’s website.
As part of their “Lithography Printmaking” course, students researched a book from the Newbery Award list and developed a hand-drawn illustration incorporating their reflections and ideas about the book. Descriptions of each student’s impetus for choosing and creating the design are printed and displayed beside the prints and the covers of the books which inspired them.
Each print was created using the 226-year-old technique of lithographic printing. Students worked from the more modern aluminum lithographic plate surfaces, designed to mimic the original limestone slabs used in lithographic printing, to create designs using grease crayons inspired by the book of their choice. Each student hand drew, chemically etched, inked up, and printed an edition of at least five original prints from their plates.