University of Alberta Museums houses more than 4,000 works of art from around the world in its Print Study Centre, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
Established in the U of A’s Fine Arts Building in 1996, the centre allows visitors to see individual works close up and gives students an unparalleled opportunity to examine details of texture, colour and technique in developing their own printmaking skills.
The collection is particularly strong in Japanese, Inuit and Canadian/Indigenous categories — some dating as far back as 1505 — and contains works by renowned U of A-based artists Liz Ingram, Walter Jule, Sean Caulfield and Lyndal Osborne.
As curator Dr. Nadia Kurd puts it, the collection’s diversity “is one of its greatest strengths, and we are certainly unique in Western Canada.”
The Print Study Centre is holding an open house on Sept. 18 during U of A Days. U of A Art Collection curator Nadia Kurd and other staff will offer tours of the centre and share new acquisitions to the collection.
A searchable digital archive of the collection and a virtual tour of the centre are also available.