Blackburn 20|20
Robert Blackburn showing prints to Miami students, 1988. MDPL, Vasari Projects Archive.
Making Impressions: Archives, Printmaking, and Robert Blackburn
October 12, 2023 – January 14, 2024
Helio Salcedo
Kabuya Pamela Bowens-Saffo
AJ Smith
Robin Holder
Making Impressions: Archives, Printmaking, and Robert Blackburn is a collaboration with the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (EFA RBPMW) and the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Vasari Project; this two-site exhibition is located at North Dade Regional Library Miami, FL., and Blackburn 20|20, an exhibition space affiliated with EFA RBPMW, NYC.
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Over thirty-five years ago, art librarian Barbara Young and master printer Robert Blackburn collaborated to combine two nationally touring exhibitions: In a Stream of Ink and Through a Master Printer: Robert Blackburn into one at the Miami-Dade Public Library titled Forty Years, Robert Blackburn and the Printmaking Workshop. Young then invited Blackburn to visit Miami and share his knowledge with the community.
Blackburn 20|20 looks at the print collaborators and educators who helped organize these exhibits such as, Robin Holder with the first of the three exhibits in 1984 with the exhibition In a Stream of Ink; or AJ Smith who had some hand in bringing Through a Master Printer to Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts; Kabuya Pamela Bowens-Saffo with communication with Barbara Young; and Helio Salcedo, a Miami-based printer who also worked at the shop. By highlight those who supported Bob and the Printmaking Workshop, we hope to activate the archive to generate new relationships.
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Miami-Dade Public Library System’s (MDPLS) exhibit explores a Master Printer’s legacy through artworks, archives, and documentation featuring internationally known artists and students who have intersected between his Printmaking Workshop and Miami’s communities. As much a celebration of Robert Blackburn (1920 - 2003) and the Printmaking Workshop, this exhibit also honors MDPLS history.
The Library's history with the arts in Miami spans over 40 years and began with a permanent art collection that collaborated with local artists to become a steady source of programming for the community. Today, the Library's Permanent Art Collection houses over 7,000 artworks and focuses on African American, Latino, and Miami artists, including the featured works of Betye Saar, Romare Bearden, and others. The Vasari Project supports the history of Miami's art as a library collection and living archive dedicated to documenting, collecting, and preserving Miami-Dade County's art history from 1945 to the present.
Special thanks to Stephanie Garcia and Luis Berthin, from Vasari Projects, MDPLS; interns from 2023: Emma Sullivan, Ethan Tate, Jeonte Flowers, Sky Nida, Yi Fan Sunny Ruan, Samantha Nochimson, Mia Yamamoto Scherer and Luchia Hornsby.
North Dade Regional Library Miami, Florida
Artworks featured are from the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW), the Library’s Permanent Art Collection, and the archival materials of both the Library’s Vasari Project archive and EFA RBPMW.
Gallery hours are Wednesday – Sunday 12 – 7pm.
North Miami Dade Regional Library Branch
September 15, 2023 – February 29, 2024
This exhibition was made possible through generous funding from the James L. Knight Foundation and Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs in connection with the Vasari Project archive and to support the Miami Art Timeline project.
Making Impressions: Archives, Printmaking, and Robert Blackburn is an exhibition that explores a Master Printer’s legacy through artworks, archives, and documentation featuring internationally known artists and students who have intersected between his Printmaking Workshop and Miami’s communities. While this exhibit is a celebration of Robert Blackburn (1920 – 2003) and the Printmaking Workshop, it also honors the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s history. Thirty-five years ago, then art librarian Barbara Young and Blackburn collaborated to combine two touring exhibitions at the Main Library. Blackburn would later visit Miami and share his knowledge with the community at Young’s invitation.
Artworks featured are from the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (EFA-RBPMW), the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Permanent Art Collection, and archival materials from both the Library’s Vasari Project archive and the RBPMW. This exhibition was made possible through generous funding from the James L. Knight Foundation and Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs.
About the Vasari Project:
The Vasari Project is a library collection at Main Library dedicated to documenting, collecting, and preserving Miami-Dade County's art history from 1945 to the present. It is a living archive that grows through contributions from artists, art professionals, exhibition spaces, galleries, institutions, and private donors.
The Vasari Project is a resource for ongoing research, scholarship, publications, artists' projects, exhibitions, and events. The archive collects documentation rather than original works of art composed primarily of printed matter: correspondence, press clippings, photographs, posters, books, exhibition catalogs, artists' files, oral histories, and other ephemeral materials.
About the Division of Special Collections & Archives
Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Division of Special Collections & Archives is located at the Main Library and holds rare and irreplaceable historical materials for the benefit of the public and scholarly community. They oversee the Helen Muir Florida Collection, 16mm Film Collection, Cuban Collection of Rare Books & Ephemera, Genealogy Collection, Vasari Project archive, and Rare & Antiquarian books from as early as the 17th century. The Division aims to provide the public with the contents of these collections at their request, which include books, original manuscripts, over 18,000 photographs, prints, artifacts, audiovisual resources, and electronic media.