Dear Members,

Happy New Year to All!! And a true Happy New Millennium!! Looking back over the past six months I feel a need to thank all those who have assisted in the exhibitions, especially Ellen Hill and Alice Marie Gravely. They have done an exceptional job and truly deserve a grand applause. 

Our show in Hagerstown had a small turn out but I must say when I went up in late November to give a talk at the gallery I was impressed with the presentation. We were very well represented and I wish to thank those who went the extra nine yards to get the work up there. It often seems a long way to go when we find ourselves beyond the suburbs of Washington or Baltimore. There are, however, very strong interests in printmaking and the arts in the western panhandle of Maryland. In the past two months I have given two talks in the western Maryland area. One at Frostburg University and the other at the Washington County Arts Council gallery in Hagerstown. Both talks resulted in some interesting conversations, and I could see a lot of excitement. We have a very strong network of artists and printmakers throughout our state. In speaking about the far-reaching arms of the Maryland Printmakers I want to continue to remind the membership of our strong voice and connections on the Eastern Shore (another distant site of art and printmaking). Ray Esposito has worked diligently as a printmaker, artist and member of the Maryland Printmakers for several years now. His new studios in Princess Anne are ready for visits and I urge all members who travel to the eastern shore for beach vacations (or whatever the reason) to take a short hike down to Princess Anne (home of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore) and see Ray. Perhaps we can have a meeting of the Maryland Printmakers over at the beaches this summer. Art in the sun ... now that sounds like fun!

I find it exciting to realize the vast excitement there is in the state around and about printmaking. I also find it important to continue to educate the public on all levels (elementary, high school and higher education) as to the viability and visibility of printmaking. We are now in the new millennium, with digital technology bringing information faster than ever before to the masses. If you look back over the past millennium, perhaps one of the greatest discoveries was the printing press and its ability to make multiple originals. Never before had art been made as accessible to the public. And for that matter never before or since was education in general made as accessible to the masses. Of course today with digital technology you have web and internet galleries abundant. Still there are no virtual realities that can compare with the reality of the image in your hand; the intimacy of the print and its physical reality. We will go through another millennium and there will never be anything to compare to the excitement and awe of a wonderful original piece of art. The beauty of a print is that many can hold it and appreciate it without being educated as to how it was created. When they are educated the appreciation goes magnitudes deeper and there often is an awe beyond anything that would be seen in a monitor.

Calvin Custen