To imprint is to forge a connection that leaves a lasting mark. This process is central to the making and sharing of art. The relationship of the imprint between artist and audience is emotional and transcends markets, sales, and high-stakes auctions. The Coe Center presents IMPRINT a multi-layered collaborative exhibition that challenges our assumptions about how art engages with the public.
Six leading printmakers, Eliza Naranjo Morse, Jamison Chas Banks, Jason Garcia, Terran Last Gun, Dakota Mace, and Jacob Meders, along with Coe curators Bess Murphy and Nina Sanders have spent the past year working collaboratively to build IMPRINT. The exhibition will not only appear on the Coe Center walls, but in public spaces as well. IMPRINT brings art to the public and the public to art in widely accessible ways through the use of repurposed newspaper boxes, wheat-pasted posters around town, and free print giveaways.
Each of the six artists engages print and paper to ask questions about how to tell visual stories and appeal to a truly diverse audience via silkscreen, letterpress, handmade-paper, cardboard boxes, and other diverse media. The IMPRINT artists’ goal is to give the gift of art back to the community. Starting in March, the artists will share free and original pieces at locations throughout Santa Fe and beyond. Announcements through social media and word of mouth will reveal when and where. The conversation continues when the public has the opportunity to meet the artists at the Coe opening on August 14. These acts of sharing and exchange will continue to grow and shift throughout the run of the exhibition.
The Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts is dedicated to increasing public awareness, education, and appreciation of indigenous art through its programs, exhibitions, and individual study. The Coe emphasizes hands-on experience, learning through actively engaging art—the collection you can touch. The Coe’s collection represents worldwide indigenous cultures, with its core encompassing the span of historic to contemporary North American Native works. The Coe recently announced the purchase of property with the intention of building a larger and more interactive center.
