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Graphicstudio, U.S.F. Donald J. Saff Since its beginning at the University of South Florida in 1968, Graphicstudio has attempted to serve as a mechanism which could provide a focus for developing artistic excellence in a university setting. In concept, the approach was to be a major variation from the traditional artist-in-residence program while still providing students with a constructive and intimate situation for meeting artists . . . an idea with an apparent multiplicity of educational advantages. Since it is the stated role of Florida's university system to both transmit information and explore new areas through research that will contribute in a substantive way to knowledge, Graphicstudio was conceived as a way to realize this mission in the arts. Students would not only have access to artists in an informal setting, as opposed to the usual classroom/studio teaching, but they also would have the opportunity to see artists over an extended period, observing works evolving from their conception to a finished edition. The uniqueness of enabling students to witness the collaboration of artist and artisan in a noncommercial atelier was part of our purpose at the beginning. Further, not only does Florida present an attractive locale for artists to work in but the pedagogical value of locating Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida was enhanced because of its vital art department. Then, as not, the university did not have the resources to maintain both the high-caliber artists which constitute its permanent teaching faculty and a continuing flow of distinguished visiting artists, not did it have the ability to spend large sums of money for the development of a comprehensive collection of art. However, with the development of Graphicstudio these advantages could be provided at minimal state expense. In addition, the university recognized that through Graphicstudio it could make further important contributions to the cultural life of the Tampa Bay community since many area residents looked to the University of South Florida as a source of major cultural nourishment. The community is probably the only city of its size without a museum of consequence. Through the Graphicstudio, the university could further its role as an urban institution by bringing artists into the local community for extended periods, by circulating the work produced in the studio, and by giving its constituency formal and informal access to a functioning workshop. Graphicstudio encouraged interested persons to begin developing comprehensive private collections while becoming informed observers of a more global art scene. In turn it was hoped that this would provide direct support for regional artists on a broader base of aesthetic evalution. Although commercial ateliers like Tamarind, Universal Limited Arts Editions, and Gemini altered in an irrevocably positive way the artist's and the public's perception of print media, Graphicstudio could make yet another special contribution in the area of graphics that would be consistent with the research role of the university. The university's art department used the extensive resources at it disposal to provide Graphicstudio with a media range not constrained by the limited equipment or narrow technical expertise found in many commercial print facilities. Although the staff directly involved in Graphicstudio on an ongoing basis were few, some members of the art department would make themselves available for technical consultation. Against this background, the artist would be presented with the rare opportunity of creating his work in an atmosphere free from the pressures, however carefully guarded, of a commercial atelier. Here the artist's stay could be extended and the nature and complexity of his ideas could be explored more readily and expansively. The studio's stated aim of experimentation would provide through demonstrated accomplishment a redefinition of the role of the atelier in providing a special kind of effective collaboration. Traditional production procedure and comprehensive technical documentation were to be of central importance, and perhaps one of the most arduous tasks in creating the studio was to locate printers who were well-trained in relatively traditional techniques but who could apply their technical expertise in completely novel and nontraditional ways. In addition to lithography, silkscreening, and etching, both silver and nonsilver photographic techniques would be explored and of primary importance was our hope that artists would choose to experiment with replication processes in sculpture and sculpture/print combinations. Administratively, Graphicstudio was to be a joint venture between the art department and the Florida Center for Arts, a management and support organization within the College of Fine Arts. In addition to working with visiting artists, the initial concept of Graphicstudio afforded an opportunity to produce works by members of the faculty as well and for a period of time the studio was able to carry out this activity. The Florida Center for the Arts which maintains responsibility for the print exhibition program at the university and the Art Bank Program, which provides exhibitions free of charge to the other public institutions in the state, became the direct recipients of the works produced in the workshop. It was to be the Florida Center's responsibility to circulate the prints, preliminary sketches, and drawings which were donated by the artists for public view. Since 1971 the Art Bank Program has provided U.S.F. with 10 Graphicstudio exhibitions and other state institutions with a ART JOURNAL, XXXIV/1
