MoNA - For the Masses

For the Masses is MoNA’s first Permanent Collection exhibit solely devoted to prints and printmaking, and will include old favorites and new acquisitions. The title is derived from the concept of prints as a populist and egalitarian form of artmaking and viewing. By their nature, prints need to be graphic and easy to understand. From the very beginning of printmaking, prints have been used to spread ideas and news amongst the public. For the Masses will explore this medium in the Northwest, and includes illustrations by exhibitions intern Stephanie Lark to help guests understand several processes used by the artists to make the various types of prints.

The exhibit begins in the 1930s with well-respected printmaker, Helen Loggie. Loggie attended the Arts Students League of New York and then toured Europe to study art further. She returned with many sketches with European scenes, specifically cathedrals. When she returned to the Unites States, Loggie moved to Eastsound on Orcas Island in 1930 and shifted her focus to the Northwest’s version of a cathedral: the trees. MoNA only has three of Loggie’s prints in the Permanent Collection, but all will be on display in this exhibit to serve as a statement of her importance to printmaking in the Northwest and the United States.