Nov.-Dec. 2011 - Maryland Institute College of Art

06 CONNECTIONS
Highlights of MICA’s acquisition include:
• A significant portion of Globe’s substantial wood type collection, which
includes more than 450 drawers of mostly Gothic type in an astonishing
array of weights and sizes, enough to keep four compositors at a time
setting type in Globe’s heyday.
• Approximately 10,000 letterpress “cuts”—the illustrations, lettering,
and photo images used to create posters—including many hand-carved
blocks. The cuts show the range of Globe’s poster clients, from R&B and
hip-hop acts, both famous and long-forgotten, to carnivals, circuses, drag
races, and burlesque.
• Original posters and lockups—the forms combining printing elements of
type, images, and lettering—that demonstrate Globe’s craftsmanship and
long history, from the era of the magician Blackstone to the early days of
hip hop to Frank Zappa’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Large wood carvings, including the silhouette used by the FBI for target
practice, over-sized fair and carnival cuts, and a Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey Circus billboard.
The acquisition received Baltimore magazine’s “Best
Acquisition” award in the annual Best of Baltimore issue and
made international news in the print world and beyond,
including outlets such as NPR, Print magazine, and ReadyMade.
“Everyone is excited about the opportunities the
collection brings. Amazing support has come from the printing
community, other schools and universities, and MICA faculty
and students from all disciplines,” said Gail Deery, chair of the
Printmaking Department. “Integrating Globe into departments’
curricula strengthens many of MICA’s core priorities: innovation,
research, and community engagement through visiting artists
and collaborative projects.”
This fall, the newly established Globe Collection and Press
team is busy cataloguing and assessing the collection, which
arrived in 16 truckloads this summer, and analyzing how the
College and broader community can best take advantage of this
working press and archives.
Globe Collection and Press will integrate with MICA’s
Dolphin Press & Print, which already encourages fine art
collaborations between visiting artists and students. Globe
Press will continue Dolphin’s tradition of passing master
printing skills from artist to student. A portion of the Globe
Collection and Press will be housed in the Printmaking
Department’s Dolphin Building, where it can be used with the
College’s collection of Vandercook printing presses, offering
students, faculty, and visiting artists the opportunity to work
with elements of the collection.
In the first Globe-related visiting artist program, students
in the MFA in Illustration Practice program worked with MFA
Director Whitney Sherman and Esther K. Smith of Purgatory
Pie Press to proof imagery from the Globe collection to create
new imagery for a mashup project and a flip-flop book.
Globe Collection and Press also hopes to continue
collaborations similar to those that began before Globe Poster
closed its doors. This past summer, Bob Cicero worked with
letterpress faculty member Mary Mashburn and MICA students
to create a poster for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival R&B tent
and visual identity for Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors festival.
“It’s exciting to see the fresh and unpredictable ways
students, faculty, and visiting artists interpret the Globe pieces
after learning Globe’s style,” said Mashburn, whose letterpress
classes helped spark student interest in Globe.
Bob is teaching a letterpress course in the graphic design
graduate program this semester at MICA, using the same wood
type, tools, and images that once filled his print shop. “It’s
amazing to me the interest these students have in letterpress, in
learning this craft and keeping it alive,” he said. “We are really
pleased the collection will be kept together to be studied and
used by a new generation.”
To sign up for Globe updates and support the collection,
visit www.mica.edu/globecollection.
For additional information, email globe@mica.edu.
A kiosk in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival R&B tent explains the history of the Globe, including MICA’s
acquisition of the collection.