Tom Minkler Exhibit at Gordy Fine Art and Framing

Gordy Fine Art and Framing will host a collection of works by the late Tom Minkler, Ball State University professor of art, during the month of September. A reception for the exhibit will be held during the First Thursday event on September 7, 2006 from 5 to 8 pm at the downtown gallery/frame shop. Light refreshments will be served and former students, colleagues and the public is invited to attend.

Minkler was well-known as an artist and printmaker, and served many years as the head of the printmaking department within the BSU Art Department. He also served as the Chair of the Art Department. Tom earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, and his MFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Minkler began his tenure at Ball State in 1967 and served until shortly before his death in 1994. He took a year?s leave of absence in the early 70?s to work as a Master Printer in the renowned Landfall Press in Chicago, where he helped print works by famous artists, such as Christo, Jim Dine, Olenburg and Wiley. Another credit to his mastery of printmaking was the fact that he was one of the first artists in the 1960?s to be invited to work at the famous lithography studio, Tamarind Institute, in Albuquerque.

Ned Griner, who served as Chair of the BSU Art Department for many years, remembers his colleague?s love of his craft. ?Tom truly loved printmaking. I remember an offer he made to the faculty: he invited them to come to the print shop and draw an image on a stone and he would process the stone and assist in the printing. There were those in the department who had never had such an experience, and some took him up on his offer. Printing was exciting to Tom, and he wanted others to share in his excitement.?

A career spent in the classroom is indicative that teaching was very also important to Minkler, as he was important to many of the art students who learned the fine points of lithography and relief printing from him. Locally, a few of those who were inspired by Mr. Minkler include Kevin Campbell, Bruce Nicar, Chiquita Broyles, Steve Minnick, Steve Block, Cheryl Cummings King, Karen Fisher, Karen Reichle, Mark Wages and Brian and Genny Gordy.

The works chosen for this exhibit represent several decades of Minkler?s art career, and include woodcuts, lithographs, embossments, pastel drawings and oil paintings. Most of the items are signed and numbered, and most are for sale at the downtown gallery/frame shop. Subject matter ranges from Hamlet and Lady Macbeth to totems, primitive symbolism, and fluid geometric abstractions, some of which incorporate the figure. Sizes range from petite 4 x 5 inches to oversized, 40 x 60?.

For more information, call 284-8422 or visit the gallery during normal business hours: Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5:30 PM, Saturday, 9 to 5. Gordy Fine Art & Framing is located next to Civic Theatre at 224 East Main Street.


News Release
August 18, 2006
Contact: Genny Gordy, Pres., Gordy Fine Art & Framing Co.
224 E. Main St, Muncie, IN 47305, 284-8422, gengor@aol.com